 | |||
| Full name | Cavalry Football Club[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short name | Cavs[2][3][4] | ||
| Founded | May 5, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-05-05) | ||
| Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 6,000 | ||
| Owner | Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment | ||
| President | Ian Allison | ||
| Coach | Tommy Wheeldon Jr. | ||
| League | Canadian Premier League | ||
| 2024 | Regular season: 2nd Playoffs:Champions | ||
| Website | http://cavalryfc.canpl.ca | ||
 Current season | |||
| Active teams of Cavalry FC |
|---|
Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professionalsoccer club based in theCalgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of theCanadian soccer league system in theCanadian Premier League, and plays their home matches atATCO Field on the grounds ofSpruce Meadows inFoothills County.
The team is managed byTommy Wheeldon Jr. and owned by Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment.[5]
On May 5, 2018,Calgary was one of four cities accepted by theCanadian Soccer Association for professional club membership.[6]
Cavalry FC was announced on May 17, 2018, as the second team to officially join theCanadian Premier League.[7] Spruce Meadows Sports & Entertainment Group CEOLinda Southern-Heathcott and COO Ian Allison were joined by league commissioner David Clanachan and league presidentPaul Beirne to unveil the team.[8]
The club's name, crest and colours were all revealed at the event atSpruce Meadows, whileTommy Wheeldon Jr. was announced as head coach and general manager.[9][10] Plans to renovate existing facilities at Spruce Meadows, resulting in asoccer-specific stadium with a capacity of at least 5,000 seats, were also revealed.[11][12]
On June 26, 2019, Cavalry FC qualified for the2019 Canadian Premier League Championship by winning the inauguralCPL Spring season.[13] The following month the Cavs became the first CPL club to defeat aMajor League Soccer club in theCanadian Championship by upsettingVancouver Whitecaps FC in2019 over two-legs.[14] In 2019, Cavalry FC goalkeeperMarco Carducci became the first CPL player called up to theCanada men's national soccer team.[15]
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On November 9, 2024, Cavalry won its first ever Canadian Premier League championship by defeating four-time winnersForge FC 2–1 at ATCO Field. The team earned a2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup berth in the process.[16] In February 2025, Cavalry became the first Canadian Premier League team to win a match inCONCACAF Champions Cup, defeatingPumas 2–1 during the first leg of the first round matchup.[17]
The team's crest was designed by Jon Rogers. The crest features achevron in homage to theLord Strathcona's Horse armoured regiment, Alberta Foothills andRocky Mountains, and a football to represent the past and future of Calgary as a sporting city.[12]
The club's colours are green, red and black (branded by the club as "army green," "Calgary red," and "black on black"). These colours symbolize the green of Calgary's nature and Spruce Meadows, and the red and black of other Calgary sports teams and the flag of Lord Strathcona's Horse.[18] The official mascot is a red horse named Sarge.
Cavalry FC play atATCO Field, a 6,000-seat stadium[19] located atSpruce Meadows, at the 'Meadows on the Green' equestrian ring.[20][21] The stadium is modular to allow for future growth and uses natural grass. In September 2019, Spruce Meadows presented a new area plan toFoothills County, that includes a 12,000 seat soccer-specific stadium on the grounds that would replace ATCO Field over the next 30 years.[22][23] The record attendance for a game at ATCO Field is 7,052, during the2024 Canadian Premier League final.[24]
Because ATCO Field is not suited to hosting matches inCanadian winter, Cavalry have played their February home games in theCONCACAF Champions Cup atStarlight Stadium, a 6,000-seatmulti-purpose stadium inLangford, British Columbia and home to fellow CPL clubPacific FC.[25][26]
The Foot Soldiers are a group originally formed in 2015 to supportUSL League Two clubCalgary Foothills and theCalgary Foothills UWS team. The supporters group began supporting Cavalry in the lead-up to the first match, with the group's numbers swelling. Fans sitting in sections 108 and 109 have created a group called the Mighty 109 / 108 who sit on the other side of the entrance arch. The Front Line Ultras stand in section 200 and have supported the team since 2019.[27]
Al Classico
TheAl Classico existed withFC Edmonton as a geographical rivalry between the two Alberta-based clubs in theCanadian Premier League. The rivalry is part of a larger sporting rivalry between teams based inCalgary andEdmonton; the two largest cities in the province.[28] TheWildrose Cup was awarded annually to the team that wins the most points from the series in league play (excluding 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), which Cavalry won each year until FC Edmonton ceased operations in 2022.[29]
Cavalry FC–Forge FC rivalry
TheCavalry FC–Forge FC rivalry developed during the2019 spring season as the two top clubs in the league.[30] The rivalry bled into the2019 Canadian Championship in which Cavalry defeatedForge 3–2 over two legs on aggregate. The first leg, which resulted in a 1–1 draw, ended with heated altercations between both sides on the pitch, leading to a disciplinary review by theCanadian Soccer Association.[31]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Executive | |
|---|---|
| Owner, chairman, and CEO |  Linda Southern-Heathcott |
| President and COO | Ian Alisson |
| General manager |  Tommy Wheeldon Jr. |
| Assistant general manager | Tofa Fakunle |
| Coaching staff | |
| Head coach | Tommy Wheeldon Jr. |
| Technical director and assistant coach | Jonathan Wheeldon |
| Assistant coach | Nik Ledgerwood |
| Goalkeeper coach |  Jake Davis |
| Coach | Nation | Tenure | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Tommy Wheeldon Jr. | England | May 17, 2018 – present | 178 | 91 | 44 | 43 | 051.12 | |
| Years | Name | Nation |
|---|---|---|
| 2019–2021[34] | Nikolas Ledgerwood | Canada |
| 2022[35] | Mason Trafford | Canada |
| 2023–present[36] | Marco Carducci | Canada |
| Season | League | Playoffs | CC | Continental | Average attendance | Top goalscorer(s) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | League | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Pos. | Name | Goals | ||||||
| 2019 | 1 | CPL | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 51 | 19 | +32 | 62 | 2.21 | 1st | RU | SF | Ineligible | 3,292 |  Dominique Malonga | 13 | |
| 2020 | CPL | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 16 | 1.60 | – | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | N/A | Jordan BrownNathan Mavila | 3 | ||
| 2021 | CPL | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 50 | 1.79 | 2nd | SF | QF | 2,544 |  Joe Mason | 8 | |||
| 2022 | CPL | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 47 | 1.68 | 3rd | SF | QF | 3,492 | Joe Mason | 8 | |||
| 2023 | CPL | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 46 | 27 | +19 | 55 | 1.96 | 1st | RU | PR | 4,090 |  Myer Bevan | 11 | |||
| 2024 | CPL | 28 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 39 | 27 | +12 | 48 | 1.39 | 2nd | W | QF | Champions Cup | R1 | 4,223 |  Tobias Warschewski | 15 | |
| 2025 | CPL | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | TBD | TBD | TBD | Champions Cup | R1 | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
1.Average attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2.Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league season, league playoffs,Canadian Championship,CONCACAF League, and other competitive continental matches.
| Year | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CONCACAF Champions Cup | Round one | Orlando City SC | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–6 |
Cavalry operates a reserve team,Cavalry FC U21, inLeague1 Alberta.[37]
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