News that Langley will become home to a new professional soccer team was welcomed by the Langley United Soccer Association (LUSA).
On Wednesday. April 13, the new Canadian Premier League (CPL) franchise announced it will debut for the 2023 season with Willoughby Community Park serving as the soccer club’s home turf. The team name will be revealed later.
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Willoughby Community Park is also home to LUSA, and club members were excited by the news.
Mark Parker, LUSA Technical Director, said having a professional football team right in the heart of their own player development farm was something they have dreamed about for years.
“Now that this is a reality with the new CPL franchise it will inspire our young players to strive to be the best they can be, and hopefully one day soon a Langley United youth player will run out in the uniform of the new CPL franchise club,” Parker said.
“We love our Vancouver Whitecaps but to have a professional CPL team right in our community is something really special,” Parker added.
LUSA Executive Director Marcel Horn was “thrilled for our community at the arrival of a truly Canadian professional soccer league right here in Langley.”
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Horn predicted the CPL “will open a whole new world of possibilities for the youth within our club, the Fraser Valley and beyond and inspire the next level of commitment to this wonderful sport. I am thankful we have a Township who is proactive in seeing the importance such a franchise can play in building community pride and engagement with the outdoors and has worked so hard to see the vision into reality.”
Horn said LUSA was looking forward to working with the team owners, Six Five Sports, to expand LUSA player pathways and “continue to grow Canada’s global soccer footprint.”
Mayor Jack Froese said having the CPL at Willoughby Community Park will give residents “an exciting opportunity to see professional soccer close to home and can help inspire youth players to take up the sport.”
Plans call for construction of an 8,000-seat stadium at Willoughby Community Park next to the Langley Events Centre.
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