High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The history of Vancouver Whitecaps professional soccer in Vancouver, Canada spans over four decades. The first team to use the "Whitecaps" name was the Vancouver Whitecaps of the now-defunct North American Soccer League, playing from 1974 to 1981. A Whitecaps FC team began play in Major League Soccer starting in 2011 making it the first time since 1984 that a "Whitecaps" team is playing in the top tier of soccer in the United States and Canada.