Calgary Foothills F.C.
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Calgary Foothills Football Club is a Canadian
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club based in
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, that competes in
League1 Alberta League1 Alberta (L1AB) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Alberta, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Alberta Soccer Association as a third division pro–am league in the Canadi ...
(L1AB). The club was founded as a youth club in 1972 and joined as a USL2 franchise in 2015. The team plays its home games at the Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks. The team colours are green and white.


History

Calgary had previously hosted the
Calgary Storm The Calgary Mustangs (formerly the Calgary Storm and Team Calgary) were a soccer team in Calgary, Alberta, that played in the semi-professional Premier Development League, USL Premier Development League in 2001 and the professional A-League (199 ...
of USL2 (then known as
Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...
) during the 2001 season. Calgary Foothills FC launched in 2014 as they played a series of exhibition games against Vancouver Whitecaps U 23's,
FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...
Reserves, and local university clubs. The club's inaugural game was played on May 17, 2015 against
Puget Sound Gunners FC Puget Sound Gunners FC was an American soccer team based in Issaquah, Washington, United States. Founded in 2010, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, from 2011 to 2015. In 2012 ...
, winning 2–1. The club finished 4th in the Northwest Division in 2015 with a 3–2–7 record, ultimately missing the playoffs. In the 2016 season, Calgary Foothills won the Northwest Division with an 8–3–3 record, despite only 4% of supporters predicting the club would win the division. In the
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, Calgary Foothills would defeat Seattle Sounders U-23, FC Golden State Force, and
FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...
to win the Western Conference. Calgary Foothills would later defeat Ocean City Nor'easters in the semifinals to advance to the 2016 final against
Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, playing in Saginaw, and began playing in 1996. In ...
. Calgary would lose the final 3–2 on a controversial penalty decision in the 86th minute. In the 2017 season, despite losing key players Elijah Adekugbe and Dominic Russo to injury, Calgary Foothills would improve on their point total from the season before, finishing second in the Northwest Division on goal differential to Portland Timbers U-23. The club would lose to Portland in the Northwest Division play-in game. Off the pitch, the club would open an $11 million indoor training facility, the first of its kind in Western Canada. After playing in three stadiums in three years, and struggling to find a venue that met league standards in Calgary, the club would move 20 km south to the town of Okotoks for the 2018 season to play at Foothills Composite High School stadium. Prior to the start of the season, the club made headlines when Canadian national women's team goalkeeper
Stephanie Labbé Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbé (born October 10, 1986) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. She won a bronze medal with Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the NWSL Championship with the Courage in 2019, and a ...
would try out for the USL2 squad. The club would have their best season to date during 2018, only losing once in 14 games, and would become Western Conference champions after defeating
Colorado Rapids U-23 Colorado Rapids U–23 were an American soccer team based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado. Originally founded in 2000 as part of the development system for the Colorado Rapids, the team played in the Premier Development League, t ...
and
FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...
. Foothills would advance to the league final for the second time in three seasons after defeating
Chicago FC United Chicago FC United, commonly called FC United, is an American soccer club in the Chicago metropolitan area. FC United fields youth teams for boys and girls, and a semi-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth-tier of American soccer. Yout ...
, and would win the 2018 Championship 4–2 after extra time, over
Reading United AC Reading United AC is an American soccer team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club plays its home games at Alvernia University. The club's col ...
. The Foothills played in
Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
for the first ever SK Summer Soccer Series which is hosted by the
Saskatchewan Selects The Saskatchewan Selects are an exhibition soccer team based on Saskatchewan that has played matches against other Canadian soccer teams. The team was created to establish a foundation for professional soccer in the province. History In March 2 ...
. The Foothills defeated the Selects 2–1 in front of 3,067 people. In April 2020, Calgary Foothills announced their withdrawal from the
2020 USL League Two season The 2020 USL League Two season was to have been the 26th season of the USL League Two, the top pre-professional soccer league in the United States, since its establishment in 1995. Flint City Bucks were the defending champions after defeating Re ...
due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. That same month, the league announced the 2020 season would be cancelled. In 2023, they joined
League1 Alberta League1 Alberta (L1AB) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Alberta, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Alberta Soccer Association as a third division pro–am league in the Canadi ...
, playing in the league's exhibition series, ahead of the official launch the following season. In 2023, they won the league's exhibition series championship.


Youth system

The Foothills have a full youth academy system from ages U4-U18 for boys and girls. Teams play in the Calgary Minor Soccer Association (CMSA) Tiers 1–6. The Generation program consists of the top players in U15 and U17 boys and girls. These teams are prepared to qualify and compete for the Canada Soccer Toyota National Championship.


Supporters' groups

The Foot Soldiers were founded in February 2015 with the intention of bringing a passionate atmosphere to Calgary Foothills FC games.


Coaching staff

*
Jay Wheeldon Jonathan "Jay" Wheeldon (born 28 August 1988) is an English football coach and former player who serves as assistant coach of Cavalry FC. Career Early career After spending many of his youth years with English academies Exeter City and Plymou ...
– Head coach * Paul Ferries – Assistant coach * Mark McLaren – Assistant coach


Roster


Notable former players


USL2/L1AB Squad

* Canadian women's national team goalkeeper
Stephanie Labbé Stephanie Lynn Marie Labbé (born October 10, 1986) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. She won a bronze medal with Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the NWSL Championship with the Courage in 2019, and a ...
had a tryout with the team in preparation for the 2018 season, posting a shutout against the
Lethbridge Pronghorns The Lethbridge Pronghorns are the athletic teams that represent the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. They have men's and women's teams that compete in U Sports basketball, rugby union, soccer, swimming, and track and fiel ...
men's soccer team.


Foothills Academy

* Source
Calgary Foothills FC
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Club records


Most appearances

''League and playoffs'' Bolded players are currently on the Calgary Foothills roster.


Top goalscorers

''League and playoffs'' Bolded players are currently on the Calgary Foothills roster.


Record


Year-by-year


Honours

*USL League Two **National Champions: 2018 ** Western Conference Champions: 2016, 2018 ** Northwest Division Champions: 2016, 2018


Player honours


References

{{Soccer in Calgary Foothills FC USL League Two teams Canadian soccer clubs in American leagues League1 Alberta clubs Association football clubs established in 1972 1972 establishments in Canada Articles with hCards