Victoria Highlanders FC (women)

Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian women's soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia that plays in League1 British Columbia.

Victoria Highlanders FC
Full nameVictoria Highlanders Football Club
Nickname(s)Women Highlanders
Peninsula CO-OP Highlanders
Founded2001
StadiumCentennial Stadium
Head coachNeil Sedgwick
LeagueLeague1 British Columbia
2023L1BC, 7th
Playoffs, DNQ

The team was founded in 2001 as the Victoria Stars FC. In 2010, the team was acquired by the Victoria Highlanders and re-branded to serve as their women's team. In 2012, they became known as the Peninsula Co-Op Women's Soccer Highlanders. The team was dissolved after the 2014 season. In 2021, the women's team was re-founded following a merger with Vancouver Island FC.

History

Victoria Stars FC
Victoria Stars logo

Victoria Stars FC was founded as a women's soccer club in 2001. The Stars were operated by the Victoria Women's Soccer Society and their team colours were red and white. Playing in the Pacific Coast Soccer League Women's Premier Division they earned their first victory in club history on May 27, 2001 in their home opener against the Kelowna Predators in front of 200 fans.[1] Ahead of the 2002 playoffs, the Stars played a friendly against the Chinese Taipei U19 team, who were preparing for the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship, which was hosted in Canada, ultimately losing 2-0.[2] They qualified for the playoffs for the first time in their second season, but lost both the semi-final and 3rd place match.[3] In 2004, the Stars advanced to the playoff finals, but were defeated finishing in second.[4] However, they were able to win the League Cup tournament (Kevin McAdams Memorial Cup) in 2004.[4] In 2005, they captured their first regular season title (winning the Jacques Moon Memorial League Cup), but once again lost in the Playoff Championship final, losing to Hibernian & Caledonian Saints FC by a score of 3-0.[5] However, they still managed to complete a double as they the League Cup winners in 2005.[6] In 2008, the Stars once again won the League Regular Season title[7] and also captured their first Playoff Championship, winning the Dave Fryatt Challenge Cup.[6]

Acquisition by Victoria Highlanders
Highlanders logo from 2010-2014

Ahead of the 2010 season, the Victoria Highlanders adopted the Stars, re-branding them as the Highlanders.[8] The Highlanders had previously announced interest in operating a women's club in the future, however, with the opportunity to save the Stars, they made the foray a little earlier than they anticipated.[9] They played in the PCSL in 2010,[10] finishing in second place.[11]

In 2011, they decided to move up to the USL W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada.[12] They would also field a reserve U20 squad in the USL Super 20 League.[13] They made their W-League debut on May 14, 2011 against the Seattle Sounders Women.[14]

Peninsula Co-op

In early 2012, the club announced that Peninsula Co-Op would become the Presenting Partner of the women's team, with the team being re-branded as Peninsula Co-Op Women's Soccer, due to the high costs (particularly travel costs) associated with running the club in the W-League, as they only averaged approximately 200 fans per home game in 2011, although the Highlanders would continue to be the operators of the team despite the name change.[15][16] The team would also change their colours from the Highlanders black and gold to the Peninsula Co-Op red and white, although they would still wear the Highlanders logo on their jersey along with the Peninsula logo.[17] In 2013, the W-League became the top level of women's soccer in North America, following the folding of the WPS at the end of 2012.[18] They opened the 2012 season with a 3-2 victory over their local rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps.[19]

Following a second consecutive poor season in the W-League, they decided to leave the W-League and return to the PCSL for 2013 (the Vancouver Whitecaps also dropped down to the PCSL for 2013), with the team being known as the Peninsula-Co-Op Highlanders.[20] In 2014, they were the PCSL Regular Season Champions as well as the Playoff champions, while the Reserve squad captured the Len McAdams League Cup as the Reserve Division champions.[6]

The women's team folded after the 2014 season, initially along with the men's team,[21] but was not part of the 2015 revival of the men's team with the new ownership group.[22]

Reformation for 2022

In 2021, it was announced that the Highlanders would be joining the new League1 British Columbia in both the men's and women's division, with the men's Highlanders organization merging with the women's club Vancouver Island FC, which played in the Women's Premier Soccer League.[23][24]

Seasons

as Victoria Stars FC

SeasonLeagueTeamsRecordRankPlayoffsRef
2001 PCSL 8 5–2–7 6th Did not qualify
2002 8 7–2–5 4th 4th
2003 9 6–4–5 5th Did not qualify
2004 6 1–6–3 5th Finalists
2005 8 8–1–1 1st Finalists
2006 8 9–1–4 3rd Semi-finals
2007 8 5–3–6 5th Did not qualify
2008 9 12–3–1 1st Champions
2009 9 10–3–3 3rd Semi-finals

as Victoria Highlanders

SeasonLeagueTeamsRecordRankPlayoffsRef
2010 PCSL 9 12–1–3 2nd Semi-finals
2011 USL W-League 8 1–3–10 8th Did not qualify [25]

as Peninsula Co-op Highlanders

SeasonLeagueTeamsRecordRankPlayoffsRef
2012 USL W-League 8 1–1–12 8th Did not qualify [26]
2013 PCSL 9 13–2–1 2nd Semi-finals [27]
2014 6 10–0–0 1st Champions [28]

as Victoria Highlanders FC

SeasonLeagueTeamsRecordRankPlayoffsRef
2022 League1 British Columbia 7 3–1–8 5th did not qualify [29]
2023 8 3–4–7 7th did not qualify [29]

References
  1. "Victoria Stars Win Home Opener 4-1!". Victoria Stars FC. May 27, 2001. Archived from the original on January 4, 2005.
  2. "Exhibition Match a Good Warmup for Playoffs". Victoria Stars FC. Archived from the original on October 10, 2002.
  3. "Strong Effort vs Team BC Pays Off". Victoria Stars FC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2003.
  4. "Coach Steve Bottomley profile". Victoria Stars FC. Archived from the original on June 23, 2006.
  5. "Saints Women Go Marching Out With A Bang". Hibernian & Caledonian Saints FC. July 31, 2005. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006.
  6. "Cups, Trophies, and Winners". Pacific Coast Soccer League. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020.
  7. Epp, Sharie (July 26, 2008). "United, Stars go for Challenge Cup this weekend". Times Colonist.
  8. Krieger, Dan (November 8, 2010). "Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report". Our Sports Central.
  9. "Highlanders launch Women's FC Team". Victoria Highlanders. February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on April 4, 2010.
  10. "Women Wrap up Home Schedule with 4-0 Win". Victoria Highlanders. July 7, 2010. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013.
  11. Douglas, Alan (May 13, 2011). "Whitecaps FC women kick off their 2011 USL W-League season this weekend on Vancouver Island". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  12. "Highlanders Women Join USL W-League". USL W-League. December 1, 2010. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011.
  13. "Movin On Up". Victoria Highlanders. December 1, 2010. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013.
  14. "Historical Kickoff for Highlanders Women". Victoria Highlanders. May 10, 2011. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013.
  15. "Peninsula Co-op to be Womens Team Presenting Partner". Victoria Highlanders. February 22, 2012. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013.
  16. "Peninsula Co-op on Board as Highlander Women's Sponsor". Independent Sports News. February 23, 2012. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021.
  17. Paterson, Travis (February 28, 2012). "Co-op fuels women's soccer team". Victoria News. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  18. Kassouf, Jeff (November 6, 2015). "USL W-League, once top flight, folds after 21 seasons". The Equalizer.
  19. Dheenshaw, Cleve (May 15, 2012). "Victoria teams stun Whitecaps" (PDF). Times Colonist. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2014.
  20. "Highlanders Announce W-League Status". Victoria Highlanders. December 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 10, 2013.
  21. Paterson, Travis (February 3, 2015). "Highlanders FC soccer club folds after six years". Saanich News.
  22. Dheensaw, Cleve (April 1, 2015). "Highlanders are back, but in Pacific Coast Soccer League". Times Colonist.
  23. "League1BC welcomes Victoria Highlanders as founding License Holder". British Columbia Soccer Association. November 26, 2021.
  24. Jacques, John (November 26, 2021). "Victoria Highlanders Begin New Chapter In League1 BC". Northern Tribune.
  25. Litterer, David. "The W-League (USL) (2006-present)". Soccer History USA.
  26. "2013 USL Media Guide". United Soccer League.
  27. "Standings - Premier Division - Current". PCSL. Archived from the original on December 6, 2013.
  28. "Standings - Premier Division - Current". PCSL. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  29. "League1 British Columbia Women Standings". Canadian Soccer History Archive.
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