Voyageurs Cup

The Voyageurs Cup () is the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada, awarded to the best men's and women's clubs in the country.

The Cup was conceived and commissioned by fans of the Canada men's national team, the Voyageurs, in 2002. From 2002 to 2007, the cup was awarded annually to the Canadian team finishing with the best record in the USL First Division, from regular-season matches against other Canadian teams in the league. Since 2008, the trophy has been presented to the winner of the Canadian Championship, which also awards Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The current men's cup holders are Vancouver Whitecaps FC, after winning the 2024 Canadian Championship.

History

The Voyageurs Cup was first conceived in March 2002 by fans of the Canada men's national team, known as the Voyageurs, following Canada's surprise success at the 2000 Gold Cup. After years of being promised a domestic Canadian cup by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), the Voyageurs took it upon themselves to commission a national trophy using member donations. Veteran Voyageurs member and chief fundraiser since the group's founding in 1996, Dwayne Cole, solicited donations on the Voyageurs internet forum, resulting in $3,500–4,000 donated. The money was used to commission the trophy, made in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The cup itself is a handled wine cooler made from solid brass and electroplated in sterling silver. The base is lacquered, solid Canadian Oak and set with die cut polished aluminum maple leaf annual plates. An accompanying solid oak case was also crafted for safe transport. The cost of engraving, shipping, maintenance, and promotion of the trophy continued to be paid for by private donations from individual members of the Voyageurs until 2008.

The group agreed to award the cup to whichever of the four Canadian clubs in the USL A-League – the Montreal Impact, Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto Lynx and Calgary Storm – collected the most points against each other during the regular USL season.

Prior to the start of the 2007 USL season, the Toronto Lynx self-relegated to the Premier Development League, and effectively withdrew from the Voyageurs Cup competition in the process. As a result, in 2007 the trophy was decided solely on regular-season results between the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Following the creation of the Canadian Championship, a separate tournament that would include the two remaining Canadian clubs from the USL First Division, and Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, the trophy was handed over to the Canadian Soccer Association in 2008 to be presented to the Canadian Championship winners. The terms of the agreement were to be reviewed in 2010.

The Montreal Impact won the first seven titles, the first six by virtue of their regular-season record in the USL against other Canadian sides. They won the inaugural 2008 Canadian Championship to retain the trophy, their seventh straight Voyageurs Cup victory. Toronto FC won the 2009 Canadian Championship to win the Voyageurs Cup for the first time. After thirteen unsuccessful attempts, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC won their first Voyageurs Cup title in 2015. The Calgary Storm never finished higher than fourth in the competition while the Edmonton Aviators finished third in their lone appearance in the tournament. Both Alberta teams folded after the 2004 season. The Toronto Lynx finished as runners-up in four of the five years they participated. FC Edmonton played in five consecutive Canadian Championship semi-finals from 2011 to 2015, but were never able to reach the final. The closest they came was in 2014, when they had almost defeated the Montreal Impact on away goals, but conceded from a penalty kick in the 90+7th minute to lose 4–5 on aggregate.

There was also a Voyageurs Cup West for Women and Voyageurs Cup East for Women awarded since 2004. The first and only Women's Voyageurs Super Cup was contested in 2006.

Format

2002–2007: USL era

Prior to 2008, the men's title was decided on regular-season matches between Canada's USL A-League/USL First Division sides.

2008–2010: Canadian Championship, round robin format

The inaugural Canadian Championship was held in 2008, with the three Canadian teams spread across MLS (Toronto FC) and the USL First Division (Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps) each playing four non-League games in a round robin format.

2011–present: Canadian Championship, knockout format

Beginning with the 2011 tournament, the format was different from previous editions. In 2011, with four teams involved, the tournament was changed to be a home-and-away semi-final round and a similar final round between the winners. Toronto, as reigning champions, were assigned the top seed and were matched with Edmonton, which was assigned the fourth seed as newcomers to the tournament. The two remaining teams, Montreal and Vancouver, faced off in the other semi-final.

Champions

Year-by-year

Titles by club

* * denotes team is no longer in operation.
* Bolded teams contested for the Voyageurs Cup in the 2025 Canadian Championship.
* Statistics for CF Montréal include the original Montreal Impact of the USL and NASL, who contested the trophy from 2002 to 2011, before being replaced by a new MLS franchise of the same name and ownership.
* Statistics for Vancouver Whitecaps FC include the original Vancouver Whitecaps of the USL, who contested the trophy from 2002 to 2010, before being replaced by a new MLS franchise of the same name and ownership.

Top goalscorers

Bolded players are still active players with a Canadian team.

Women's Voyageurs Cup

From 2004 to 2006, The Voyageurs also awarded a trophy to the best Canadian club in the Western and Eastern Conferences of the USL W-League. In the event that the western and eastern champions met at any point during the post-season championship, they would additionally be recognized as the Voyageurs Super Cup champion.

See also

* James River Cup
* Southern Derby
* Canadian Classique
* Cascadia Cup

Notes

References

External links

* (archived)

Canadian Championship
on the Canadian Soccer Association website

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Canadian Championship
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Soccer cup competitions in Canada
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Recurring sporting events established in 2002
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