Pacific Football Club opens flagship store in downtown Victoria

Pacific Football Club held a launch party Friday for its flagship store in Victoria.

The store is the go-to headquarters for everything Pacific FC, including merchandise, ticketing and more.

The store follows the announcement earlier this year that Vancouver Island is the new home of a Canadian Premier League (CPL) team.

“The whole idea is to bring soccer to the Island. It is something I had to leave to get and I’m really proud to be part of this movement,” said Josh Simpson, president and co-owner, Pacific Football Club. Simpson grew up in the Langford/Colwood area, before leaving to pursue an international soccer career that included stops in England, Germany, Turkey, and Switzerland.

Pacific FC is one of the inaugural teams in the Canadian Premier League alongside Hamilton, Winnipeg, York, Halifax, Edmonton, Ottawa and Calgary, and will begin its inaugural season in April 2019.

“This is a platform for Canadian soccer to better our national team, to better our players, to make the World Cup. We can’t get in that cycle right now and what’s been missing is a professional league,” said Rob Friend, CEO and sport director, Pacific Football Club. Friend is also a Canadian former professional and international soccer player.

RELATED: Canadian Premier League teams host open tryouts

Founded in 2018, Pacific Football Club is bringing professional football to Vancouver Island. Playing out of a renovated, 6000-seat Westhills Stadium in Langford, the club will provide an outlet for Canadian youth to realize their dreams of playing at the professional level.

The club has announced the signing of Kadin Chung, one of the top young players in Canada, with 10 other high-calibre players to be signed in the next week.

“It’s huge. I’ve been saying for a long time that this country needs a professional league and now that we have it seeing how much attention and time that’s been put into it, it’s just really exciting. I can’t wait to get started,” said Kadin Chung, the first player signed and announced by Pacific FC in franchise history.

RELATED: Launch party for Vancouver Island’s new soccer team a success

Pacific FC is accepting membership deposits ahead of the CPL’s inaugural season. Visit PacificFootball.Club for more information and CanPL.ca for the latest CPL news.

We're ready for Friday. Are you?

📅Friday, Nov. 30
📍665 Fort St., #yyj
⏰Official Festivities get underway from 12-6
👚 Team merch will be available for purchase
👥 Meet @jkadinchung, @JMerrimanFooty & ownership
🎟Ticket pricing/Stadium renders

RSVP 🚀 https://t.co/557T33op1I pic.twitter.com/iRgUekNqjY

— Pacific FC (@Pacificfccpl) November 30, 2018

The new Pacific FC flagship store is located at 665 Fort Street in the heart of downtown Victoria.