Pacific Moves On From James Merriman

With Pacific FC bottom of the table and showing no signs of resurfacing as the potent counter-attacking side it once was, the Tridents have removed head coach James Merriman effective immediately.

The Nanaimo native had been the Pacific boss since being named as Pah Modou-Kah’s successor in January 2022, helping the side reach playoffs in three consecutive seasons before missing out on postseason as the club began to struggle significantly for results last year.

Pacific must look back to August 2025 to recall its last league win, with the CPL side finishing second-last in ’25 before opening its current campaign with five losses and one draw from its opening six games.

Pacific has confirmed that assistant coach Yiannis Tsalatsidis, who has worked with Cavalry and FC London in the past, will step up in an interim head coach role while Pacific announces Merriman’s successor.

“The club thanks James for his dedication and the many years of service he gave to Pacific FC and wishes him well in his future endeavours,” reads a release from Pacific, who state that information about the club’s next head coach will be forthcoming.

It is unclear if the current coaching staff will be shuffled as part of the move. Merriman’s brother Chris is currently an assistant coach with the side.

The Vancouver Isle club is in a bad way at the moment, finding itself listed for sale while at financial odds with its Starlight Stadium landlord. The club is owned by SixFive Sports and Entertainment, who also own rival Vancouver FC out on the mainland.

When SixFive sacked Vancouver coach Afshin Ghotbi, that announcement was also coined as a mutual agreement – however, as dirty laundry became aired out in a subsequent lawsuit, it was revealed that things were not as mutual as they were originally painted.

Following an offseason that didn’t turn heads, we speculated that success for Pacific would essentially fall down to the club not replicating the failures of FC Edmonton and Valour FC. At the moment, they’re on track for the worst run of form in league history, so there’s plenty of work ahead if the Tridents are to right the proverbial ship.

Pacific has had three head coaches over the eight-year span of the club thus far. Pacific were the first Canadian Premier League side to fire a head coach with the ousting of Michael Silberbauer – who now assists in the Bundesliga – with Pah-Modou Kah entering and winning the league in 2021, handing the proverbial keys over to James Merriman as he exited stateside.

With Pacific FC set to face a tough opponent in Cavalry this weekend, it’ll be interesting to see how the club bounces back from the early-season coaching changeover.

Header Image Photo Credit: John Jacques