The Cascadians who’ll face the Chagos Islands as they celebrate their good news

Cascadia take on the Chagos Islands on Saturday at Whyteleafe FC’s stadium in their first ever friendly. Kick off is 3pm. The game comes after an important week for the Chagos Islanders who won a key vote at the United Nations over their right to return to their homeland.

Fans can watch the game here on line or follow it on Prost Soccer Twitter. Or both.

Chagossian politics aside, the game is historic for Cascadia. This is their first ever friendly and their last game before they hold their first ever home game on July 27, in Kent, Washington State in America’s Pacific Noorthwest.

Some of the players who represented Cascadia at the ConIFA World Cup in 2018 are returning but there are some new faces in James Nichols’ squad.

Here is a run down on the players who will play on Saturday.

GOALKEEPER

Brendan Norris (Goalkeeper, Winchester City FC)

Brendan Norris, currently playing for Winchester City in England, is 23 and a goalkeeper.

He qualifies for Cascadia through his grandparents being from British Columbia. Brendan is keen to represent Cascadia and has had trials with Southampton, Cardiff and Reading in the UK.

DEFENDERS

Patrick Wilson (Captain, Defender, New Milton Town FC)

Patrick Wilson will be returning to the squad for the game against Chagos Islands. Pat was an integral part of the Cascadian defense in the ConIFA World Football Cup in London and currently has 5 Cascadia caps.

Patrick, 33, was born in Toronto and has a large family from British Columbia. Patrick is currently a player/manager of New Milton Town in England and brings much needed experience to the side.

Patrick has had experience playing in a number of countries including Hungary and Belgium. He is also a coach in the academy at AFC Bournemouth of the EPL.

Patrick Wilson Interview: Following James Riley as Cascadia captain is an honor

Charlie Gregory (Left Back, Sporting Bengal United)

Cascadia’s first ever player will return to the squad for the game against the Chagos Islands. Charlie Gregory was born in Vancouver and lived there until the age of nine. He has played professional soccer in Sweden for Assyriska FC and is currently playing semi professionally in England for Sporting Bengal.

Gregory currently has six Cascadia caps and therefore holds the joint record for most appearances with Max Oldham.

Jacob Toms (Defender, East Cowes Vics FC)

Jacob Toms plays for East Cowes Vics whose first team play in Wessex Division 1 in England despite being based on the Isle of White. He has had international experience through beach soccer where he has competed in the Euro Winners Cup in Italy.

Jacob has also represented a professional Swiss side called Bienne Hatchets out in Tobago at the Bagosports tournament for beach soccer.

Jacob played futsal for Southampton FC and then went to Loughborough briefly to join the International Futsal Academy.

Kyle Lemon (Full Back, Bedfont Sports FC)

Kyle Lemon, 23, plays for Bedfont Sports in England. Kyle is a central midfielder and came to the UK aged 15 having been born and raised in Vancouver.

Kyle is an exciting player and is likely to feature in the May international against the Chagos Islands.

Lorne Jenkins (Defender, Unattached)

Lorne was originally in the squad for the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup in 2018 but withdrew due to injury.

Lorne, 23 has been playing soccer all of his life but has also competed in Division 1 track and field while at university. Lorne was spotted playing for the University of East London after moving to the UK.

Lorne qualifies for Cascadia through residency, living in Seattle for a large part of his childhood and he is looking forward to wearing the jersey.

MIDFIELDERS

Angelo Calfo (Midfield, Richmond International American Soccer Academy)

Angelo Calfo, 20, will be joining the roster for the first time this weekend. Calfo grew up in Seattle, Washington and played for Crossfire in Kirkland.

Upon moving to Europe, Angelo played for EduKick in Spain before moving on to San Roque CD EFF in Madrid.

Currently midfielder Calfo is in the UK, playing for the Richmond International American Soccer Academy based in Leeds, England.

Brian Simpson (Midfield, Hatfield Town FC)

Returning to the squad is “baby faced assassin” Brian Simpson who was part of the squad in the ConIFA World Football Cup in London in 2018. Brian currently holds two Cascadia caps.

Brian grew up in Arizona but his family on his mother’s side are Cascadian, based in BC.

Brian currently plays for Hatfield Town having left Hertford. As a youth player he was involved with Real Salt Lake City and the Tucson Soccer Academy before moving to England.

Taylor Fisher (Midfielder, Dartford FC)

The new baby of the squad is 18-year-old Taylor Fisher who currently plays for Dartford FC in National League South in England.

Taylor doesn’t just bring youth to the Cascadia squad, he provides flexibility and variety being a left footed player who can play in a variety of positions.

Zane Provenzano (Midfielder, Richmond International American Soccer Academy)

Zane is 20 years old and is currently based in the UK playing for the Richmond International American Soccer Academy near Leeds.

Provenzano grew up in Portland, Oregon and played for Portland City United and Madison High school before moving to the UK.

Zane can play in a number of positions and will be a great addition to the roster, being able to relocate seamlessly in case of injury.

FORWARDS

Callum Powell (Left Winger, Stourbridge FC)

Joining the roster for the fixture against the Chagos Islands is Callum Powell, a 23-year-old currently playing for Stourbridge in England’s Black Country. He is a versatile wide man who can play on either side of the field.

Powell qualifies for Cascadia via residency. He attended Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. He was a youth team player at Leicester City and Northampton Town before moving to Vancouver BC.

Upon returning to the UK, Callum has played for Rugby Town, Wrexham FC and Tamworth FC. He has recently been called up to England C team, representing the best semi professional players in England.

Tayshan Hayden-Smith (Midfielder, ENAD Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus)

Hayden-Smith represented Cascadia in the 2018 ConIFA scoring a memorable goal against Tamil Eelam.

His clubs include Aldershot, Grays Athletic, Hayes & Yeading, Enfield and FC Eurotours Kitzbuhel in Austria.

Since January, he has been playing in Cyprus this season for ENAD Polis Chrysochous FC, a Paphos based club who play in the Cypriot Second Division. He was a regular starter there. He is now looking for a new club with an eye to join Cascadia teammate Calum Ferguson in the new Canadian League.

Chase Boone (Forward, Richmond International American Soccer Academy)

Chase Boone is 23-years-old. He was born in Portland Oregon, and grew up playing for Westside Metros.

He went to Jesuit High School and won two state championships. He then attended University of Redland with whom he spent four years. Currently he plays for Richmond International Academy, based in Leeds in the UK. He can play as a striker or attacking midfielder.

Gavin McCallum (Forward, Welling United FC)

Gavin McCallum is a full Canadian international. He will be the first Cascadian player to hold a full international cap for Canada or the USA, making his debut and scoring against Venezuela.

Gavin McCallum’s goal for Canada:

He is 31 years of age and was born in Canada Mississauga, Toronto. He moved to the UK in 2004.

His professional career started at Yeovil town football club where he had a number of loans to Crawley, Tamworth and Dorchester. He was released and went to Weymouth before playing in the Conference for different teams over three years such as Havant & Waterlooville and Sutton United, a venue where Cascadia played in the ConIFA World Cup.

McCallum then signed a contract in League Two with Hereford United FC where he played 27 matches and scored eight. This earned him a move to Lincoln City Football Club again in League Two where he played over 50 games.

Upon leaving Lincoln, he moved to for Woking FC , Sutton United FC and Eastbourne Borough FC and is currently representing Welling United FC.

He qualifies for Cascadia through family in British Columbia.

Max Oldham (Right Winger, Corinthian Casuals)

Max Oldham voted Player of the ConIFA Tourament

Returning to the squad for the fixture against the Chagos Islands is Max Oldham. Max starred for Cascadia in the World Football Cup in London, being voted in numerous quarters as the player of the tournament.

Max is currently playing for Corinthian Casuals in England but had a variety of trials at professional clubs after impressive performances for Cascadia. Oldham like Charlie Gregory currently has six Cascadia caps and one goal.

Oldham grew up in Northern California and has family based in Oregon.

More on Cascadia:

James Nichols Interview: People ask me about Cascadia all the time

Watch Cascadia v Chagos Islands game live stream here

Buy tickets for Cascadia’s first ever home game against Darfur