Player Report: Ryan Gauld

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It’s safe to say Ryan Gauld is a veteran in the game.

 

He’s been playing professionally since 2012 starting at Dundee United. Since then he has played in a couple of different leagues and loaned out to quite a few teams.

 

In 2021 the Whitecaps were able to bring Gauld in from Farense, a team in Portugal. Signed to a 3 year deal he made his impact immediately. In just his second game he scores a game winning goal in the final minutes of the game.

 

Fast forward to July 2022 he was the MVP in the Canadian championship. Quickly Ryan Gauld cemented his role in the team. Consistently being one of the top performers and a huge help on the field with his advanced vision quickly rising up the ranks of leadership.

 

He showed up over and over again for the team and in 2023 found himself winning Whitecaps player of the year. For the second year in a row. About 3 months after winning the award , in January of 2024 Gauld would sign another 3 year extension. A month later he was named the 25th captain in Whitecaps history.

 

Starting in July 2024 would be the beginning of a series of knee injuries that would keep Gauld sidelined for a long time. At the end of the 2024 season he would miss nothe couple of games but nothing too serious had happened.  In March of 2025 Ryan Gauld would go out with a knee injury. This would make him end up missing 38 games over the season. His return couldn’t have been at a better time as the Whitecaps were making the deepest playoff run.

 

Despite being away for 207 days you could feel his impact as soon as he stepped on the pitch. The attitude of the players shifted, everyone got more focused. The Captain was back to support the team. And it was a great run. They made it all the way to the final to unfortunately lose out in the final. But everyone felt good and the next season was looking promising.

 

Putting the current situation with the stadium aside, I don’t remember being so excited to watch the Whitecaps play, and seeing Ryan Gauld back made it so much sweeter.

 

January 2026 and we get news that Gauld is undergoing knee surgery and won’t be starting the season with the team. The timeline had him hopefully coming back by April but that seemed too optimistic as we are now in May and we still aren’t sure when he’ll be 100%.

The team is doing great right now, but when Ryan Gauld comes back I think they will find another step.