How to Be a New York Soccer Fan In Vancouver -- 2019 Edition

This Saturday night, New York City FC will visit the Vancouver Whitecaps, at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. The New York Red Bulls will not visit them this season.

Before You Go. At 49 degrees, 16 minutes North latitude, BC Place is further north than any U.S. major league sports venue. (Seattle's CenturyLink Field is the northernmost in the U.S., at 47 degrees, 35 minutes.) This will be mid-August, Summer. So, despite being in Canada, cold will not be a factor.

Like the American Northwest cities of Seattle and Portland, it rains in Vancouver. A lot. The city has been nicknamed "Raincouver." However, the Vancouver Sun is not predicting rain until Sunday, the day after the game. For Saturday, gameday, the temperatures should be in the low 70s by day and the low 60s by night. Your time outdoors should be fine. And the game will be "outdoors," as the retractable roof is kept open for soccer games unless there's actual inclement weather.

This is Canada, so you will need your passport. You will need to change your money. At this writing, C$1.00 = US 75 cents, and US$1.00 = C$1.32. And I advise you to call your bank and let them know that you will be in a foreign country, so they won't see credit or debit card purchases from a foreign country pop up and think your card has been stolen.

Also, remember that they use the metric system. A speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour means 62 miles an hour. And don't be fooled by the seemingly low gas prices: That's per liter, not per gallon, and, in spite of Canada being a major oil-producing nation, you'll actually be paying more for gas up there. So, in order to avoid both confusion and "sticker-shock," get your car filled up before you reach the border.

Vancouver is in the Pacific Time Zone, so they are 3 hours behind New York and New Jersey. Adjust your timepieces accordingly.

Tickets. The Whitecaps are averaging 19,973 fans per home game this season, nearly a sellout. (Only the lower level is opened.) Getting tickets will be tough. However, this being soccer, seats are always set aside for visiting fans.

The Whitecaps supporters' club website recommends that away supporters contact a club intern at sales@whitecapsfc.com, in order to get tickets in the designated away supporters' sections, 218 and 219, in the northeast corner. They specifically say to avoid Sections 201-207 and 248-254, in the north end, as those are reserved for official 'Caps supporters clubs. Tickets for 218 and 219 are a whopping C$68 -- that's about US$51.

Getting There. It's 2,969 miles from Times Square in Manhattan to downtown Vancouver, and 2,957 miles from Red Bull Arena to BC Place. It's 31 miles from downtown Vancouver to the closest border crossing, the Peace Arch in Blaine, Washington. This is the longest roadtrip the Red Bulls have. If you can afford to fly, you should.

NOTE: This is Labor Day Weekend, so availability may be lower, and thus fares may be higher, than usual.

Air Canada has 11 flights between New York and Vancouver International Airport every day, but only the one leaving Newark at 6:20 PM Eastern Time, landing at 9:03 PM Pacific Time (5 hours and 40 minutes), is nonstop. Otherwise, to get from either Newark or LaGuardia to Vancouver, you'll have to change planes in Toronto or Ottawa. And, round-trip, it will cost you nearly $1,200.

The other options aren't too good, because they're a lot longer. For example, here's your schedule if you take Amtrak and the connecting bus service:

Leave New York: 3:40 PM Wednesday
Arrive Chicago: 9:50 AM Thursday
Leave Chicago: 2:15 PM Thursday
Arrive Seattle: 10:25 AM Saturday
Leave Seattle: 1:45 PM Saturday
Arrive Vancouver: 5:15 PM Saturday, and you'll need a hotel
Kickoff: 7:00 PM Saturday
Game ends: Around 9:00 PM Saturday
Leave Vancouver: 11:30 AM Sunday
Arrive Seattle: 3:30 PM Sunday
Leave Seattle: 4:40 PM Sunday
Arrive Chicago: 3:55 PM Tuesday
Leave Chicago: 9:30 PM Tuesday
Arrive New York: 6:35 PM Wednesday

And that's $634 round-trip.

Is taking the bus any better? Not really: You'd have to leave Port Authority at 10:15 PM on Tuesday, changing buses twice -- in Toronto and Winnipeg -- in order to arrive in Vancouver before kickoff. It's $594 round-trip, but can be as little as $449 with advanced purchase.

The VIA station, Pacific Central Station, is at 1100 Station Street at National Avenue, while the Greyhound station is at 1150 Station Street, not quite next-door, but close. Main Street-Science World Station to Stadium-Chinatown Station in 6 minutes.

Could driving be any worse? Even if you get someone to go with you, and you take turns, one drives while the other one sleeps, and you pack 2 days' worth of food, and you use the side of the Interstate as a toilet, and you don't get pulled over for speeding, you'll still need over 2 full days to get there. One way.

But, if you really, really think driving is a better alternative... Get onto Interstate 80 West in New Jersey, and stay on that until it merges with Interstate 90 west of Cleveland, then stay on 90 through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, into Wisconsin, where it merges with Interstate 94. Although you could take I-90 almost all the way, I-94 is actually going to be faster. Stay on I-94 through Minnesota and North Dakota before re-merging with I-90 in Montana, taking it through Idaho and into Washington, getting off I-94 at Exit 2B to get on Interstate 5.

You'll take I-5 up to the border, past Exit 276. You'll present your passport, and you'll answer whatever questions the Customs agent has. Presuming you have everything in order, and you don't do anything stupid to make him (or her) keep you out of Canada, I-5 becomes BC Highway 99, the Sea to Sky Highway. Once you cross the Lions Gate Bridge, you're in downtown Vancouver.

Not counting rest stops, you should be in New Jersey for an hour and a half, Pennsylvania for 5:15, Ohio for 4 hours, Indiana for 2:30, Illinois for 2 hours, Wisconsin for 3:15, Minnesota for 4:30, North Dakota for 6 hours, Montana for a whopping 13 hours (or 3 times the time it takes to get from New York to Boston), Idaho for 1:15, 8:45 in Washington, and half an hour in British Columbia. That's 52 and a half hours, so, with rest stops, you're talking 3 full days.

On October 14, 2016, President Obama finally ended the ban on bringing Cuban cigars into America. This also applies to rum, for which Cuba is also renowned. It is still considerably easier to buy these items in Canada than in America, but, now, you can bring them back over the border.

Once In the City. Originally named Gastown, in honor of its founder, mill baron John "Gassy Jack" Deighton, Vancouver was a product of the 1859 Western gold rush that also founded Denver. Europeans first settled in the area in 1862. Gassy Jack founded a tavern on July 1, 1867, Canada's Confederation Day (effectively, its independence from Britain although it was still part of the Empire and remains part of the Commonwealth).

It was renamed for George Vancouver, an officer of Britain's Royal Navy, who explored and charted North America's Pacific Northwest in the early 1790s. Despite having a name that could be French (VAHN-koo-VAIR, instead of Van-KOO-ver as we say today), and the city being in a country with French as a 2nd official language, he was English through and through. The city of Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, is also named for him, as are places in Australia and New Zealand, which he also explored.

Vancouver was made possible by its selection in 1884 by the Canadian Pacific Railway as its terminus. It was incorporated as a city in 1886, and, shortly thereafter, was consumed in a Great Fire, much as Chicago had been in 1871 and Boston in 1872. Like those cities, Vancouver rebuilt quickly, and the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Like New York, Vancouver is a city of islands. Unlike New York, for whom the Catskills count as "mountains," Vancouver has real mountains. On a clear day, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the Western Hemisphere. On ground level, however, it is as plagued by problems -- especially poverty, homelessness and crime -- as any city. At least it's cleaner than most American cities.

The city is home to a little over 630,000 people, including the largest percentage of Asian residents of any city in North America, about 41 percent (30 percent East Asian, 11 percent South Asian), to about 52 percent white, 2 percent Aboriginal (what we used to call "Indians"), 2 percent Middle Eastern, 1 percent black and 1 percent Hispanic.

Vancouver is Canada's 8th-largest city, behind Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, Toronto's neighbor Mississauga and Winnipeg. (Neighboring Surrey is 12th, with 470,000, and nearby Burnaby and Richmond are in the top 25.) But with 2.4 million, "Greater Vancouver" is Canada's 3rd-largest metropolitan area, behind Toronto and Montreal.

Main Street south of Vancouver Harbour, and Lonsdale Avenue north of it, divide city addresses into east and west. There is no divider into north and south, although north of the Harbour are the separate cities of North Vancouver and West Vancouver. Burnaby, New Westminster and Coquitlam are to the east, Surrey to the southeast, Richmond to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Vancouver has no highway "beltway."

TransLink runs the B-Line bus service, the SkyTrain rapid rail service, the West Coast Express commuter rail, and the SeaBus ferry service. A 1 Zone fare is $2.75, 2 Zone $4.00, and 3 Zone $5.50. After 6:30 PM on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays, discount fares apply, and buying a $2.75 1 Zone ticket will allow you to travel through all zones.

And remember, that's C$2.75, making it about US$2.10, making Vancouver's SkyTrain and buses cheaper than New York's Subway and buses. A DayPass costs C$9.75, or US$7.46.

It opened in 1983 as the home of the CFL's B.C. Lions and the original version of the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League, for whom the current team was named. (No other name was considered, even that of the interim team, the Vancouver 86ers.) It was hoped that it could bring in a Major League Baseball team. That's never happened. But it did stand as the centerpiece of the 1986 World's Fair (Expo 86), and the main stadium for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It originally had the same kind of air-supported white fabric dome that covered the Metrodome in Minneapolis and the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, but its renovation after the Olympics replaced it with a cable-supported retractable roof that looks a lot better, and is opened for all soccer games.
The field is artificial, and is aligned northeast-to-southwest, but, for practical purposes, the northeast end is considered the north end, and the southwest end is considered the south end. Capacity is 54,313 for CFL games and MLS Cup matches, but limited to 22,120 for regular-season Whitecaps matches.

The Whitecaps are 1 of 6 MLS teams currently groundsharing with a professional football team. BC Place has hosted the Grey Cup, the championship game of the Canadian Football League, how many times, Ed Rooney? "Nine times!" Most recently in 2014. This includes 1994 and 2011, when the Lions won it on home turf. They've also won it with BC Place as their home field in 1985, 2000 and 2006, and in 1964 when they were playing at Empire Stadium, for a total of 6 Grey Cups.

BC Place also hosted the 2011 Vanier Cup, the National Championship of Canadian college football, won by Hamilton's McMaster University over Quebec City's Université Laval; the 2014 NHL Heritage Classic, with the Senators losing to the Ottawa Senators; and games of the 2015 Women's World Cup, including the Final.
Food. Vancouver is Canada's premier western port. Which means, like San Francisco and Seattle, it is a great food city. BC Place reflects this.

Starting from behind the north goal, and working around: Dawson's Dogs (hot dogs) are behind Sections 201, 215, 226, 233, 241 and 248; Lionsgate Grill (burgers) at 206, 215, 228, 242 and 253; Breyer's ice cream at 211 and 215; Lemonheaven lemonade at 211, 224 and 239; The Poutinerie (serving poutine, that foul concoction of fries, gravy and cheese curd) at 212 and 239; Gastown Grill (burgers) at 218 and 237; Montreal smoked meat (deli sandwiches) at 218; Vij's (Indian food) at 221 and 245; Commercial Drive Pizza at 222; Cafe Fresh (salads) at 238; Steveston's Fish & Chips at 244; and Asian Steamed Buns at 250. (If your buns are steamed, that's a good sign that you've had too much to eat.)

Team History Displays. The current version of the 'Caps has only been playing since 2011, and their only major trophy -- if you can call it "major" -- is the Canadian Championship, effectively Canada's version of England's FA Cup. They won it in 2015, but lost the Final in 2011, '12, '13, '16 and '18.

This gets even more pathetic when you realize that this tournament has only been held since 2008, and that, until the Canadian Premier League began play this year, there had been only 5 teams participating: MLS clubs the 'Caps, Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact; and, from the new version of the North American Soccer League, FC Edmonton and the Ottawa Fury. (Toronto's won it 7 times, Montreal 3, and Edmonton and Ottawa, not surprisingly, have never even reached the Final.)

In the original NASL, the original Whitecaps won the title in 1979. They won their Division in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1983. They were coached by Leeds United legend Johnny Giles, and had some seriously pedigreed players: Alan Ball of Everton, Arsenal, and the 1966 England World Cup team; Kevin Hector of the Derby County team that won the League in 1972 and 1975; Phil Parkes of the Wolverhampton Wanderers that reached the Final of the 1972 UEFA Cup and won the 1974 League Cup; and Dutch stars Ruud Krol of Ajax and Frans Thijssen of Nijmegen.

There was also Vancouver native Bob Lenarduzzi, a longtime defender who played for Canada in its only World Cup (so far) in 1986, managed the Vancouver 86ers and the national team, is now the Whitecaps' president, and was elected to both the U.S. and Canadian Soccer Halls of Fame. (Basketball Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash, who grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, is also a part-owner of the 'Caps.)

As for the current 'Caps, their greatest player has probably been their former captain, Jay DeMerit, former defender for the U.S. national team. None of the preceding players and honors has a display in the fan-viewable areas of BC Place. There is, as yet, no team hall of fame. Nor are there any retired numbers.

The Whitecaps, the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers -- all named for teams that played in the NASL -- have competed for the Cascadia Cup since 2004. The Whitecaps won it 6 times: In 2004, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2016 (despite the Sounders winning the MLS Cup). Seattle have also won it 6 times, Portland 4.

The Vancouver 86ers won the Canadian Soccer League title in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Stuff. There are 4 retail locations situated within Level 2 of the concourse inside the stadium. However, as they are inside the stadium, they are only open on matchdays.

As a relatively new and unsuccessful team in a relatively new league in a sport with, at least in North America, a spotty history, there are no books or videos about the Whitecaps.

During the Game. Whitecaps fans don't much like MLS' other Canadian teams, Toronto FC and the Montreal Impact. Nor do they care for the U.S.' West Coast teams, the Seattle Sounders, the Portland Timbers, the San Jose Earthquakes, the Los Angeles Galaxy, or Los Angeles FC. But despite a minor rivalry between the original versions of the 'Caps and the New York Cosmos in the late Seventies and early Eighties, they have no particular problem with RBNY or NYCFC fans. If you behave yourselves, they'll behave themselves.
Marie Hui, a Burnaby native who is emblematic of Vancouver's status as the most Asian city outside Asia, has been the Whitecaps' regular singer of the National Anthems since they debuted in 2011. Their mascot is Spike, a belted kingfisher, a bird common to the Vancouver area. He wears Number 74, indicative of the original Whitecaps' foundation in 1974.
The main supporters' group for the 'Caps is the Vancouver Southsiders, who sit in Sections 248 to 254. The Rain City Brigade sit in 201. La Doce -- a way of saying, "The 12th Man" -- was a Hispanic supporters' group that has since been folded into the Curva Collective, who sit in 203 and 204.

At the start of each half, the Southsiders sing "Boundary Road," to the tune of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads," a tribute to the current Whitecaps' origins at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby. On opposing goal kicks, instead of the "You suck, asshole!" formerly heard around the league, including at Red Bull Arena, they yell, regardless of the actual girth of the goalkeeper, "You fat bastard!"

Like the Red Bulls and many others, they sing the variation on Little Peggy March's "I Will Follow Him": "We love ya, we love ya, we love ya, and where you go we'll follow, we'll follow, we'll follow, 'cause we support the Whitecaps, the Whitecaps, the Whitecaps, and that's the way we like it, we like it, we like it, oh whoa oh ohhhh... " They adapted Chelsea's song: "Carefree, wherever you may be, we're from Vancouver, B.C.! And we don't give a toss, wherever you may be! We're from Vancouver, B.C.!"

To the old standby, "Vamos (Team Name)," they sing, "Come on, come on Vancouver, we're together, supporting you tonight!" They sing Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough." To "Hava Nagila," they sing, "Whitecaps, Vancouver Whitecaps, Vancouver Whitecaps, Vancouver, hey hey hey!" To "Anarchy in the UK," they sing, "I Am a Vancouverite!" They sing "The Blue and White Forever," to the tune of the Canadian patriotic song "The Maple Leaf Forever."

Remember the Stonecutters episode of The Simpsons? They do a variation on that:

Who makes the (other team) turn white?
Who keeps their sisters warm at night?
We do! We do!
Who berates the referees?
Who does what the hell they please?
We do! We do!
Who drinks all of your fav'rite beer?
Who gets more drunker each year?
We do! We do!
Who makes your goalkeeper cry?
Who thinks divers ought to die?
We do! We do!
Who stands up through thick and thin?
Who cheers the Caps on lose or win?
We do! We do!

When the 'Caps score, they do "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes: "Oh, whoa-oh a ohhhh, ohhhh!" When the opposing team scores, they sing a variation on the Doris Day classic, inspired by a former coach's remark about the substandard Swangard pitch:

Que sera, sera!
Whatever will be, will be!
It's not bloody Wemberly!
Que sera, sera!

In other words, don't celebrate too hard, visiting fans. In the 86th minute, as a tribute to their roots, they sing, to the tune of the Beatles'"Hey Jude,""Na, na na, na na na na... na na na na... Eight-six!"

After the Game. Canadians generally don't believe in fighting with opposing fans, they have a healthy attitude toward guns (they don't need them to feel safe), and they certainly have nothing (or next to nothing) against New York (in spite of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals) and New Jersey. Don't go out of your way to antagonize anyone, and you'll be fine.