Valour FC’s quest for glory in 2025 will begin and end on the west coast with matches against Pacific FC and in between the club hopes to piece together enough magic to secure the first playoff berth in the franchise’s Canadian Premier League history.

The CPL’s full 2025 schedule was released Wednesday morning — the home openers were announced earlier in the week — and Valour’s itinerary looks so much more favourable than a year ago when the squad opened with seven straight matches on the road, eight if their Canadian Championship contest was included, due to the new turf being installed at Princess Auto Stadium.

As it stands for this coming season, Valour will again open on the road — that’s always the case due to weather concerns — but after opening at Starlight Stadium in Victoria on April 5th against Pacific, will then have two weeks between its next match, April 19th in Hamilton versus Forge FC, before returning to Princess Auto Stadium to face HFX Wanderers for the home opener on April 25th.

Valour will play a balanced schedule with four games against each of its seven opponents, two at home and on the road, with 28 matches in total. The CPL Playoffs will begin on October 22 with the 2025 CPL Final played Saturday, Nov. 8 or Sunday, Nov. 9.

2025 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE, PRESENTED BY @WestJet, OUT NOW!!!!!

with a printable version for your convenience « https://t.co/N702PECrzj#ForValour | #CPLScheduleRelease pic.twitter.com/EO53m5MMwE

— Valour FC (@ValourFootball) February 12, 2025

Here’s a deeper dive into Valour’s 2025 schedule…

THE CURTAIN RAISERS

Valour’s start a year ago — one win and one draw against five losses in its first seven — really put the club in a deep hole before the season was even two months old.

That said, the club does have a solid record in season openers dating back to the franchise’s inception. Valour’s first-ever game was a 2-1 win over Pacific FC in B.C. on May 1, 2019, and overall the team’s record in curtain raisers is three wins and a draw against two losses with a 2-0 win over Forge FC in 2021 and a victory by a similar score over York United in 2023.

Last year the club fell 4-1 to Vancouver FC in Langley, B.C.

THE HOME OPENERS

Valour won its first game at home a year ago in a 2-nil decision over Vancouver FC. The club is unbeaten in its last four openers at home with draws against Ottawa (2023) and HFX (2022) and including a 2-nil win over the Wanderers in 2021. Valour lost its first-ever game at home 2-1 to the now-defunct FC Edmonton back on May 4, 2019 in a game played before the largest crowd in franchise history as 9,699 fans packed then IG Field.

PACK THE PLACE

Related to the above… Valour will hold its inaugural School Day Match on Wednesday, June 4th at 11 a.m. against Vancouver as the club aims to fill its stadium with students, teachers and fans across Winnipeg and the province. More details about the School Day Match will be announced closer to the start of the season.

A HOME FORTRESS?

In the chase for a playoff spot Valour needs to turn Princess Auto Stadium into one of the toughest stops in the CPL.

Over the 2021-22 seasons the team went 14-7-7 at home with seven wins and three draws against four losses in 2021 and seven wins, four draws and three losses in 2022. Since then, the team is just 8-6-14 at home, with last year’s mark of 5-2-7 the second-worst home total to Vancouver FC.

MARQUEE MATCHES

Circle the following dates on your calendar, Valour fans:

-The home opener goes April 25th, and the inaugural School Match Day will be June 4th.

-The club will be on the road for Canada Day in Halifax to face the Wanderers but will have home dates on the Friday of Victoria Day weekend — May 16th vs. York United — as well as playing host to Pacific FC on the Sunday of Labour Day weekend, August 31st and on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, October 11th, vs. the Wanderers.

-Valour will have three home games in the months of June and August and play consecutive matches in Winnipeg on four separate occasions in 2025.

-Finally, the club will host a Canadian Championship game this spring against TSS Rovers, with the date in either April or May to be revealed in the coming weeks. The Canadian Championship draw can be seen here: