Vancouver FC To Reveal First Player Today

Canadian Premier League expansion side Vancouver FC will be unveiling the first player signing in club today at 9:30AM local time (12:30PM EST).

The Langley-based club had revealed itself just over a month ago, at which point it was also confirmed that former Iran head coach Afshin Ghotbi would helm the side through its inaugural season.

In a recent discussion with head coach Afshin Ghotbi, the head coach told us that the roster was shaping up nicely and would be largely in place by Christmas Day. To that end, we expect that a flurry of other player announcements will follow suit after tomorrow’s reveal.

There’s only one first, though, so today’s player announcement will be an exciting landmark moment in club history.

With Ghotbi having disclosed that his coaching staff now includes an assistant for him along with a goalkeeper coach, it’ll be interesting to see how the inaugural staff shapes up, too.

Who Could It Be?

The leading speculation is that Vancouver native Callum Irving will be on the podium this week, with the 29-year-old having announced his departure from neighbouring side Pacific FC last week. He won the league with the Tridents in 2021, and is seen as a strong leadership figure and, of course, a local face for the club to build upon.

Have other inaugural signings been local talent?

It’s not as one-to-one as you might think: just about half of the CPL player reveals were true hometown players, while Atletico Ottawa’s first-ever signing was BC’s Ben Fisk. None of any club’s first player signings have been internationals.

More To Come

We’ve heard whispers of additional talent coming to Vancouver FC, some of whom will come through intra-league moves. That being said, Ghotbi’s network is quite expansive around the globe, and Oliver Gage certainly knows how to attract the right kind of international talent, too.

Given that the club also has the first two picks of this Thursday’s 2023 CPL-U SPORTS Draft, it’ll be a busy week of acquisitions for the Langley-based club.

With Ghotbi stating that he hopes to challenge for playoffs in Year One with ambitions for a North Star Shield in the following campaign, the expectations are high – and the first player signing is expected to set the standard.

“I think that’s the way of my DNA, it’s the ownership’s DNA. We’re competitive people,” Ghotbi recently told us. “That’s why we were able to have the careers we’ve had. So yeah, of course, we want to really do something special for the city of Vancouver and we want to be a big part the development of Canadian internationals and part of the future of Canadian football development.”

Vancouver FC’s preseason training camp is aiming to kick off on February 10.