Edmonton Aviators
 |
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| Full name | Edmonton Aviators Soccer Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Aviators |
| Founded | 2003 (as Edmonton Aviators) |
| Dissolved | 2004 (as Edmonton F.C.) |
| Ground |
Commonwealth Stadium Clarke Stadium |
| Owner(s) | Edmonton Professional Soccer Limited (EPSL) United Soccer Leagues |
| Coach | Ross Ongaro |
| League | USL A-League |
The Edmonton Aviators were a soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2003 as a member of the United Soccer League's North American A-League and folded after playing only one season, 2004. Midway through the season, with the club in financial trouble, the league took it over to save it from folding. The renamed Edmonton F.C. only lasted until the end of the year.
Expectations that Edmonton could support an A-League team were high, as the city had recently hosted the inaugural FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship at Commonwealth Stadium to tremendous success and similarly had success in hosting a number of the Canadian men's international games.
The group that brought the Aviators to Edmonton claimed that they were in it for the long haul, believing that they could keep the team in Edmonton for three years at a minimum, offering both men's and women's soccer to the city of Edmonton. However, the owners were planning for average crowds of 11,000 at Commonwealth Stadium, which some members of the local press held as unrealistic. This would have placed the Aviators, a mere expansion team, near the top of the A-League in attendance. On April 29, 2004, they announced their men's roster, including former Drillers Kurt Bosch, Rick Titus, Nikola Vignjevic, Eric Munoz, and Sipho Sibiya, as well as a number of highly regarded local players such as U-20 National Team player Chris Lemire. To round out the roster, internationals Claudio Salinas, Jaime Lopresti, and Jose Luis Campi were added. There was great hope and optimism for the local teams success.
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