Victoria Riptides (also known as the RipTides and Riptide) were a professional soccer team based out of Victoria, British Columbia. The team played for two seasons; the 1984 season of the Pacific Coast Soccer League, and 1985 season of the Western Alliance Challenge Series. Their home games were played at Royal Athletic Park.

History

David Keith was coach of the Riptides for their first season during which the Riptides secured a record of 7 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. The team featured several prominent players including former Vancouver Whitecap, Frank Woods; Simon Keith, who joined the 'Tides after playing in the second tier of the British league for Millwall F.C.; Brian Mousley (Portland Timbers); local stand-out Rob Wallace who signed his first professional contract with the Riptides; as well as several Canada national team pool players: Doug Adlem, Glen Johnson and Scott Weinberg (University of Victoria).

In 1985, four independent west coast soccer clubs joined to create an informal challenge series. The challenge cup pitted the Riptides against F.C. Seattle, F.C. Portland and the San Jose Earthquakes in a home and away series. The cup also included games against the Canada national soccer team which was training for the 1986 World Cup in Vancouver, BC. The national team was not included in the standings.

Brian Hughes was the head coach to start the 1985 season, but was replaced mid-season by real-estate agent Buzz Parsons who also failed to produce winning results. The 1985 Riptides had a 3-1-3 record, finishing second from the bottom in the final standings. The challenge series led to a discussion among the four teams about forming a permanent league or alliance. The Riptides management at the time, disagreed with this approach and did not participate in future games in what became known as the Western Soccer Alliance. They also backed out of joining the newly forming Canadian Soccer Association. The Western Soccer Alliance became the Western Soccer League in 1989 which merged with the American Soccer League in 1990 to form the American Professional Soccer League.

Year-by-year

YearLeagueRecordRegular seasonPostseason
1984Pacific Coast Soccer League7-2-12ndrunners-up
1985Western Alliance Challenge Series3-1-33rdN/A

1984 Pacific Coast Soccer League

League final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, T = Ties, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system

2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss.

-League Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.

TeamGPWTLGFGAPts
New Westminster QPR10811281217
Victoria Riptides1072125816
Nanaimo Regal10433221311
Richmond Olympic1014513356
Vancouver Pegasus101458176
Richmond Club Ireland1004610274

Regular season results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoal ScorersRef.
June 10, 1984New Westminster QPRH2–3937George Pakos, Simon Keith
June 17, 1984Vancouver PegasusH3–0907John Hughes, Simon Keith, Brain Mousley
June 24, 1984Richmond Club IrelandA0–1Glenn Johnston
June 30, 1984Nanaimo RegalH4–0100Ken Garraway (2), Rob Wallace, Mike Collis
July 7, 1984Richmond OlympicH4–1982Simon Keith (2), Doug Adlem, Ken Garraway
July 14, 1984New Westminster QPRA1–2Scott Weinberg, Glenn Johnston
July 22, 1984Nanaimo RegalH1–1700Scott Weinberg
July 29, 1984Vancouver PegasusA2–2Glenn Johnston, Brain Mousley
August 6, 1984Richmond Club IrelandH3–0600Ian Klitze (2), Glenn Johnston
August 12, 1984Richmond OlympicA0–2Ken Garraway, Doug Adlem

Victoria Cup Final results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoal ScorersRef.
August 23, 1984New Westminster QPRA6–2George Pakos, Ken Garraway
August 26, 1984New Westminster QPRH3–0907George Pakos, Doug Adlem, Glenn Johnston

Exhibition results

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoal ScorersRef.
July 17, 1984Canada Men's National TeamH0–41,105none

Team management

  • Canada Joe Stott - president
  • Canada Dave Davies - general manager
  • Canada David Keith - head coach

1985 Western Alliance Challenge Series

Series final standings

PosTeamPldWTLGFGAGDPts
1San Jose Earthquakes7412109+113
2F.C. Seattle73131611+510
3Victoria Riptide73131213−110
4F.C. Portland7124815−75

Results by round

June 15, 1985 WACS 1Victoria Riptide3–2FC PortlandVictoria, British Columbia
14:00John Noble 45+', 83' Ken Andrews 78'Tim Newton 33' Brent Goulet 65'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 200
July 6, 1985 WACS 2Victoria Riptide0–1San Jose EarthquakesVictoria, British Columbia
14:00John Catliff 76' (o.g.)Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 600
July 13, 1985 WACS 3Victoria Riptide4–2FC SeattleVictoria, British Columbia
14:00George Pakos 33', Nick Gilbert 38' Ken Garraway 49'Bruce Raney Brian Schmetzer 85'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 450
July 20, 1985 WACS 4Victoria Riptide2–1FC PortlandVictoria, British Columbia
14:00Ken Garraway 16' Greg Kern 67' (pen.)Brent Goulet 37'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 400
July 28, 1985 WACS 5Victoria Riptide2–2CanadaVictoria, British Columbia
14:00Ian Baird 65' Carey Cleaver 75'John Catliff 3' Greg Ion 83'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 600
August 9, 1985 WACS 6FC Seattle3–0Victoria RiptideSeattle, Washington
19:30Bruce Raney 9' Robbie Zipp 18' Brian Schmetzer 34'Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 1,628
August 17, 1985 WACS 7San Jose Earthquakes2–1Victoria RiptideSan Jose, California
19:30Fred Hamel 13' (Dangerfield) Carlos Morales 76' Chris Dangerfield 85'Lou Garraway 21' (McGuire, Hood)Stadium: Spartan Stadium Attendance: 3,489

Exhibition match results

May 26, 1985 friendlyUpper Island Selects1–2Victoria RiptideNanaimo, British Columbia
Tony Leach 44'Ken Andrews 35' Tony Ensons 85' (pen.)Stadium: Caledonian Park
May 29, 1985 friendlyVictoria Riptide2–1Upper Island SelectsVictoria, British Columbia
Nick Gilbert 21' Tony Ensons 86' (pen.)Doug Muirhead 46'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 150
June 2, 1985 friendlyVictoria Riptide3–2Mean Green (Dallas, TX)Victoria, British Columbia
17:00Jamie Lowery 20' Ken Andrews 30' Greg KernManny Servantes David Easterly 75'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 300
June 21, 1985 friendlyVictoria Riptide1–3Edmonton Brick MenVictoria, British Columbia
19:30David McGill 24' (o.g.)Carlos Marquez 4', 54', 67'Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 400
July 21, 1985 friendlyEdmonton Brick Men5–0Victoria RiptideEdmonton, Alberta
16:00Peter Stepaniak Ross Ongaro Carlos Marquez Norm Odinga Victoria 90' (o.g.)Stadium: Clarke Stadium Attendance: 967
August 24, 1985 friendlyVictoria Riptide1–2PCL All-StarsVictoria, British Columbia
Lou Garraway 12'John Connor 8' Rick Douglas 45' (pen.)Stadium: Royal Athletic Park Attendance: 400 Referee: Graham Cope

1985 Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
No. Pos. Nation Player — GK CAN Grant Darley — GK CAN Sven Habermann — GK Gary Smith — GK Tobin Walker — DF CAN Randy Samuel — DF CAN Iain Baird — DF CAN Greg Kern — DF CAN Carey Cleaver — DF CAN Dan Sudeyko — DF WAL John Hughes — DF Ken Andrews — DF John Noble — DF Gordie Horth — MF CAN Jamie Lowery — MF CAN John CatliffNo. Pos. Nation Player — MF CAN George Pakos — MF John McGuire — FW CAN Doug Muirhead — FW CAN Nick Gilbert — FW CAN Ken Garraway — FW CAN Lou Garraway — FW Lance Hollett — CAN Buzz Parsons — CAN Keith Bridge — CAN Steve Moss — Tony Ensons — Demetre Gilbert — Mike McStravich — Dan Hood
—GKCANGrant Darley
—GKCANSven Habermann
—GKGary Smith
—GKTobin Walker
—DFCANRandy Samuel
—DFCANIain Baird
—DFCANGreg Kern
—DFCANCarey Cleaver
—DFCANDan Sudeyko
—DFWALJohn Hughes
—DFKen Andrews
—DFJohn Noble
—DFGordie Horth
—MFCANJamie Lowery
—MFCANJohn Catliff
No.Pos.NationPlayer
—MFCANGeorge Pakos
—MFJohn McGuire
—FWCANDoug Muirhead
—FWCANNick Gilbert
—FWCANKen Garraway
—FWCANLou Garraway
—FWLance Hollett
—CANBuzz Parsons
—CANKeith Bridge
—CANSteve Moss
—Tony Ensons
—Demetre Gilbert
—Mike McStravich
—Dan Hood

Team management

See also

External links