# 2023 Vancouver FC season

The 2023 Vancouver FC season was the first season in the history of Vancouver FC. In addition to the Canadian Premier League, the club competed in the Canadian Championship.
For their inaugural season, Vancouver FC appointed Afshin Ghotbi as the club's new head coach on November 2, 2022.

## Current squad

As of September 5, 2023
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (Age) | Previous club |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Callum Irving | GK | (1993-03-16)March 16, 1993 (aged 30) | Pacific FC |
| 21 | Jeremy Zielinski | GK | (1999-01-01)January 1, 1999 (aged 24) | Hawaii Pacific Sharks |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Kadin Chung | RB | (1998-09-05)September 5, 1998 (aged 25) | Toronto FC |
| 3 | Rocco Romeo | CB | (2000-03-25)March 25, 2000 (aged 23) | Valour FC |
| 4 | Ibrahim Bakare | CB | (2002-05-07)May 7, 2002 (aged 21) | Cheshunt F.C. |
| 12 | Tyler Crawford | LB | (2004-03-09)March 9, 2004 (aged 19) | Michigan State Spartans |
| 20 | Anthony White | CB | (2003-08-01)August 1, 2003 (aged 20) | Toronto Varsity Blues |
| 25 | James Cameron | RB | (2005-01-24)January 24, 2005 (aged 18) | Unity FC |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 6 | Renan Garcia | CM | (1986-06-19)June 19, 1986 (aged 37) | Comercial |
| 8 | Nima Moazeni Zadeh | CM / AM | (1997-07-05)July 5, 1997 (aged 26) | Capilano Blues |
| 11 | Gabriel Bitar | AM / CF | (1998-08-23)August 23, 1998 (aged 25) | FC Edmonton |
| 13 | Vasco Fry | CM | (2000-07-30)July 30, 2000 (aged 23) | Whitecaps FC 2 |
| 14 | Nicky Gyimah | RW | (2003-05-27)May 27, 2003 (aged 20) | Slough Town |
| 16 | Elliot Simmons | CM | (1998-02-05)February 5, 1998 (aged 25) | Cavalry FC |
| 17 | Min-jae Kwak | LW | (2000-08-25)August 25, 2000 (aged 23) | Syracuse Pulse |
| 19 | Mikaël Cantave | AM / CF | (1996-10-25)October 25, 1996 (aged 27) | Cavalry FC |
| 24 | Lennon Thompson | CM | (2005-01-01)January 1, 2005 (aged 18) | Unity FC |
| 26 | Taryck Tahid | AM / CF | (2007-04-20)April 20, 2007 (aged 16) | VanCity Pro FA |
| 33 | Ivan Mejia | CM | (2001-05-09)May 9, 2001 (aged 22) | TSS FC Rovers |
| Forwards ||||||
| 7 | Nathaniel St. Louis | CF | (2000-12-05)December 5, 2000 (aged 23) | UAB Blazers |
| 9 | Alejandro Díaz | FW | (1996-01-27)January 27, 1996 (aged 27) | Sogndal |
| 10 | Shaan Hundal | CF | (1999-07-14)July 14, 1999 (aged 24) | Inter Miami CF II |
| 15 | Mouhamadou Kane | CF | (2003-10-12)October 12, 2003 (aged 20) | York United |
| 18 | Ameer Kinani | CF | (2001-04-20)April 20, 2001 (aged 22) | TMU Bold |

### Staff

Executive :
| President | Rob Friend |
| Coaching staff ||
| Head coach | Afshin Ghotbi |
| Assistant coach | Arez Ardalani |
| Assistant coach | Niall Thompson |
| Goalkeeping coach | Mark Village |
| Equipment manager | Cortlin Tonn |
| Manager of football operations | Jeevin Kang |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | From club | Fee/notes | Date |
| GK | Callum Irving | Pacific FC | Free | December 14, 2022 |
| MF | Elliot Simmons | Cavalry FC | Free | December 21, 2022 |
| FW | Mouhamadou Kane | York United | Undisclosed | December 22, 2022 |
| DF | Kahlil John-Wentworth | Simcoe County Rovers | Free | January 12, 2023 |
| FW | Nathaniel St. Louis | UAB Blazers | Free | January 13, 2023 |
| DF | Rocco Romeo | Valour FC | Free | January 16, 2023 |
| MF | Gabriel Bitar | FC Edmonton | Free | January 18, 2023 |
| MF | Marcus Simmons | FC Edmonton | Free | January 25, 2023 |
| FW | Shaan Hundal | Inter Miami CF II | Free | January 31, 2023 |
| DF | Tyler Crawford | Michigan State Spartans | Free | February 2, 2023 |
| GK | Jeremy Zielinski | Hawaii Pacific Sharks | Free | February 23, 2023 |
| DF | Eugene Martínez | Cal Poly Pomona Broncos | Free | February 23, 2023 |
| MF | Nima Moazeni Zadeh | Capilano Blues | Free | February 23, 2023 |
| MF | Maël Henry | CF Montréal Academy | Free | February 28, 2023 |
| MF | Gael Sandoval | Guadalajara | Free | March 1, 2023 |
| DF | Kadin Chung | Toronto FC | Free | March 6, 2023 |
| FW | Nicky Gyimah | Slough Town | Free | March 8, 2023 |
| FW | Min-jae Kwak | Syracuse Pulse | Free | March 8, 2023 |
| DF | Ibrahim Bakare | Cheshunt F.C. | Free | March 10, 2023 |
| DF | Anthony White | Toronto Varsity Blues | Selected 1st overall in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft, signed a Standard Player Contract | March 22, 2023 |
| FW | Ameer Kinani | TMU Bold | Selected 2nd overall in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft, signed a CPL-U SPORTS contract | March 22, 2023 |
| FW | Emmanuel Robe | Romford F.C. | Free | April 14, 2023 |
| DF | James Cameron | Unity FC | Signed to a development contract, later converted to an Exceptional Young Talent contract | May 3, 2023 |
| MF | Lennon Thompson | Unity FC | Signed to a development contract | May 3, 2023 |
| FW | Kourosh Jamshidi | Unity FC | Signed to a development contract | May 3, 2023 |
| MF | Taryck Tahid | VanCity Pro FA | Free | May 6, 2023 |
| MF | Mikaël Cantave | Cavalry FC | Free | June 29, 2023 |
| MF | Renan Garcia | Comercial | Free | July 13, 2023 |
| MF | Ivan Mejia | TSS FC Rovers | Free | August 5, 2023 |

#### Loans in

| Pos. | Player | Loaned from | Fee/notes | Date |
| MF | Cristian Mares | Club Puebla | Season-long loan | February 28, 2023 |
| GK | Trevor Schneider | Altitude FC | Short-term relief player | July 7, 2023 |
| FW | Alejandro Díaz | Sogndal | One year loan | July 7, 2023 |
| MF | Vasco Fry | Whitecaps FC 2 | Loaned until end of season | August 3, 2023 |

#### Draft picks

Vancouver FC selected the following players in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.
| Round | Selection | Pos. | Player | Nationality | University |
| 1 | 1 | DF | Anthony White | Canada | Toronto |
| 1 | 2 | FW | Ameer Kinani | Iraq | TMU |

### Out
#### Transferred out

| No. | Pos. | Player | To club | Fee/notes | Date |
| | MF | Cristian Mares | Club Puebla | Loan terminated | April 14, 2023 |
| 19 | MF | Maël Henry | Cavalry FC | | June 29, 2023 |
| 13 | FW | Emmanuel Robe | | Contract terminated by mutual consent | June 29, 2023 |
| 10 | MF | Gael Sandoval | UdeG | Contract terminated by mutual consent | July 13, 2023 |
| 5 | DF | Eugene Martínez | | Contract terminated by mutual consent | August 3, 2023 |
| 23 | DF | Kahlil John-Wentworth | | Contract terminated by mutual consent | August 3, 2023 |
| 22 | MF | Marcus Simmons | Valletta F.C. | | September 5, 2023 |

## Competitions

Matches are listed in Langley local time: Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7)

### Overview

| Competition | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Canadian Premier League | Matchday 1 | Seventh | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 028.57 |
| Canadian Championship | First round | First round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | 29 | 8 | 5 | 16 | 28 | 51 | −23 | 027.59 |
Last updated: October 6, 2023 Source: Competitions

### Canadian Premier League
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Playoff qualification |
| 1 | Cavalry (S) | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 46 | 27 | +19 | 55 | First semifinal |
| 2 | Forge (C) | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 42 | First semifinal |
| 3 | HFX Wanderers | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 42 | Quarterfinal |
| 4 | Pacific | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 40 | Play-in round |
| 5 | York United | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 35 | 44 | −9 | 38 | Play-in round |
| 6 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 36 | |
| 7 | Vancouver | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 29 | |
| 8 | Valour | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 26 | |
* 1 2 Tie resolved by away goal differential; Forge: +4, Wanderers: −2

#### Results by match

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Result | L | W | D | D | L | D | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | D | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | W | L |
| Position | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

#### Matches
### Canadian Championship
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of October 6, 2023
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | CPL | CPL | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | CAN | Callum Irving | 28 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | USA | Jeremy Zielinski | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | CAN | Trevor Schneider | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | CAN | Kadin Chung | 14 | 0 | 12+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | CAN | Rocco Romeo | 26 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Ibrahim Bakare | 26 | 0 | 18+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | BLZ | Eugene Martínez | 12 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | CAN | Tyler Crawford | 23 | 0 | 14+9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | CAN | Anthony White | 20 | 0 | 17+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CAN | Kahlil John-Wentworth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | CAN | James Cameron | 19 | 1 | 17+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 6 | MF | BRA | Renan Garcia | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | IRN | Nima Moazeni Zadeh | 14 | 0 | 9+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | MEX | Gael Sandoval | 13 | 1 | 9+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | LBN | Gabriel Bitar | 26 | 6 | 23+2 | 6 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | PER | Vasco Fry | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | GHA | Nicky Gyimah | 12 | 0 | 2+9 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | CAN | Elliot Simmons | 26 | 0 | 24+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | KOR | Min-jae Kwak | 27 | 1 | 13+13 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | CAN | Maël Henry | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | HAI | Mikaël Cantave | 16 | 4 | 13+3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | CAN | Marcus Simmons | 5 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | CAN | Lennon Thompson | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | CAN | Taryck Tahid | 20 | 3 | 6+14 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | COL | Ivan Mejia | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | FW | CAN | Nathaniel St. Louis | 5 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | MEX | Alejandro Díaz | 14 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | CAN | Shaan Hundal | 29 | 6 | 20+8 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | FRA | Emmanuel Robe | 5 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | CAN | Mouhamadou Kane | 8 | 0 | 2+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | IRQ | Ameer Kinani | 21 | 1 | 2+18 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | CAN | Kourosh Jamshidi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

    As of October 6, 2023
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | CPL | Canadian Championship | Total |
| 1 | 10 | FW | | Shaan Hundal | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 1 | 11 | MF | | Gabriel Bitar | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | 19 | MF | | Mikaël Cantave | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | 26 | FW | | Taryck Tahid | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | 9 | FW | | Alejandro Díaz | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 6 | MF | | Renan Garcia | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 10 | MF | | Gael Sandoval | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 13 | MF | | Vasco Fry | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 17 | MF | | Min-jae Kwak | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 18 | FW | | Ameer Kinani | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 25 | DF | | James Cameron | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 28 | 0 | 28 |

### Clean sheets

    As of October 6, 2023
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | CPL | Canadian Championship | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Callum Irving | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 5 | 0 | 5 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of October 6, 2023
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | CPL | CPL | CPL | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | | Callum Irving | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Kadin Chung | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Rocco Romeo | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | | Ibrahim Bakare | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Eugene Martínez | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | | Renan Garcia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | | Nathaniel St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Nima Moazeni Zadeh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | | Alejandro Díaz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Shaan Hundal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Gael Sandoval | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | | Gabriel Bitar | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | | Tyler Crawford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | | Vasco Fry | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | | Emmanuel Robe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Nicky Gyimah | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | | Mouhamadou Kane | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | | Elliot Simmons | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | | Min-jae Kwak | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | | Ameer Kinani | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | | Maël Henry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | | Mikaël Cantave | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | | Anthony White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Marcus Simmons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Kahlil John-Wentworth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | | Lennon Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | | James Cameron | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | | Taryck Tahid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | | Jeremy Zielinski | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | | Ivan Mejia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | | Kourosh Jamshidi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 59 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 3 |

## Honours
### Canadian Premier League Awards

The Canadian Premier League Awards took place on October 26 in Hamilton.
| Name | Award | Status | Source |
| James Cameron | Best Canadian U-21 Player | Nominated | |

#### Monthly Awards

| Month | Name | Award | Source |
| May | Callum Irving | Goalkeeper of the Month | |

#### Team of the Week

The Gatorade Team of the Week was selected by the CPL's Kristian Jack and OneSoccer's Oliver Platt.
| Week | Name |
| 1 | Callum Irving |
| 2 | Callum Irving (2) Rocco Romeo Gabriel Bitar Shaan Hundal |
| 3 | Kadin Chung |
| 4 | Ibrahim Bakare |
| 6 | Tyler Crawford Min-jae Kwak |
| 7 | Eugene Martínez |
| 8 | T.J. Tahid |
| 11 | Callum Irving (3) Anthony White |
| 13 | Rocco Romeo (2) |
| 17 | James Cameron |
| 19 | Gabriel Bitar (2) |
| 20 | Gabriel Bitar (3) |
| 22 | James Cameron (2) Gabriel Bitar (4) Mikaël Cantave |