Edmonton Drillers

In 2016, FC Edmonton was in trouble. They were not playing good ball and the team was put up for sale. Speculation was they would move to Las Vegas. An Edmonton business man who believed in Canadian soccer bought the team after the 2016 NASL season. His first action was pick up Canadian national team players that were unattached, and rebrand as the Drillers, the former NASL team name. In 2017, the "Canadian Four" took the team to their first winning record in team history. With confidence from that positive season, the Dwayne DeRosario managed National Team finished 3rd in the Gold Cup and 4th in the Hex, qualifying for the World Cup with an aggregate win against Iran. The Drillers had a down year playing without their biggest stars in 2018. The next year, the team made the playoffs for the first time, with 7 Canadians in the starting XI. For the next 5 years, the team focused on their academy system, and Canadian talent. They would sell the National Team players they had to bigger clubs, only to pick up younger talent with the same money. In 2024, the team's support was busting out of Clarke Stadium. The owner bought up the ground where the old Oilers arena was. The 15,000 seat "Legends Stadium" helped the team grow to their current level, a mid level NASL team with their eyes on a bigger league.