Valemount City FC

Valemount City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Valemount, British Columbia and presently playing in the BCFA Regional Championship Northeast. Valemount City's home matches are played at the Ash Street stadium owned by the city of Valemount and shared with Yellowhead FC

Rivalries
Valemount City's arch-rivals are Yellowhead of the municipality of Tete Jaune Cache, which is immediately adjacent to Valemount and is part of the Greater Valemount Regional District, making the two clubs effectively cross-town rivals in what is known as the Valemount Derby. However, since Yellowhead's promotion to the League in 1978 the two clubs have not met in League or Cup competition, though Valemount have been promoted to Division Three several times during that period. The rivalry is made the more intense due to Yellowhead's success in League play, and the club's claims to being the Football League's representative for all of Greater Valemount; indeed, many Yellowhead supporters are from the City of Valemount proper, a fact resented by many Valemount City supporters.

Like Yellowhead, Valemount also has a strong rivalry with nearby McBride AFC.

History
Valemount City FC was established in 1916, 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.

When Yellowhead earned promotion to Division Three in 1941, the FA ruled that the club's grounds at Glacier Road, Tete Jaune Cache were unsatisfactory for league play, so when professional sport competitions were resumed in 1946, Yellowhead made use of Valemount's Ash Street stadium for the League season; they returned to Glacier Road after the season due to relegation. Yellowhead failed to obtain permission from the municipality to expand its stadium, so the arrangement to use Ash Street was made permanent in 1960. In 1962, the City of Valemount took over the Ash Street ground and expanded it to fit 18,000 standing spectators; in 1979 it was converted to the 6,232 seats, and in 2017 it was again expanded to seat 10,115. Yellowhead are due to move into their own stadium in Shere, Tete Jaune Cache for the 2023 season, which will leave Ash Street to be used exclusively by Valemount City and Valemount United WFC.

League competition
Entering the Second Division North of the Mainland Football Association in 1924, Valemount were promoted to the First Division of the MFL in 1926, but were relegated again after a single season; they finished 1928 in the Second North. When the MFL and the Vancouver Island Football League were merged to create the BCFL in 1929, Valemount City were assigned to the Regional Northeast Division One.

Valemount performed well in the pre-war years, winning the Regional Northeast championship in 1940, securing runner-up honours in 1933 and 1941, and finishing third in 1931. In each of these years they qualified for the Division Three Qualification Competition but failed to secure promotion with a top-four finish.

Professional sports were suspended for the duration of the Pacific War from 1942 to 1946; Valemount City and Yellowhead organised an unofficial league in the area for the duration; known as the Mount Robson Football League, it comprised teams organised in Valemount and Tete Jaune Cache and the nearby communities. When competition resumed in 1946, Valemount finished as Regional Northeast runners-up in three straight seasons before finally winning the title in 1949, then defended it successfully in 1950 before finishing second again in 1951; unfortunately, their promotion hopes came to naught in each of those years. After a few years of mid-table performances in the Regional Northeast, Valemount won the Northeast Division One title again in 1956, then finished second in 1957 and third in 1958, but again failed each time to win promotion; there was another runner-up finish in 1960, but then no top-three finishes again until a third place in 1971 - and once again, the Qualification Competition campaigns proved fruitless.

Valemount's performance in 1973 wasn't good enough to secure a spot in the expanded League structure in 1974, and it wasn't until 1983 that they next qualified for the D3 Qualification Competition. Again failing to finish in the top four, they entered the D3 Relegation Play-off, defeating Skwxwú7mesh with a club record 5:1 score before succumbing 0:4 in the quarter-finals to a Creston United side battling against relegation.

Valemount took the Northeast Division One by storm in 1988, finishing first by a great margin to win the Regional Northeast title and earn a place in the D3 Qualification Competition, in which a good performance saw them finish in the top four to earn direct qualification to Division Three, bringing to life the long-held dreams of the club and its supporters of seeing Valemount City playing League football. In terms of supporter turnout at Ash Street, Valemount had an excellent 1989, but the quality of the football itself left much to be desired and they finished fifteenth, five points behind CP Aberystwyth in the relegation playoff spot and twelve behind Kamloops City in thirteenth and safety; the upside was that they weren't last by a fair margin: sixteenth-placed Skwxwú7mesh managed only thirteen points, eight behind Valemount.

The 1990s were a barren decade for Valemount City, not returning to the Qualification Competition until finally taking their fifth Regional Northeast Division One championship in 1999; unfortunately, they failed to secure promotion once again having lost in the first round of the Relegation Play-off in a disappointing 2:3 loss away at Bella Coola United. They returned again, via a third-place finish in the Northeast, then came agonisingly close to promotion by advancing to the semi-finals of the Relegation Play-offs only to drop a 0:2 decision at home to Vanderhoof United. 2001 was just as heartbreaking, as they were eliminated in the Relegation Play-off quarter-finals by Oak Bay Wanderers, conceding three goals in the last twenty minutes to lose 2:3 at home; in their next Qualification Competition appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2009, they were eliminated in the first round of the Relegation Play-offs.

Patience pays off, and after another Regional Northeast championship in 2011, Valemount returned to the semi-finals of the D3 Relegation Play-offs, where they crushed Port Edward 4:0 at Ash Street to secure their second-ever promotion to Division Three - and in 2012 the club achieved its greatest success to date: avoiding relegation by finishing twelfth. It was a tight battle, however, as only four points separated Valemount from Belcarra Supermarine in the play-off spot. They held on to their League Status for half a decade, mostly battling for survival at the end of each season but finishing as high as eighth in 2014, but were finally relegated in 2017 - but in a remarkable, and heartbreaking, fashion. Valemount had put in their best-ever defensive performance in League play, conceding only 33 goals, but their offence was also record-settingly poor, scoring a paltry seventeen times; they also set a club record for most draws in a League season with eleven. They finished last, but there were only three points separating twelfth place from sixteenth - one of the tightest finishes in the history of the League. Penticton Shamrocks and Quatsino Navy finished tied for twelfth - and safety - with 29 points, Clinton Town finished in the Relegation Play-off spot with 28 points (they went on to preserve their League status), whilst Belcarra and Valemount finished tied for fifteenth with 26 points; Belcarra's better goal differential meant Valemount finished sixteenth, but it is worth noting that Valemount posted the second-fewest defeats out of the bottom five clubs. If but one of those eleven draws had been wins...

They won the Regional Northeast championship in 2018 and won in the first round of the Relegation Play-offs coming back from 0:1 down against Burns Lake, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals in a 4:5 shootout loss to Prince George Army; a first-round defeat to Jade City in the 2019 Relegation Play-offs ended a season in which Valemount had secured yet another Regional Northeast title.

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

FA Cup
Valemount's greatest FA Cup successes came in 2014 and 2020, when they reached the 3rd Round of the competition; the highlight of the 2020 run came in the second round against Vancouver United at BC Place in Vancouver (the only time that over 20,000 spectators attended a match involving Valemount). Through tenacious defence, Valemount kept the game in hand, preventing United from mounting any truly dangerous attacks in the first half. An hour in, Valemount found themselves on a counter-attack with three players against one United defender, resulting in a lovely goal on 60' to put the underdogs ahead 1:0. Their determined defence continued to shine, holding on to their lead very well, but unluckily - or luckily, from the Vancouverites' perspective - United managed to equalise in the second minute of time added on, to force extra time. Remarkably, Valemount scored off another counterattack, taking a 2:1 lead in the 99th minute; this time they successfully saw the clock run out, and through this famous win, advanced to the third round for only the second time ever. However, Victoria United of Division Two clearly outclassed Valemount in every way, easily winning 3:0 with Valemount registering but a single shot on target in the game.

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

Honours and records

 * Regional Northeast Division One:
 * Winners: 1940, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019
 * Runners-up: 1933, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1956, 1960, 1971, 2001
 * Third-placed: 1931, 1957, 1983, 2000


 * Highest league position: 8th
 * D3 (2014)


 * Lowest league position: 5th
 * D3QC (1931, 1933)


 * Most points in a season: 39
 * D3, 2014


 * Fewest points in a season: 21
 * D3, 1989


 * Most goals scored in a season: 39
 * D3, 2013


 * Fewest goals scored in a season: 17
 * D3, 2017


 * Most goals conceded in a season: 55
 * D3, 2013


 * Fewest goals conceded in a season: 33
 * D3, 2017


 * Most wins in a season: 11
 * D3, 2014


 * Fewest wins in a season: 4
 * D3, 1989


 * Most draws in a season: 11
 * D3, 2017


 * Fewest draws in a season: 6
 * D3, 2014


 * Most losses in a season: 17
 * D3, 1989


 * Fewest losses in a season: 13
 * D3, 2012
 * D3, 2014
 * D3, 2015


 * Most games won in a row (1974–2001): 2
 * D3 Relegation Playoff, 2000


 * Most games lost in a row (1974–2001): 5
 * D3, 1989


 * Most games without losing (1974–2001): 5
 * D3, 1989


 * Most games without winning (to 2001): 9
 * D3, 1989


 * Biggest win: 4 goals
 * 5:1 v Skwxú7mesh, D3 Relegation Play-off 1st Round, 1983
 * 4:0 v Port Edward, D3 Relegation Play-off Semi-finals, 2011


 * Biggest league win (to 2001): 4 goals
 * 5:1 v Skwxú7mesh, D3 Relegation Play-off 1st Round, 1983


 * Biggest defeat: 4 goals
 * 0:4 v Creston Utd, D3 Relegation Play-off Quarter-finals, 1983
 * 0:4 v Atlin, 1998 FA Cup 1st Round


 * Highest scoring game: 7 goals
 * 3:4 v Fairmont Hot Springs, 1989 FA Cup


 * Highest scoring league game (to 2001): 6 goals
 * 5:1 v Skwxú7mesh, D3 Relegation Play-off 1st Round, 1983


 * Deepest cup run: 3rd Round - 2014, 2020