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Yallop Believes Foxes, ‘Caps Partnership Will Boost Arrivals

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 11/26/17, 9:47AM EST

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Fresno FC General Manager eager to welcome young players from Vancouver


Photo courtesy Keith Kountz / Fresno FC

VANCOUVER, B.C. – When Fresno FC welcomes its first additions from new MLS partner Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 early next year, the newcomers to the 2018 USL expansion club will be joining someone in Frank Yallop whose own career took off under similar circumstances.

The 1,000-mile trek south down Interstate-5 isn’t quite as far as Yallop’s move to Ipswich Town in England from British Columbia, but the Foxes’ General Manager is hoping the young VWFC standouts will get the same experience he did to start a career that saw Yallop make more than 400 professional appearances and represent Canada 52 times.

“It’s everything,” Yallop told WhitecapsFC.com in a recent Q&A. “You learn about yourself because you've got to get on with it, and grow up, and mix in, and fight for your position. It’s going to make them grow up quickly, make them take responsibility. This is a perfect scenario where we’re taking them out of their comfortable environment, we’ll put them into a pro team that we know we want to win, and those players are going to come along for the ride.

“If they’re good enough and enjoy being a professional, being away from home, living in another city, and working with full professional men, we’ll find out if they can sink or swim. I think that’s what [Whitecaps FC Head Coach] Carl [Robinson] wants to find out, what these players are capable of. Some of them are going to surprise us, they're going to stand up and be counted and that’s what they need right now.”


Photo courtesy Fresno FC

There are certainly those within the Whitecaps FC organization who have made the most of their chance to shine in the past three seasons, including members of the Canada U20 and U17 National Teams. Yallop is hopeful that the players who do arrive to compete for the Foxes will get a full year, but as has happened in the past with the likes of Alphonso Davies and Brett Levis, a standout spell on loan could provide the platform for bigger things in Vancouver during the year.

“Obviously, we’d love to have the players that we do pick for the whole year, but maybe they’ve done really well with Fresno, and Carl and the first team want to pull them up to their team,” said Yallop. “I’m hoping to do a great job for Vancouver, and I know the Vancouver players coming down are excited, hungry, and ready to further their career and get more experience in professional soccer.”

When Vancouver’s players do arrive in northern California, they’ll join a squad that Yallop and Smith are currently in the process of putting together for the start of the season next March. Given the history of soccer in Fresno that the PDL’s Fresno Fuego helped cultivate, there should be plenty of competition for places this preseason, something Yallop is hoping will help put a strong side on the field at Chukchansi Park.

“Our goal is two-fold now; it’s to pack the stands, and have a playoff team,” said Yallop. “You can’t guarantee to win anything. I want to make sure we entertain these fans here, we play a great style of soccer, we bring out some youngsters, and become a real successful family together. Create a great environment for people to do well in, and I think you can ask the players that played for me, that’s what I try to create. We work hard together, we lose together, we win together, and if you get that, and some camaraderie, it’s amazing what you can do.”

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