About the club
FC828 is a pickup football club in Greater Vancouver. There are no fixed teams: the app splits whoever signed up into even squads, and the results go into the club's record.
- 1,046
- game days since 2006
- 3,311
- matches inside those days
- 302
- people have come through the club
- 159
- club events besides the football
Game day
- The day opens itself, two days ahead
The schedule is kept by the app, not by someone with a notebook. If it sits on your home screen, a push tells you sign-up is live.
- You put your name down in one tap
Signing up costs nothing: the $5 only comes off once the day is confirmed. List full — you go on the waitlist and move up the moment someone drops out.
- Sign-up closes at 22:30 the night before
Fewer than 10 of us and the day cancels itself that same evening, so nobody drives out to an empty field.
- The app draws the squads
By position, age and years in the club, from a saved seed: an argument about the split is settled by running it again, not by whoever is loudest. An admin can only swap two players.
- Red
- Blue
- Green
- White
- You play, the app keeps the score
A goal is two taps: scorer and, if there was one, assist. The day's table and its winner follow on their own, and voting for the best player is open for an hour.
Fees
Charged when the day is confirmed, not when you sign up. Day cancelled — you pay nothing.
Twelve months straight, every game day included. And for the last free spot a member goes ahead of a guest.
Who plays
- Adults, 19+
British Columbia's rule, and the club keeps to it: date of birth is checked at sign-up.
- You come on your own
Everyone has their own account. You cannot bring a mate along on the day, and nobody is written in at the field.
- An admin lets you in
A new account waits for approval. Until then your profile and the schedule are open, but signing up for a day is not.
- Members and guests
Play once a month and pay per game; come every weekend and the membership costs less. Same football either way.
Pitches
Over its history the club has played on 8 pitches around Greater Vancouver, 3 of them current. Each has a club name, and the app carries its address and route.
For twenty years the club met on Saturdays, then moved to Sunday. Which day is next is always in the schedule.
Photos
Somebody always has a camera out at matches and club nights, for photos and short video. They live inside the app and are visible to members only: nothing is posted publicly, and this website carries no player's name and no player's face.
Rather not be in them? One switch in Settings turns club photos off for you, and the same place has a button to ask for a shot to be taken down. A guest writes to an admin and it goes the same way.
“In our Club, the spirit of mutual respect and companionship comes before the spirit of competition.”
The next game day is filling up
Sign up, an admin lets you in, and from then on joining a day is one tap.