What do Vic West soccer and the Miami Dolphins in that other football have in common? Both are experiencing a return to prominence, although you only have to go back to the 1980s for Vic West, while the Dolphins’ last championship was during the disco ball era in the 1970s.
Vic West and Gorge FC, the only undefeated teams in the Vancouver Island Soccer League Division 1, will meet Friday night in a marquee match-up at 8 p.m. on Finlayson pitch at Topaz Park. Vic West is on six wins to start the season, outscoring opponents 33-6, and Gorge FC on five wins and a draw with 22 goals for and six against.
Vic West, the oldest club in sa国际传媒 at 127 years, ended a 34-year drought last spring by winning the VISL Jackson Cup for the 23rd time but the first time since 1989.
It capped a monumental climb back for a club that won six sa国际传媒 and four Canadian championships in the 1970s and 1980s, and produced 1986 World Cup player Jamie Lowery, only to fall to the Fourth Division and have to win three promotions since 2009 just to get back to the First Division.
The next goal is to re-add the Garrison Cup VISL regular-season and Province Cup sa国际传媒 championships to the trophy case in 2024. The revamped Wests seem well on their way toward those objectives, particularly with the addition this season of five-time VISL MVP Paddy Nelson.
“Vic West is full of history and championship winning teams, it’s a big deal to make our alumni proud of the club again” says Derek DeGroot, co-coach of Vic West with Stu Coulter.
Both Vic West and Gorge FC feature players from Nico Craveiro’s Pacific Coast League-champion Victoria United squad, a representative squad that plays during summer.
In the VISL First Division table, Vic West is on 18 points, Gorge FC 16, defending Garrison Cup regular-season champion Lakehill 12, Cowichan Axis FC 10, Nanaimo United and Bays United nine points, Comox Valley United six, Powell River Villa five in its 50th anniversary season, Westcastle Academy two and the Victoria Highlanders zero.
“One cannot help but look at the standings and say that this will be an early turning point for teams as they jockey for positioning,” said VISL executive-director Vince Greco.
That is no more so than at the top of the table Friday at Topaz.
