Victoria Riptides (also known as the RipTides and Riptide) were a professional soccer team based out of Victoria, British Columbia. The team played for two successful seasons, the 1984 season of the Pacific Coast Soccer League and 1985 season of the Western Alliance Challenge Series.
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History
David Keith was coach of the 1984 Riptides. The team had a perfect record (7-0-0), defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps, Nanaimo FC, New Westminster Queen Park Rangers and Richmond United.
In 1985, four independent west coast soccer clubs joined together to create an informal challenge series. The challenge cup pitted the Riptides against F.C. Seattle, F.C. Portland and the San Jose Earthquakes in a home and away series. The cup also included games against the Canadian national soccer team which was training for the 1986 World Cup in Vancouver, BC. The national team was not included in the standings.[1] The teams also played the Edmonton Brickmen. The games against the Brickmen counted in the standings which determined the end of series champions.
The 1985 Riptides had a 3-1-3 record, finishing second to the Earthquakes in the final standings. The success of the challenge series led to a discussion among the four teams about forming a permanent league or alliance. The Riptides management at the time, which included Brian Hughes, disagreed with this approach and did not participate in future games in what became known as the Western Soccer Alliance. The Western Soccer Alliance became the Western Soccer League in 1989 which merged with the American Soccer League in 1990 to form the American Professional Soccer League.
Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.