Did you know that Nanaimo United FC has a history dating back to 1903?
With the rebranding of the club’s League1 teams and with the 2025 season fast approaching, it feels like a natural time to revisit Nanaimo United’s roots. How have we become what we are today?
From U3 to semi-professional, Nanaimo United FC has it all! 2024 League1 BC season, @marytookaphoto
Nanaimo has been a soccer hotbed from its start in the coal mining boom days! Way back in 1892, the Nanaimo Rangers won the first British Columbia provincial cup, and proceeded to win 3 of the next 4. In 1903, the island saw Victoria grow and develop a dominant soccer presence. In response, Nanaimo’s 4 rival teams united to put their best players forward to form Nanaimo City AFC. They went on to win the 1903 BC Championship Cup. Harry Manson, Louis Martin, and Joe Peters were members of this winning team and were the first First Nations players to win a senior cup. In 1908, this strong squad banded together under the name Nanaimo United and won the Championship Cup again.
The 1920s saw the creation of the Nanaimo District Youth Soccer Association, which eventually became Harbour City FC - a name that may be familiar if you had a child or played youth soccer in the 2000s and 2010s! Island soccer camaraderie was strong in the 1950s and the Upper Island Youth Soccer Association was created to provide youth soccer and development opportunities for all the mid and upper island communities, including Powell River.
The current incarnation of Nanaimo United FC was founded in 1974. 20 years later, the club competed in its first Jackson’s Cup - a competition that Powell River’s The Peak describes as Vancouver Island Soccer League’s “version of the FA Cup in England.” The Cup has been contested since 1915. Flash forward to 2017 and the island sees Nanaimo United FC hoisting the Jackson’s Cup trophy for the first time in the 21st century. At this point in the timeline, Nanaimo United consisted of 4 men’s teams and 2 women’s teams. The women’s league was proudly introduced in the 1990s.
Harbour City FC’s youth crew was growing just as the adult club was, and in 2018, Nanaimo United and Harbour City amalgamated to form the ultimate youth to masters soccer entity. The club now consists of over 2200 youth and adult players, with over 4000+ program registrations.
It’s been a busy half decade! In 2020, Nanaimo United was inducted into the BC Soccer Hall of Fame and Heritage Archive. Shortly after and following a year of hard work from our club leads, Nanaimo United received Canada Soccer’s National Youth Club License, initiating the development of our own BC Soccer Premier League (BCSPL) teams. The license recognizes that the club has met the highest standards of administration, governance, and technical programming. The BCSPL is the highest level of youth soccer in the province for U14-U18 players.
Not only has the club expanded to higher levels of play over the last decade, Nanaimo United has grown tremendously in its recreational youth and adult programming. For example:
The club now has 6 men’s teams and 3 women’s teams, plus our men’s and women’s semi-pro League1 squads, for a total of 11 adult teams.
In 2014, the U3-U7 Happy Cleats program started with 25 registrants. Nearly 700 eager Happy Cleats kids have been signed up for the 2024/2025 fall and spring seasons!
And those are only two of the many ways the club has grown and supported Nanaimo’s soccer community!
Finally, we are brought to the birth of the club’s League1 semi-pro teams. Initially dubbed Harbourside FC, Nanaimo United FC proudly introduced the first expansion teams to the league in 2023. The club is eager to represent the island again this year after its first two successful seasons.
What will 2025 bring?
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