Victoria West FC

Victoria West FC is a professional association football club based in Victoria, British Columbia and presently playing in the BC Football League's Division Two.

Rivalries
Victoria West's greatest rivals are Victoria United, Royal Oak Hotspur, and Oak Bay Wanderers. Historically, there was also a strong rivalry with Langford Highlanders, though the two have seldom met in recent years. Naturally, local derbies with other Victoria clubs are also well-attended, though these are generally not as intense as those with Vic United and Royal Oak. Sometimes, however, these do flare up from time to time, especially in cup ties such as in the third-round of the 1987 FA Cup against Athletic, in which the Orangemen tied the game 4:4 with an eleven-yarder in injury time of the second half, but eventually losing 3:5 on penalties.

History
Victoria West FC was founded in 1900 in Esquimalt, Victoria, playing in the Vancouver Island Football League; the club moved to its current home across the harbour from Esquimalt, Royal Athletic Park, after the opening of the stadium in 1908.

League competition
The club was one of the founding members of the BC Football League in 1929, being placed into Division Two. The Orangemen, as they are known, dropped out of the League in 1934, returning for a single season in 1965. After a nine year absence they returned to Division Three in 1974, remaining almost twenty years until another relegation in 1993. The return to League competition was swift this time, achieving promotion to Division Three in 1995, but dropping out again in 1997.

Vic West returned to the League via direct qualification in 2005 and performed well, reaching the promotion play-offs three times before finally winning the Division Three title in 2010 and achieving promotion to Division Two, where they performed the remarkable feat of winning the title in their first year up, and were thus promoted to Division One for the first time ever after the 2011 season. After several mid-table finishes and their first FA Cup title in 2014, the Orangemen won the League Championship for the first time in 2016. Although the first few seasons after the title win were decent with top-six finishes in the next three seasons, in 2020 the side collapsed, finishing last and being relegated to Division Two for the 2021 season.

Season-by-season
This is a complete listing of the club's performances in British Columbia Football League competition.

FA Cup
The Orangemen have taken part in the BC FA Cup since 1900. The first notable success came in 1932, when, having started in the first round they reached the fourth, losing then to Vancouver United 2:3 at home. This feat was repeated in 1940, with Vic West winning the third-round derby against Division Two's Royal Oak with a 2:1 home victory; in the next round, however, they were eliminated, following a 1:2 home loss to Wellington. Vic West reached the fourth round for a third time in 1957, ultimately losing 0:5 at home to Vancouver City; this remains the club's worst-ever defeat.

The next success came in 1978, when in the fourth round the Division Three Orangemen managed a stunning upset against Division One Kelowna Central, winning the penalty shootout 4 to 1 after managing a 3:3 draw through extra time. In the fifth round for the first time, Vic West put in a somewhat lacklustre performance in losing 0:2 away at Fort St John City & District of Division Two. The fifth round was reached for a second time in 1990 through a shocking 4:1 home win over Division One Nanaimo Thistle - a performance voted by fans in the club's centennial celebrations in 2000 as being the second greatest win of all time. However, in the fifth round Kitimat & Kemano United had little trouble in containing the Victorians in a 2:0 win for the northerners. In 2003 Vic West - as a non-league side - once again reached the fifth round, defeating top-flight Quesnel United on penalties in the fourth round, but losing 0:2 away at Wellington in the fifth. 2007 saw another trip to the fifth round, the Orangemen ultimately eliminated by Rowing Club in a 3:1 win at Brockton Oval in Vancouver.

Victoria West finally secured a piece of Cup silver in 2014, advancing past Grand Forks and Rapid Vienna to reach the quarter finals, where they defeated arch-rivals Victoria United in a convincing 3:1 win; this was followed up with a 3:0 aggregate win over Regatta Club in the semi-final. In the final at BC Place in Vancouver, the Orangemen won the Cup in a hard-fought 1:0 victory over Wellington. With their second FA Cup win in 2018 - a 2:1 victory over Royal City - the Orangemen hold the record for most FA Cup Final appearances without a defeat.

Season-by-season
This is a listing of the club's performances in British Columbia FA Cup competition since 1929.

Super Cup
Victoria West have reached the Super Cup three times, winning in 2015 and 2017, and losing in 2019.

Season-by-season
This is a listing of the club's performances in British Columbia Super Cup competition since 1991.

CONCACAF Champions League
Thanks to their League title in 2016, Victoria West qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time in 2017, but were eliminated in the round of 16.

Honours and records

 * Super Cup
 * Winners: 2015, 2017
 * Runners-up: 2019


 * FA Cup
 * Winners: 2014, 2018


 * Division One
 * Winners: 2016


 * Division Two
 * Winners: 2011


 * Division Three
 * Winners: 2010


 * Regional Southwest Division One
 * Winners: 1959, 1994
 * Runners-up: 1934, 1964, 2005


 * Highest league position: 1st
 * D1 (2016)


 * Lowest league position: 8th
 * D3QC (1934)


 * Most points in a season: 67
 * D2, 2011


 * Fewest points in a season: 9
 * D3, 1960


 * Most goals scored in a season: 71
 * D3, 1987


 * Fewest goals scored in a season: 16
 * D3, 1960


 * Most goals conceded in a season: 63
 * D3, 1964
 * D3, 1984


 * Fewest goals conceded in a season: 23
 * D3, 2006


 * Most wins in a season: 20
 * D3, 2009
 * D2, 2011


 * Fewest wins in a season: 1
 * D3, 1960


 * Most draws in a season: 15
 * D1, 2012


 * Fewest draws in a season: 3
 * D3, 1979
 * D3, 1980
 * D3, 1981


 * Most losses in a season: 23
 * D3, 1960


 * Fewest losses in a season: 2
 * D3, 2008


 * Most games won in a row (to 2001): 7
 * D3, 1979


 * Most games lost in a row (to 2001): 5
 * D3, 1974


 * Most games without losing (to 2001): 10
 * D3, 1985


 * Most games without winning (to 2001): 11
 * D3, 1986


 * Biggest win: 6 goals
 * 7:1 v Sardis Balmoral, 2015 FA Cup 2nd Round


 * Biggest league win (to 2001): 4 goals
 * 4:0 v Abbotsford, D3, 1931
 * 4:0 v Vavenby Town, D3, 1975
 * 5:1 v Oak Bay Wanderers, D3, 1981
 * 5:1 v Silver King, D3, 1982
 * 4:0 v Endako Village, D3, 1985
 * 4:0 v Kimberley Town, D3, 1990


 * Biggest defeat: 5 goals
 * 0:5 v Van City, 1957 FA Cup 4th Round


 * Highest scoring game: 10 goals
 * 6:4 v Endako Village, D3, 1985
 * 6:4 v Parksville, D3, 1987


 * Highest scoring league game (to 2001): 10 goals
 * 6:4 v Endako Village, D3, 1985
 * 6:4 v Parksville, D3, 1987


 * Deepest cup run: Final - 2014 (winner), 2018 (winner)