The 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to Canada next month with games to be played between June 12 and July 7, 2026. The USA and Mexico will also be hosting games.
No doubt a few Fort McMurray soccer fans will be heading to either Toronto’s BMO Field or Vancouver’s BC Place to take in a few games.
Fort McMurray has a strong connection to the sport as we look back into the local sports time tunnel at a few highlights.
1982: O’Reillys Rangers win the Alberta Provincial Cup Men’s Soccer title with a 5-4 aggregate over Lethbridge. Bob Park scores three goals.
Prior to relocating to Fort McMurray in 1978, Park had played Hughie Carmody on The Beachcombers, a Canadian comedy drama television series that ran on CBC Television from 1972-to-1990 with over 350 episodes!
Park, who was a mainstay in local soccer for nearly a decade, was in 79 episodes. He was Canada’s teen idol in the mode of David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Shaun Cassidy or Leif Garrett.
1983: Dan Rampersad receives a silver tray for his 10-year contribution to local soccer while the Fort McMurray Bantam and Pee Wee All Stars win Alberta Provincial Soccer championships. The Bantams shutout Lethbridge 2-0 with goals by Darcy Thieriault and Colin Dickenson. Pee Wees beat Calgary 1-0 on a Rodney Goluk penalty kick.
1985: Lakers, winners of...count them...10 Fort McMurray Senior Men’s Soccer Association titles, fold. President John Currie says "The legs were just too tired."
1988: Lemax Machine & Welding kicks their way to an Alberta Provincial Bantam B Soccer banner with a 1-0 win over Red Deer. There are 67 minor soccer teams in town. Fort McMurray Strikers win the Alberta Tier II Women’s Soccer title, led by captain Karen Brooks.
1990: Team Alberta silver at the Arctic Winter Games (ARWG) indoor soccer. Team members include Shayne Midford, Criag Miller, Rudolph Peters and Wayne Stephens.
1991: George Bradys named Coach of the Year and serves as technical director of Fort McMurray Youth Soccer Association (FMYSA)
1992: Fort McMurray Ladies Select All Stars win the Alberta Division III championship and the Fort McMurray under-12 boys win indoor soccer gold with Adrian Lizotte scoring four goals in a 10-3 win over Calgary Glebrook.
1993: Keyano Huskies lose to Concordia College Thunder -3 and beat Red Deer Kings 2-0 in men’s Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) exhibition soccer. Paul Kane scores twice in the loss. Tom Keca and Danello Amana score in the victory. Keyano will join ACAC soccer in two years.
Nicki Liboirin and Rene Serene (under 15 girls), Mario Aguirre (under 15 boys), Rory Brady (under 17 boys), and Jamie Best (under 17 girls) make provincial teams.
1995: Under 19 North Stars girls team serve as gopher ball retrievers at Canada vs USA women’s soccer match at Commonwealth Stadium. Fort McMurray Selects win the Under 19 B Provincial Women’s Soccer crown.
1996: Jamie Best plays her second year of soccer with the University of Alberta Pandas. Fort McMurray girls Under 11 team wins the Provincial B Division soccer crown.
1997: Wesley Stephens plays for the Edmonton Drillers pro team. Fort McMurray AMP Fury player Lisa McDonell scores seven goals in a 10-1 win over Lakeland at Women’s Division II provincials. City Council approves the purchase of the FLLY Dome and leases it to FMYSA for $1.00 per year.
1998: Fort McMurray wins three indoor soccer provincial titles. Tyler Chase scores 14 of the Under 13 boys' 22 goals in five games. George Brady is named coach of the Under 18 boy’s provincial team. Players Natalie Swain, Dustin Jodrey, Krista Hoskins, Heather Glague, Renee McGloin, and Tiffany Booth make their respective age group provincial teams.
Wesley Stephens earns All-Conference honors in ACAC soccer at MacEwan and Tiffany Booth is selected for the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team and joins the Western Canadian All-Star Team. She is invited to the U-20 Canadian National Team Camp.
1999: Tiffany Booth is part of Team Alberta’s silver medal performance at the Canada Summer Games. She will go on to attend University of Colorado Boulder.
2002: Natalie Swain plays for the defending champion Alberta Pandas.
2003: Keyano Huskies women’s soccer goalie Amanda Mawanay makes the ACAC All-Conference team.
2005: Liam De’Silva plays Major League Soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps following a stint with the Edmonton Aviators.
2009: Liam De Silva is inducted into the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
2012: Keyano Huskies’ Alex Eby is named a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian in men’s soccer and Jonathan Soper is named ACAC Men’s Futsal Coach of the Year.
2015: Keyano Huskies’ Pedro Bianchi is named a CCAA All-Canadian in men’s soccer. The men’s soccer team wins its first ACAC title. Angel Goldson is named Tournament MVP.
FC Edmonton hosts two North American Soccer League regular season games in Fort McMurray. On July 5, they beat the San Antonio Scorpions 4-0. On August 2, they lose 1-0 to the Ottawa Fury. Yours truly is named the honourary captain.
Keyano Huskies men’s futsal team wins the ACAC banner for the third year in a row. Pedro Bianchi is named ACAC Futsal Player of the Year. Allie Dewey is a guest player for Lucero Parroquial San Antonio (Chile) at Gotta World Youth Cup. She will play for Sweden in 2017.
2016: • Keyano Huskies win silver at the CCAA Men’s Soccer Championships at Shell Place. Connor Brady is named ACAC Men’s Futsal Coach of the Year for the third time.
2018: The inaugural Zara and Bridget Chambers Memorial Soccer Game is held to honour two Huskies futsal and soccer players (two sisters of triplets) who died in a car accident on Highway 63. They were 19 years old.
2019: Fort McMurray U13 girls and U19 Fury boys win gold at the Alberta Indoor Soccer Provincial Championships.
2022: Olympian Stephanie Labbe hosts two youth soccer clinics.
2023: • Keyano Huskies women win ACAC gold in futsal. Keyano Huskies men claim their seventh ACAC futsal title. Team Alberta North’s male futsal team gold at the ARWG. Local athletes include Chris Anum, Nasser Al-Noami, Ryan Weidlich, Sohaib El-Hayouni, and Tanner Fontaine. Keyano Huskies men win the ACAC championship, defeating NAIT in a shootout. The women earn an ACAC silver medal.
2024: Keyano's Jacob Marshall, Felicia Rodney and Harleen Kaur Singh are named CCAA All Canadians in soccer. Huskies win their eighth ACAC futsal banner.
2025 : Keyano’s Niels Slotboom is honoured as ACAC North soccer and futsal Coach of the Year.
Catch you on the rebound.
About the author
Curtis J. Phillips
Honoured with the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022, Phillips has been a Founding Father of various sports events and organizations, including the high school Challenge Cup (1984) and Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame (2000). He has been inducted into three Sports Halls of Fame to date and was the inaugural recipient of two national tributes recognizing community involvement.