The ThunderCaps are Officially No More

While we have known about the move for about a month now, the Vancouver Whitecaps made the official announcement today that they have entered into an affiliation agreement with USL Fresno FC for next season.

The agreement with Fresno FC marks the end to Whitecaps FC 2, more affectionately referred to as the ThunderCaps. The club played three seasons in the USL, with their best regular season finish being sixth in the West, in 2016. That sixth place finish was accompanied by a trip to the Conference Finals, where they were ousted by Sporting Kansas City affiliate Swope Park Rangers.

Fresno FC will be playing in their first season in 2018, with a familiar name Frank Yallop as the general manager. WFC2 head coach Rich Fagan will remain as the U-19 residency coach.

While the affiliation agreement will allow the Whitecaps to assign players to USL contracts with Frenso, it is unclear how much of the roster they will comprise. Combined with Fresno being more focused on winning rather than developing players for the Whitecaps it is yet to be determined how much of a blow this move will be to the development plan at the Caps organization.

We will have more on the ThunderCaps over the next week as we go through the Rise and Fall of the club.

What are your initial thoughts on the move to fold the club?