One step forward, two steps back for the Canadian Premier League as Valour FC folds

Tom Weber

• Updated: 26 Nov 2025 16:47 CST
• 4 min read

News

Just when the Canadian Premier League appeared to be picking up momentum following an iconic championship game, Canada's top men's soccer league has suffered a big blow with the news that Valour FC is suspending operations.

Despite the evident growth of the game in Canada and the US, it still suffers from the same volatility that has plagued it for... well, forever. Without committed ownership, football seemingly can not thrive.

In the States, North Carolina FC has announced that it will not participate in the upcoming 2026 USL Championship season because ownership wants to save resources ahead of the founding of USL's new Division I league - even though there is no guarantee that NCFC will get in.

In Canada, Valour FC has now dropped out of the Canadian Premier League after years of neglect. To those involved with the club, this felt inevitable. The CPL surely saw this coming as well, given that the league covered the club's operating costs in 2024 and 2025.

This announcement comes mere weeks after the CPL appeared to have been put on the map internationally, thanks to the frankly absurd blizzard-hit championship game between Atletico Ottawa and Cavalry FC, which included David Rodriguez's viral 'icicle kick.'

One step forward, two steps back

Although questions were raised as to how a game could be played in those conditions, the final provided a nice bit of publicity for a league that has struggled to stay relevant since its inaugural season in 2019.

The CPL's founding created significant hype, given that Canada had been crying out for a top-tier men's football league, with the country's marquee teams instead playing in Major League Soccer.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic hit at the most inopportune time and put a stop to the league's growth for several seasons, resulting in smaller attendances and less interest.

Some clubs have managed to bounce back; others, like Valour, haven't. Attendances never recovered, and ownership - Winnipeg Football Club led by Wade Miller - seemingly didn't care enough to try and get the Winnipeg public invested in the franchise.

At least that is what fans and those who worked in the organization are saying now. Rob Gale, the club's first head coach and general manager, has accused Miller and WFC of using Valour as "a tax writeoff and an afterthought."

"We had a couple of games well over 10,000 fans in that first year," Gale told CBC. "And I think we averaged the highest number of fans and had the least amount of debt in that first year."

Gale believes that Valour became an "inconvenience" for WFC after COVID. This sentiment was echoed by Jeremy Shields, a supporter who told the same outlet: “It felt like bare minimum all the time in terms of the investment to staffing, to the coaching, to even trying to do player recruitment.

“It just felt like we were sort of there to check a box, to sort of say this stadium isn't just for the [Winnipeg Blue] Bombers, it's for others. But it really did feel like second priority all the time.”

There had been attempts to find new ownership, according to Gale, but he is not surprised that Valour is now history. The mismanagement, he claims, was simply too severe.

Supporters are confident that a new team in Winnipeg, one playing in a smaller stadium and with different, more committed ownership, will emerge in the not-too-distant future.

The club's inaugural season proved that there is a significant appetite for pro soccer in Winnipeg. However, Valour's demise is a chastening reminder of the volatility that still reigns in North American football.

For the CPL, this is a case of deja vu. 2026 was supposed to be an expansion season with FC Supra du Quebec joining, but the league is now once again stuck at eight clubs, just as it was in 2023 when Vancouver FC joined, only for FC Edmonton to fold.

The CPL planned to have 14-16 teams in the league in time for the 2026 World Cup, but the picture could hardly look less rosy heading into the new year, and not just because of Valour's implosion.

Vancouver Island side Pacific FC is up for sale, while York United is reportedly set for a second rebrand in four years - to Inter Toronto FC - which has not gone down well with supporters.

For the CPL to live up to its undeniable potential, lessons need to be learned from Valour's unfortunate but inevitable demise.

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