Forty years ago, it was the soccer match everyone in Vancouver was talking about: a win against the behemoth New York Cosmos to win the North American Soccer League championship.

It's the Whitecaps' only NASL title, but one that has a lot more history to it than just that.

The win united a city, especially after ABC announcer Jim McKay called Vancouver a "village".

"A lot of people remember it really well," said former head coach Tony Waiters. "The turnout at Robson Square, an estimated 120,000 people - villagers - coming out, to welcome the team back was quite incredible."

Waiters and his team are back in Vancouver for Friday's anniversary match between the Whitecaps and Toronto FC. For some, it's the first time in decades they've seen each other.

"It was quite remarkable. I had to look at them once or twice, to tell who it was," Waiters joked to CTV News.

On Thursday, the group took in practice at the Whitecaps facility at UBC where they passed along some advice to the players.

"We talked about team spirit, how it's everything," Waiters said.

That message, something players like Russell Teibert, who's been with the organization for over a decade, took to heart.

"They talked about the things that made them achieve such a cool thing in a championship for this city," Teibert said. "It's all about team work and that was the word that was reiterated and what unified them and what unifies them to us. It bridges the gap between generations to see these guys here."

The speeches, tours and catching up weren't the only ways the '79 squad walked down memory lane. Keeper Phil Parkes was also reunited with the jersey he wore in that championship match.

"That was unbelievable to be fair. I thought my son still got it to be honest, it's wonderful," Parkes told CTV News Vancouver. "I hadn't seen it since the last time I wore it in '79, 40 years ago. I forgot about it."

It was a supporter who found that jersey online and brought it back to Parkes. The former keeper said it is fans like that that made the team what it was.

"We used to mix with the supporters. If they had a barbecue, we'd all turn up, we used to drink with them after the game when you went to the backroom parties, so we got to know them and they got to know us," Parkes said. "I think that was one of the things, the players today don't tend to mix so much with supporters anymore, but when we played that was part of the deal."

Sixteen members of the '79 Soccer Bowl squad will be in attendance for Friday's game, where Waiters will also be inducted into the team's ring of honour.

"It's only 40 years ago anyways since we won it," Waiters joked. "Maybe it's a long time coming!"