Pejic at Vancouver...

It takes about fifteen minutes to reach the Swangard Stadium from downtown Vancouver. A SkyTrain ride to Patterson, followed by a brief stroll through Metrotown’s Central Park leads you to the beams that light up the corner of Kingsway and Boundary. With the autumnal reds and oranges, the uber-white of the Whitecaps entrance and the dyed green-like quality of the sod, someone’s been messing with the contrast levels out here. It’s the Caps against the Portland Timbers, United Soccer League semi-final play-off first leg. In HD.

This is the First Division of Major League Soccer. And this is where Shaun Pejic currently plys his trade. Following a defensive crisis that saw the departures of a couple of long-serving players, the Whitecaps needed cover quickly. The former Welsh Under-21 international had been at York since February on a short-term deal but following contract talks he was released from Kit Kat Crescent and come the start of August, he was on a bus to Portland with his new Whitecaps team-mates. He watched from the stands as his new side lost by a solitary goal in front of almost 11,000 at PGE Park – the same attendance that was at Wembley back in May when Pejic togged out for his final York appearance in their 0-2 FA Trophy final defeat to Stevenage.

The Hereford-born centre-back, a product of the Wrexham youth set-up, fell out of favour at the
Racecourse following relegation to the conference and the arrival of Dean Saunders. Having only broken into the first-team in 2002, Pejic settled into the side just in time for promotion to the 2nd Division and prospered under Dennis Smith. Though injuries cut down his progress, he featured prominently throughout the Football League Trophy winning season before a cruciate ligament injury sustained in August 2005 was a further blow to Pejic’s hopes of establishing himself in the Wrexham XI. A steady partnership alongside Steve Evans was what followed Pejic’s rehab though the arrival of Brian Little as manager, coupled with relegation to the Conference ensured the centre-back would eventually struggle for game-time and it was inevitable that a move was on the cards. Back in February, Pejic (along with ex
central-defensive partner Evans) was released and was picked up by Martin Foyle’s Minstermen.

Pejic’s time with the Whitecaps started impressively. He made his debut in a scoreless draw at home to Carolina Railhawks, afterwards stating how he was impressed with the standard saying it was on par, if not better than that of the Conference, particularly when it came to the technicality and quickness of the players. His new boss, former Icelandic international Teitur Thordarson, seemed pleased with his new acquisition outlining how ‘he (Pejic) wins everything in the air, is tactically very good and plays safely and surely’. The good start went hand in hand with the Whitecaps eventual play-off qualification and with Pejic at the heart of the defence, the club went on a run of just one defeat in ten games. Here at the Swangard Stadium on this October evening in British Columbia, the Whitecaps secure a 2-1 semi-final first-leg victory over Portland in front of a crowd of 4,500 with Pejic looking assured, calm and steady at the back. A 3-3 second-leg draw followed just three days later with the Caps facing Canadian rivals,
Montreal Impact, in the play-off decider.

There was to be no fairytale ending to Pejic’s first season in Vancouver though. In the first leg of the play-off final, his own-goal provided Montreal with a lead they never relinquished – eventually beating the Caps 2-3 at the Swangard. A week later, an elementary mistake from Pejic led to his 28th minute straight red card and saw the Impact move to 4-2 in the series from the resultant penalty. They eventually took the final and the USL -1 Championship 6-3 on aggregate.

One might think that the United Soccer League (or the MLS for that matter) represents a professional graveyard for former ex-English League players. Cynics will point at Justin Fashanu and even David Beckham as examples of ex-shining lights, living out their final years within a sub-standard North American environment. But one thing’s for sure – despite a long-held worldwide reluctance to accept the sport’s existence in this part of the world, it’s still here. And against the odds (and arguably in contrast to its British counterparts), doing more than merely surviving.

Following the inevitable demise of the North American Soccer League in 1984, soccer’s future here looked over. As Hugo Sanchez, Peter Beardsley and Franz Beckenbauer all headed to Mexico ’86, the North American teams they each had romantic dalliances with were no more. The San Diego Sockers, Vancouver Whitecaps and, most illustrious of all, the New York Cosmos, had succumbed to a waning national interest in the sport, subsequent falling numbers at the turnstiles and the harsh reality that seducing big-name legends of the beautiful game was to the long-term detriment of North American soccer. These were the wilderness years.

And yet somehow, Canada were at Mexico ’86. Without a domestic team in a professional league, they held that gorgeous French side of Platini, Giresse et al scoreless until the 79th minute of their opening group game and belied their international experience at the highest level despite exiting the competition at the earliest stage. The man responsible for the international sides’ success was the former England and Blackpool goalkeeper Tony Waiters who had led an unfancied and unfashionable Vancouver Whitecaps to an unprecedented NASL title back in 1979. As the sport self-destructed south of the border, the quiet northern neighbour slipped into the soccer spotlight for a fleeting moment in the summer of ‘86. It was to be twenty years before the country was involved at the highest level of North American soccer again – when Toronto FC were granted an MLS franchise.

Vancouver have featured in the USL for the best part of two decades – originally it was the American Professional Soccer League, then the A-League.Cast in the shadow of Major League Soccer, the United Soccer League’s top division isn’t so much a poor relation but has long since had to deal with the threat of an MLS expansion and the inevitable poaching of the its biggest sides. The fear is not without valid foundation. The most successful of the league’s teams since its conception - the Seattle Sounders - were awarded a top-flight franchise in 2007 and made their debut in Major League back in March with 32,500 people in attendance at Qwest Field.Portland Timbers were awarded their franchise earlier on this year too and will begin their tenure in the Major League in 18 months time while the Montreal Impact’s much-mooted move to MLS is an inevitablity. One other side USL side will soon be joining the Timbers in the illustrious Premier Division of North American soccer – the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Caps will return ‘home’ in 2011 – their rich soccer heritage, sports-mad city and lease agreement on a renovated BC Place – a 60,000 capacity all-purpose stadium currently hosting Canadian Football League side the BC Lions. It was at BC Place where the John Giles-managed Caps played their NASL home games in the early eighties. Those days of sell-out crowds, glamour players and big games under the lights still remain as history. For both the Vancouver Whitecaps and Shaun Pejic, there’s hope for a repeat. Soon.

Apologies...

Hello all,

Because of a recent move to Vancouver (where I'll be spending the next year), the last number of months have seen absolutely zero new content from me here so deepest apologies for that.

However, above is something I did whip up recently for our friends at Wrexham AFC about Vancouver Whitecaps centre-back and former Red Dragon, Shaun Pejic...