Article content

Score one for nostalgia. There’ll be soccer played at Swangard Stadium this summer.

The TSS FC Rovers, a club founded by the Richmond-based TSS Academy, will compete in the USL Premier Development League, a move that brings the beautiful game back to one of the most beautiful grass pitches in Canada.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Marc Weber: Soccer will return to Swangard this summer Back to video

“It was a much bigger piece than maybe some realize,” Colin Elmes, owner/operator of TSS Academy, and head coach of the Rovers, said of securing the venerable Burnaby stadium as their home field.

“I grew up here. I played there. Swangard used to host the Sun Tournament of Champions (an annual youth soccer tournament), and if you got to Swangard, you were something. I was fortunate enough to play there a few times.

“It’s iconic and it’s a shame that it’s just been sitting there for the last little while. Our opponents in the division are all very excited about coming to the venue.”

The Whitecaps left Swangard ahead of their inaugural MLS season in 2011. Starting as the 86ers, they’d been playing there — dominating, mostly — since 1987 in the old Canadian Soccer League days.