VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed coach Teitur Thordarson to a one-year contract extension.
Thordarson, 57, has led the Whitecaps to the final of the United Soccer Leagues First Division the last two seasons, winning the championship in 2008. The native of Akranes, Iceland, will guide the team in its inaugural year in the new North American Soccer League.
The Whitecaps are scheduled to join Major League Soccer in 2011.
Prior to joining the Whitecaps, Thordarson coached in the professional leagues of Sweden, Norway, Estonia, and Iceland from 1987 to 2006. He spent 11 seasons coaching in Norway's top-flight Tippeligaen with clubs like SK Brann, FC Lyn Oslo, and Lillestrom SK.
The Whitecaps are one of nine teams in the NASL. The teams, unhappy with how USL-1 is owned and managed, have applied to the U.S. Soccer Federation for sanctioning as a Division II league. They will apply shortly to the Canadian Soccer Association as a Division I circuit to begin play in April.
