Vavenby Town FC

Vavenby Town Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Vavenby, British Columbia and presently playing in the BCFA Regional Championship Northeast.

Rivalries
Vavenby Town's primary rivalry is with Barriere Railway FC.

History
Vavenby Town FC was established in 1911, initially playing in the Kootenay Football League and from 1918 in the Mainland Football League after the KFL was merged with the other two football leagues in mainland BC.

League competition
Vavenby Town was one of the founding members of the BC Football League, starting out in Division Two. After being relegated in 1930, they spent much of the 1930s on the middle of the Division Three table, with a single season in Division Two in 1936. In 1939 they were promoted again as Division Three runners-up, remaining in the second tier until professional sport in BC was suspended in 1942 due to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Play resumed in 1946, Vavenby finishing tenth, but a last-place finish in 1947 saw them demoted to Division Three once again. The collapse wasn't finished yet, as in 1948 they finished dead last - fifteen points behind 15th-placed Port Hardy - and were relegated from the Football League.

A third-place finish in Regional Northeast Division One qualified Vavenby for the D3 Qualification Competition, but they failed to make it out of the group; the same happened in 1954 after finishing fourth in the Northeast campaign. A fourth-place finish in 1961, a Regional Northeast championship in 1962, and a runner-up finish in 1963 saw Vavenby back in the Qualification Competition, but once again failing to win promotion. After missing out on the 1964 competition, they finished the Northeast season as runners-up again in 1965 and this time successfully earned a return to Division Three. The 1966 season proved a success, Vavenby finishing twelfth in Division Three and retaining their League status, but despite performing not especially poorly in the 1967 season they finished fifteenth and were relegated, twenty years after they first dropped out of the League.

It wasn't until 1974 that Vavenby Town once again made it to the D3 Qualification Competition with a Regional Northeast third-place finish and earned direct promotion to Division Three, but an abysmal performance in 1975 resulted in a last-place finish and another relegation from the League. Finishing as runners-up in the Regional Northeast in 1985 they once again qualified for the Qualification Competition; finishing outside the top four meant that they entered the D3 Relegation Play-offs, where they convincingly defeated Meziadin City 5:2 in the first round only to be eliminated in the quarter-final by Aberystwyth 4:5 on penalties. The same story unfolded the following year, winning the Regional Southeast title, then after a 3:1 win over northeastern competitors Chase Town losing to Division Three side Sooyoos United 1:4 at home in the quarter-finals. A Qualification Competition quarter-final exit ended Vavenby's 1988 season as well, losing 2:4 to Kimberley Town. Finally, in 1989 they won the Regional Northeast title yet again and earned direct promotion to Division Three via the Qualification Competition. Their tenure in the League was once again brief, posting their worst-ever League record winning only one game and registering a total of eight points on the season.

Vavenby Town then failed to make an appearance in the Qualification Competition until 2011 after a fourth-place finish in the Regional Northeast, but were eliminated in the first round after a 0:2 away loss to Port Edward. They have not reached the Qualification Competition since that time.

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

FA Cup
Vavenby Town have taken part in the FA Cup since the club's founding in 1911, but never advancing beyond the third round before the reform of the competition in 1929. As a member of Division Two in the inaugural season of the BCFL, the team entered the competition in the third round, advancing through two rounds before being eliminated in the fifth round after a 1:3 home loss to Vancouver Rowing Club. The next noteworthy performance wasn't until 1938, when as a Division Three member they reached the fourth round, in which a 0:0 draw against Division Two side Courtenay Athletic at home forced a replay, which Vavenby lost 1:2 in Courtenay.

After the end of the Second World War, competition resumed in 1946, and Vavenby matched their best-ever cup run that year by reaching the fifth round, defeating Dinas Blaenau 2:1 in the second round, non-league side Abbotsford 3:0 away in the third, and Oak Bay Wanderers 1:0 in the fourth before losing to Victoria United 0:1 at home in the fifth. Despite being relegated from the League after the 1948 season, Vavenby Town continued to successfully reach the first round proper of the FA Cup every year from 1949 through 1956, but without noteworthy success. After failing to qualify for the First Round in 1957, they were back in 1958 and were immediately eliminated, but in 1959 they reached the third round, where they were knocked out by Rapid Vienna. Although they were eliminated year after year in the first, sometimes second, round, nevertheless it is a noteworthy feat that until they returned to the League in 1966, they missed out on the First Round of the FA Cup only once.

The return to the League brought little change in Cup performances, indeed it wasn't until 1968, when Vavenby had once again dropped out of the League, that they reached the fourth round, stunning Division Two Kamloops City 1:0 in the third round before losing in the fourth to Fort Nelson RBCAF by a humiliating 0:4 scoreline at home. As well as they had played against Kamloops, they capitulated to the Pilots, playing as if they had already lost from the opening whistle. They then missed out on the 1970 competition, returning again in 1971. As a Division Three side once more, they reached the third round in 1975, losing 2:4 at home to Lake City FC of Williams Lake.

The next twenty years was more of the same, with early exits in the first two rounds, and three years in which Vavenby failed to qualify for the first round. In 1998, still outside of the League, they reached the first round and defeated Mackenzie 4:3 on penalties after a 1:1 draw away. They were back up north for round two, playing Atlin away to a 0:0 draw after 120 minutes - then winning 4:3 on penalties again. In the third round they were at home, and put in a fine performance to defeat Fort Nelson RBCAF to reach the fourth round for the first time since 1968; it was Fort Nelson who eliminated them in the fourth round that year. Unfortunately, Division One Nanaimo Thistle were a step too far for Vavenby, losing 0:2 at home. They reached the third round the following year, which included a memorable second-round tie against Port Moody of Division Two. Down 0:2 after 19' minutes, Vavenby got one back on 20' and then equalised seven minutes later; the ninety minutes ended with the score level at two each. Spurred by the comeback, Vavenby played excellent football as extra time got underway, netting the go-ahead goal on 96', but Port Moody managed to level the score in the 108th minute. As exciting as those two hours had been, the shootout was even more so, with Vavenby coming out on top, winning 8:7 on penalties. Sadly, they were unable to replicate the performance against Richmond United, losing 1:3 at home in the third round. They again reached the third round in 2003, losing to Secwépemc United 1:2. In their most recent appearance in 2020, they lost in the first round to Cumberland Collieries 1:4 on penalties after a 0:0 draw.

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

Honours and records

 * Division Three
 * Runners-up: 1939
 * Third placed: 1935


 * Regional Northeast Division One:
 * Winners: 1962, 1986, 1989
 * Runners-up: 1963, 1965, 1985
 * Third placed: 1951, 1974


 * Highest league position: 6th
 * D2 (1940)


 * Lowest league position: 16th
 * D3 (1948, 1975, 1990)


 * Most points in a season: 53
 * D3, 1939


 * Fewest points in a season: 8
 * D3, 1990


 * Most goals scored in a season: 69
 * D3, 1939


 * Fewest goals scored in a season: 22
 * D2, 1947


 * Most goals conceded in a season: 79
 * D3, 1975


 * Fewest goals conceded in a season: 36
 * D3, 1934


 * Most wins in a season: 16
 * D3, 1935


 * Fewest wins in a season: 1
 * D3, 1990


 * Most draws in a season: 11
 * D2, 1936
 * D3, 1939


 * Fewest draws in a season: 2
 * D3, 1938


 * Most losses in a season: 24
 * D3, 1948
 * D3, 1990


 * Fewest losses in a season: 5
 * D3, 1939


 * Most games won in a row (1974–2001): 2
 * D3, 1975


 * Most games lost in a row (1974–2001): 11
 * D3, 1990


 * Most games without losing (1974–2001): 3
 * 1998 FA Cup


 * Most games without winning (to 2001): 26
 * D3, 1990


 * Biggest win: 4 goals
 * 4:0 v Northfield, 1934 FA Cup 1st Round
 * 5:1 v Powell River Wanderers, 1938 FA Cup 3rd Round
 * 5:1 v Endako Village, D3, 1939
 * 4:0 v Nanaimo City, D2, 1946


 * Biggest league win (to 2001): 4 goals
 * 5:1 v Endako Village, D3, 1939
 * 4:0 v Nanaimo City, D2, 1946


 * Biggest defeat: 5 goals
 * 0:5 v Prince George City, D3, 1931
 * 0:5 v Dawson Creek, D3, 1933
 * 0:5 v Silver King, D3, 1966
 * 0:5 v Mackenzie, D3, 1975


 * Highest scoring game: 9 goals
 * 4:5 v Wellington, D2, 1936
 * 4:5 v Port Hardy, D3, 1948


 * Highest scoring league game (to 2001): 9 goals
 * 4:5 v Wellington, D2, 1936
 * 4:5 v Port Hardy, D3, 1948


 * Deepest cup run: 5th Round - 1929, 1946