Cavalry FC

Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ATCO Field on the grounds of Spruce Meadows in Foothills County.

Not to be confused with Virginia Cavalry FC.

Cavalry FC
Full nameCavalry Football Club
Short nameCavs[1][2][3]
FoundedMay 5, 2018 (2018-05-05)
Stadium
Capacity5,288
OwnerSpruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment
PresidentIan Allison
CoachTommy Wheeldon Jr.
LeagueCanadian Premier League
2019Canadian Premier League, 1st (runners-up)
WebsiteClub website

The team is managed by Tommy Wheeldon Jr. and owned by Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment.[4]

History

On May 5, 2018, Calgary was one of four cities accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership.[5]

Cavalry FC was announced on May 17, 2018, as the second team to officially join the Canadian Premier League.[6] Spruce Meadow Sports & Entertainment Group CEO Linda Southern-Heathcott and COO Ian Allison were joined by league commissioner David Clanachan and league president Paul Beirne to unveil the team.[7]

The club's name, crest and colours were all revealed at the event at Spruce Meadows, while Tommy Wheeldon Jr. was announced as head coach and general manager.[8][9] Plans to renovate existing facilities at Spruce Meadows, resulting in a soccer-specific stadium with a capacity of at least 5,000 seats, were also revealed.[10][11]

On June 26, 2019, Cavalry FC qualified for the 2019 Canadian Premier League Championship by winning the inaugural CPL Spring season.[12] The following month the Cavs became the first CPL club to defeat a Major League Soccer club in the Canadian Championship by upsetting Vancouver Whitecaps FC in 2019 over two-legs.[13]

Goalkeeper Marco Carducci became the first CPL player called up to the Canada men's national soccer team when, on August 28, 2019, he was requested for a pair of Nations League A matches against Cuba.[14]

Colours and crest

Home

Away

The team's crest was designed by Jon Rogers. The crest features a chevron in homage to the Lord Strathcona's Horse armoured regiment, Alberta Foothills and Rocky Mountains, and a football to represent the past and future of Calgary as a sporting city.[11]

The club's colours are green, red and black (branded by the club as "army green," "Calgary red," and "black on black"). These colours symbolize the green of Calgary's nature and Spruce Meadows, and the red and black of other Calgary sports teams and the flag of Lord Strathcona's Horse.[15]

Stadium

Cavalry FC play at ATCO Field, a 5,288-seat stadium located at Spruce Meadows, at the 'Meadows on the Green' equestrian ring.[16][17] The stadium is modular to allow for future growth and uses natural grass. Free shuttles bring fans to the stadium from the Somerset–Bridlewood CTrain station.[18] In September 2019, Spruce Meadows presented a new area plan to Foothills County, that includes a 12,000 seat soccer-specific stadium on the grounds that would replace ATCO Field over the next 30 years.[19][20]

Club culture

Supporters

Cavalry FC are supported by the Foot Soldiers, a supporters group that originally formed in 2015 to support USL League Two club Calgary Foothills.[21]

Rivalries

The Al Classico exists with FC Edmonton as a geographical rivalry between the two Alberta-based clubs in the Canadian Premier League. The rivalry is part of a larger sporting rivalry between teams based in Calgary and Edmonton; the two largest cities in the province.[22] The Wildrose Cup is awarded annually to the team that wins the most points from the series in league play, which Cavalry won the first year.[23]

A rivalry developed between Cavalry FC and Forge FC during the 2019 spring season as the two top clubs in the league.[24] The rivalry bled into the 2019 Canadian Championship in which Cavalry defeated Forge 3–2 over two legs on aggregate. The first leg, which resulted in a 1–1 draw, ended with heated altercations between both sides on the pitch, leading to a disciplinary review by the Canadian Soccer Association.[25]

Honours

Players and staff

Current roster
As of April 15, 2020[26]
No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Marco Carducci  Canada
3 Defender Nathan Mavila  England
4 Defender Dominick Zator  Canada
5 Defender Mason Trafford  Canada
6 Midfielder Nik Ledgerwood  Canada
7 Forward Oliver  Brazil
8 Midfielder Elijah Adekugbe  England
9 Forward Jordan Brown  England
10 Midfielder Sergio Camargo  Canada
11 Midfielder José Escalante  Honduras
14 Defender Jay Wheeldon  England
15 Midfielder Elliot Simmons  Canada
16 Midfielder Bruno Zebie  Canada
17 Forward Nico Pasquotti  Canada
19 Forward Jair Córdova  Peru
20 Forward José Hernández  Canada
22 Goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos  Canada
23 Midfielder Richard Luca  Brazil
24 Forward Aribim Pepple  Canada
— Defender Robert Boskovic (on loan from Toronto FC II)  Canada
— Defender Mohamed Farsi  Canada

Current staff
As of September 18, 2018[27][28]
Executive
Owner, chairman, and CEO Linda A. Southern-Heathcott
President and COO Ian Alisson
General manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
Coaching staff
Head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.
Assistant coach Martin Nash
Goalkeeper coach Jordan Santiago

Head coaches
As of November 3, 2019
Coach Nation Tenure Record
GWDLWin %
Tommy Wheeldon Jr.  England May 17, 2018 – present 38 23 7 8 060.53

Club captains
Years Name Nation
2019–present Nik Ledgerwood  Canada

Record

Year-by-year
Year CPL regular season Position CPL Finals Canadian Championship CONCACAF League League attendance Top scorer Ref
GP W D L GF GA Pts Spring Fall Overall Name Gls
2019 28 19 5 4 51 19 62 1st 1st 1st Runners-up Semi-finals Ineligible 3,292 Dominique Malonga 11 [29]
2020 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Did not qualify

Note: Only league goals counted for top scorer

References
  1. Saelhof, Todd (August 28, 2019). "Cavs 'keeper Carducci gets call up to Canadian national team". Montreal Gazette.
  2. "CPL, Canadian soccer reacts to Cavs' historic win". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  3. Adams, J.J. (July 24, 2019). "Whitecaps Game Day: Everything on the line in Canadian Championship showdown with Cavalry". The Province.
  4. "Cavalry FC, Calgary's new professional soccer team, to debut in 2019". Yahoo. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  5. "Four clubs get pro membership from Soccer Canada; expected to join CPL". TSN. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  6. "Spruce Meadows unveils name of Calgary's pro soccer team". Sportsnet. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  7. "Canadian Premier League reveals Calgary team "Cavalry FC"". Waking The Red. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  8. Rieger, Sarah. "Cavalry FC, Calgary's new professional soccer team, to debut in 2019". CBC. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  9. "Cavalry FC announced as second Canadian Premier League club". Sporting News. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  10. "Calgary welcomes Canadian Premier League team - 660 NEWS". 660 NEWS. May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  11. Austin, Daniel. "'Cavalry FC' the Canadian Premier League team in Calgary". The Calgary Sun. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  12. Saelhof, Todd. "Cavalry FC scores first-ever CPL honour by winning spring season title". Calgary Sun. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  13. Adams, J.J. "Cavalry FC 2, Whitecaps 1: Vancouver's Canadian Championship is over; the MLS season, too". The Province. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  14. Jaques, John (August 28, 2019). "Marco Carducci Becomes First CPL Player To Get Canada Call-Up". Northern Tribune. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  15. "Emblem Inspiration". canpl.ca. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  16. White, Ryan (December 27, 2018). "Construction underway on new soccer stadium at Spruce Meadows ahead of CPL launch". CTV News. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  17. Austin, Daniel (May 18, 2018). "'Cavalry FC' the Canadian Premier League team in Calgary". Calgary Herald. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  18. "Cavalry FC: "An unlikely sport in an unlikely place"". the11.ca. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  19. "New 12,000-seat soccer stadium part of Spruce Meadows future plan". Calgary. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  20. McGarvey, Dan (September 19, 2019). "12,000-seat Cavalry FC soccer stadium and field house part of future vision of Spruce Meadows". CBC News. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  21. Armen Bedakian (July 11, 2018). "Supporter's Voice | Sean Clarke, Foot Soldiers SG". Cavalry FC.
  22. Van Diest, Derek (June 7, 2018). "Edmonton the next stop for Canadian Premier League". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
  23. John Jacques (September 12, 2019). "Cavalry FC Wins First Silverware With Wildrose Cup". Northern Tribune. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  24. "Cavalry FC vs. Forge FC developing into CPL's best rivalry". Sportsnet. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  25. Spencer, Donna (June 12, 2019). "Cavalry FC advance to face Whitecaps in 3rd round of Canadian Championship". CBC News.
  26. "Roster". cavalryfc.canpl.ca. Cavalry FC. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  27. "Owner Profile". cavalryfc.canpl.ca. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  28. "Cavalry FC Unveils Coaching Staff". cavalryfc.canpl.ca. September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  29. "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
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