Vancouver to Face Seattle Sounders in Pre-Season Friendly

Official Press Release

WHITECAPS ANNOUNCE PRE-SEASON HOME MATCH AGAINST SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced today that on Saturday, March 6, the men's team will host Major League Soccer (MLS) club Seattle Sounders FC at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC. The pre-season match will kick off at 4 p.m. PT.

All tickets for the match will cost $15, plus applicable service charges. Whitecaps season ticket holders will receive priority purchase rights and the remaining tickets will be available to the public on Wednesday, February 17 at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets will be available online at ticketmaster.ca or by calling 604.280.4400.

The Sounders are led by two-time MLS Coach of the Year Sigi Schmid and include key players like Swedish midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, who was a member of the 2009 MLS Best XI and a former standout at Arsenal FC in the English Premier League. The squad also includes the talented Colombian and 2009 MLS Newcomer of the Year Fredy Montero. Team captain Kasey Keller is one of American soccer's most decorated goalkeepers. The Washington State native spent a large portion of his career playing in England, Spain, and Germany before returning home to join Sounders FC.

The March 6 match will be the second meeting between these two Interstate 5 rivals this pre-season. This Thursday, the Whitecaps and Sounders will meet in a pre-season training match at the Grande Sports World facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. Last February, both clubs met in a closed-door pre-season friendly match at Seattle's Qwest Field.

The Swangard match will also be the first time that the MLS Sounders have played in British Columbia, with both clubs set to renew this Pacific Northwest rivalry in 2011 when Vancouver joins MLS as the league's 17th team. Between 1974 and 2008, the Whitecaps and Sounders had no less than 111 competitive meetings between each other. The first 28 matches took place in the old North American Soccer League (NASL) between 1974 and 1983, with the 'Caps recording 17 wins and 11 defeats versus the Sounders. Soccer fans in Seattle and Vancouver then had to wait until 1994 for the rivalry to be renewed, with the Sounders claiming the upper hand during 83 meetings in the former United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1). Between 1994 and 2008, the Sounders recorded 43 wins, 25 defeats, and 15 draws versus the Whitecaps. Those recent results meant that Seattle command a favourable record of 54 wins, 42 defeats, and 15 draws in their 111 competitive matches with Vancouver.

The Whitecaps are currently in Arizona for two-week pre-season trip in Arizona. Following their stay at the Grande Sports World facility, the players will have a week off before training camp re-opens on Monday, March 1, at the Whitecaps Training Centre on the campus of Simon Fraser University. Additional pre-season matches will be announced shortly.

Whitecaps 2010 season tickets are now on sale. Season tickets include all men’s and women's team regular season and playoff home matches at Swangard Stadium, Nutrilite Canadian Championship home matches against Toronto FC and Montreal Impact, as well as priority listing for Vancouver MLS 2011 in BC Place. For more information on the 2010 season ticket packages, visit whitecapsfc.com or call 604.669.WAVE (9283).