Members of the Vancouver Football Club are counting down the sleeps until their third season of play begins on home pitch this weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles will host Toronto's York United FC at Willoughby Stadium in 91原创, in the first of 28 games slated for this year.

In the days leading up to play, the team was still signing renewal contracts with some of its players, including a 91原创 student who's returning for his second season as an Eagle.

The most recent re-signing came late last week, when they confirmed local midfielder Thomas Powell had been signed to a CPL-U Sports contract. 

Each Canadian Premier League club can sign up to three CPL-U SPORTS players to their developmental roster per season. A CPL-U SPORTS contract allows student athletes the chance to gain professional experience while maintaining their eligibility to compete at the Canadian university level.

This 23-year-old Coquitlam native is attending 91原创's Trinity Western University (TWU).

Following his time with the Eagles in 2024, Powell returned to TWU, where he made 16 appearances for the Spartans last fall 鈥� scoring one goal and adding four assists. 

He was named to the Canada West second team after TWU鈥檚 6-6-3 regular season and a fourth-place finish in the Pacific division. Through four years as a Spartan, Powell made 60 appearances for his university team, scoring 10 goals and adding 16 assists.

Powell joins American-Canadian attacker Henri Godbout, a 19-year-old out of the University of British Columbia, and Canadian midfielder Medhi Essoussi, a 24-year-old out of the University of Toronto, to make up VFC鈥檚 CPL-U SPORTS contingent in 2025.  

鈥淚鈥檓 excited to sign another contract with Vancouver FC,鈥� said Powell.

鈥淚 learned a lot in my first year with the club about what it means to be a professional. I hope to be able to apply those lessons to my game this season and help the club achieve our goals.鈥�

Leading up to the first game of the season, the VFC roster also includes goalkeeper and team captain Callum Irving, as well as the newest netminder to the team, Felipe Jamarillo Drolet.

As for defenders, the roster features Thierno Bah, Joey Buchanan, Matteo Campagna, Kunle Dada-Luke, Paris Gee, and David Norman Jr.

Joining Powell in midfield is Tyler Crawford, Mehdi Essoussi, Vasco Fry, Emrick Fotsing, Henri Godbout, Dominic Joseph, Kevin Podgorni, and TJ Tahid. And forwards on the team are Terran Campbell, Mikael Cantave, Alejandro Diaz, and Jose Navarro.

Ticket and game information for the Vancouver Football Club's Eagles can be found online at