League1 Ontario
Women's Division
Organising bodyOntario Soccer Association
FoundedJanuary 2015
First season2015
CountryCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams20
Level on pyramid3
League cup(s)L1 Cup (hiatus)
Current championsAlliance United
(2023)
Most championshipsFC London (3 titles)
Most L1 Cups4 teams (1 title each)
Websitewww.league1ontario.com
Current: 2023 Women's League1 Ontario season

League1 Ontario (L1O or L1ON) is a semi-professional women's soccer league in Ontario, Canada.[1] The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian soccer league system.[2] League1 Ontario part of League1 Canada, the national third tier with regional divisions, with L1O equivalents in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec.

The women's division launched in 2015 with seven clubs and has grown to twenty clubs for the 2022 season. Beginning in 2024, the league will become a three-tier league featuring promotion and relegation.

History

League1 Ontario was founded as a men's semi-professional league on November 15, 2013, in an announcement by the Ontario Soccer Association (OSA).[3]

In January 2015, L1O announced the launch of a women's division.[4] Initially, six teams (ANB Futbol, Durham United FC, North Mississauga SC, ProStars FC, Sanjaxx Lions and Vaughan Azzurri) were to compete, but a seventh team (Woodbridge Strikers) was soon added ahead of the inaugural season.[5] The league kicked off their first matches on May 23 with all seven teams playing matches at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton (Ottawa Fury FC Academy also fielded a team for an exhibition match to make an even number so that every team could play).[6] Durham United FC defeated North Mississauga SC by a score of 2–0 in the league's first official match.[7] Durham United were the inaugural league champions.[8] while North Mississauga won the first League Cup title.[9]

For the 2016 season, the division grew to nine teams with the addition of four teams, while two clubs departed.[10] The league grew to 11 teams in 2017, with three new additions and one departure.[11][2] In 2018, the league grew to 13 teams and the league introduced a playoff format for the first time to declare the league champion.[12] For the 2019 season, the league eliminated the League Cup competition.[13]

Beginning in the 2020 season, League1 Ontario and the Première ligue de soccer du Québec had planned to hold a Final Four end-of-season tournament for their women's divisions, from August 14 to 16, pitting the top two sides from each league in an inter-provincial playoff.[14] Also, the league had planned to introduce a Reserve Division for the women for the first time. However, due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the league cancelled the 2020 season[15][16] and delayed the start of the 2021 season.[17] Due to the delayed start caused by the pandemic, some clubs were unable to field team's in the main division. Consequently, the league also formed a short-season summer division, with teams opting to either play in the full-season Premier division, the short-season Champion, and/or the Reserve division.[18]

On January 25, 2022, League1 Ontario announced a major restructuring of the men's and women's competitions to commence in 2024.[19] The league will be split into three tiers (Premier, Championship, and League2) with promotion and relegation between the tiers.[20] Future expansion clubs will enter at the League2 level and will have to win to earn promotion to the Championship and then Premier divisions. Also in 2024 will be the return of the L1 Cup, a league cup knockout tournament which will feature teams from all three tiers in the L1O system.[20]

Management

In September 2019, former Canadian national team player Carmelina Moscato was announced as Commissioner of the Women's division (prior to this both the male and female divisions were led by Dino Rossi),[21] however she departed in December 2020[22] to become the Director of Women's Football for the Bahamas Football Association.[23] In March 2021, Chelsea Spencer and Julie Maheu were announced as Director and Operations Manager, respectively, for the league.[24]

Competition format

The League1 Ontario regular season runs from May through September using a single table format, with each team playing one match against all other teams. The top four teams compete in the league playoffs at the end of the season.[25]

Beginning in 2019, the Ron Smale Cup was created by the supporters group of North Mississauga SC to be given to the regular season champions.[26]

L1 Cup

The L1 Cup is a league cup tournament that features all L1O clubs.[27] It runs concurrently with the regular season, with cup games usually taking place during mid-week. It is not a form of playoffs and all matches are separate from the regular season and are not reflected in the season standings. The 2015 cup included a group stage and a knockout stage but from 2016 to 2018 the format was a single-elimination tournament. Following a hiatus from 2019 to 2023,[13] the L1 Cup will return in 2024 to coincide with the league's restructuring.[20]

Yearly results

L1O Women's trophy winners
Season Teams Regular season Play-offs L1 Cup
2015 7 Durham United FC — North Mississauga SC
2016 9 FC London — Vaughan Azzurri
2017 11 FC London — FC London
2018 13 FC London Durham United FA Woodbridge Strikers
2019 14 Oakville Blue Devils FC FC London —
2020 13 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 7[note 1] FC London Woodbridge Strikers —
2022 20 Vaughan Azzurri NDC Ontario —
2023 19 NDC Ontario Alliance United FC —
  1. ^ Originally, 15 clubs were set to participate, but some clubs opted out of the main division due to scheduling impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some clubs participated in a separate short-season division.

Clubs

Current clubs

Currently there are 20 clubs, based mainly in the Greater Toronto Area and other cities in Southern Ontario. There are no clubs based in Northern Ontario.

League1 Premier

League1 Premier
Team City Principal stadium First season
Alliance United FC Markham / Scarborough Birchmount Stadium / Varsity Stadium / Ontario Soccer Centre 2019
FC London London Tricar Field 2016
Guelph Union Guelph Centennial Bowl 2021
NDC Ontario Vaughan Ontario Soccer Centre 2022
North Mississauga SC Mississauga Churchill Meadows (Mattamy Sports Park) 2015
North Toronto Nitros Toronto Downsview Park 2020[note 1]
Simcoe County Rovers FC Barrie J.C Massie Field, Georgian College 2022
St. Catharines Roma Wolves St. Catharines Roma Park – Under Armour Field 2022
Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan North Maple Regional Park 2015
Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge (Vaughan) Vaughan Grove 2015
  1. ^ The 2020 season was cancelled delaying their debut to the following year

League1 Championship

League1 Championship
Team City Principal stadium First season
Blue Devils FC[note 1] Oakville Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium 2018
Burlington SC Burlington Corpus Christi CSS 2022
BVB IA Waterloo[note 2] Waterloo RIM Park 2021
Darby FC Whitby South Courtice Field 2016
Hamilton United Hamilton Ron Joyce Stadium (McMaster University) 2018
Pickering FC[a] Pickering Pickering Soccer Centre/Kinsmen Park 2015[note 3]
ProStars FC Brampton Ontario Soccer Centre / Victoria Park Stadium / Terry Fox Stadium 2015[note 4]
Scrosoppi FC Milton / Vaughan Ontario Soccer Centre (Vaughan) 2024
Tecumseh SC Tecumseh Académie Ste. Cécile International School 2021
Unionville Milliken SC Unionville (Markham) Ontario Soccer Centre 2017
  1. ^ Blue Devils FC was known as Oakville Blue Devils FC until the end of 2020
  2. ^ BVB IA Waterloo was known as Waterloo United in 2021
  3. ^ Pickering FC went on hiatus for 2023 & returned in 2024.[28]
  4. ^ ProStars FC played one season in 2015, then returned in 2022

League2 Ontario

In 2024, a third tier will be introduced featuring new clubs as well as reserve teams. Teams will be eligible to earn promotion to the higher tiers.

League2 Ontario
Team City Principal stadium First season
Rush Canada Oakville River Oaks Park 2024

Former clubs

Former teams
Team City Stadium First season Final season
ANB Futbol King The Country Day School 2015
Aurora FC Aurora Stewart Burnett Park 2016 2020
DeRo United Futbol Academy Scarborough (Toronto) L'Amoreaux Park 2018 2019
Electric City FC Peterborough Fleming College 2022 2023
FC Oshawa Oshawa Civic Stadium 2019
Kingston Clippers Kingston Tindall Field, Queen's University 2016
Ottawa South United Manotick (Ottawa) Quinn's Pointe 2019
Sanjaxx Lions Toronto Monarch Park Stadium 2015 2017
Toronto Azzurri Blizzard Toronto Azzurri Village 2017 2018
West Ottawa SC Kanata (Ottawa) Wesley Clover Park 2017 2018
  1. ^ Pickering FC was known as Durham United FC/FA until the end of 2019.

Timeline

Players who earned national team caps while in L1O

The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in League1 Ontario (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in League1 Ontario are not included, unless they also earned caps while in the league. This section also does not include youth caps (U23 or below).

Player Country Year Ref
Kayla Desouza  Guyana 2015 [29]
Briana DeSouza  Guyana 2015 [29]
Ashlee Savona  Guyana 2015
Kira Bertrand  Dominica 2015
Farkhunda Muhtaj  Afghanistan 2016 [30]
Ashley Lawrence  Canada 2016 [31]
Kadeisha Buchanan  Canada 2016 [31]
Calaigh Copland  Guyana 2016 [32]
Bria Williams  Guyana 2016 [32]
Sarah Stratigakis  Canada 2017 [33]
Alex Lamontagne  Canada 2017 [33]
Kylee Bertrand  Dominica 2018
Cloey Uddenberg  Saint Kitts and Nevis 2018 [34]
Brianne Desa  Guyana 2018
Rylee Traicoff  Guyana 2018
Julia Gonsalves  Guyana 2018
Jade Vyfhuis  Guyana 2018
Alicia Zaban  Guyana 2018
Nicole Kozlova  Ukraine 2019
Markela Bejleri  Albania 2020
Gabriella Salvadore  Guyana 2021 [35]
Serena McDonald  Guyana 2021 [35]
Kyra Dickinson  Saint Kitts and Nevis 2022 [36]
Justine Rodrigues  Guyana 2022 [37]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Competitive S4L Leagues". Ontario Soccer. Retrieved October 15, 2021. League1 Ontario sits as the highest level of soccer for Ontario-based players and is defined as a semi-professional league
  2. ^ a b Davidson, Neil (April 28, 2017). "League 1 kicks off Ontario soccer season, offering a chance to rise up the ranks". Chat News Today. Canadian Press.
  3. ^ "OSA to pilot semi-pro League1 Ontario in 2014–2015". Ontario Soccer Association. November 15, 2013. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  4. ^ "League1 And OSA Announce 2015 Women's Division". League1 Ontario. January 28, 2015.
  5. ^ "Seventh League1 Ontario Women's Team Added For 2015". League1 Ontario. March 26, 2015.
  6. ^ "Semi-professional women's soccer set to take Ontario by storm". League1 Ontario. May 13, 2015.
  7. ^ "Durham United F.C. 2 - North Mississauga Panthers 0". League1 Ontario. May 24, 2015.
  8. ^ "Durham United F.C. and Oakville Blue Devils Clinch League1 Ontario Titles". Ontario Soccer Association. October 6, 2015.,
  9. ^ "North Mississauga Capture League1 Ontario Women's L1O Cup". League1 Ontario. August 9, 2015.
  10. ^ "League1 Ontario Announces Eight New Teams For Upcoming Season". League1 Ontario. December 17, 2015.
  11. ^ "League1 Ontario Continues To Grow Across Ontario". League1 Ontario. December 19, 2016.
  12. ^ "2018 League1 Ontario Season To Feature New Format, Divisional Configuration And Several Exciting New Additions". League1 Ontario. March 14, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "League1 Ontario Kicks Off A Sixth Season With Early May Openers". League1 Ontario. March 13, 2019.
  14. ^ "2020 L1O schedule: Condensed seasons & revamped championships for men's, women's". League1 Ontario. March 5, 2020.
  15. ^ Thompson, Marty (June 6, 2020). "League1 Ontario's 2020 'Summer season' cancelled, officials target Fall start". League1 Ontario.
  16. ^ Thompson, Marty (September 4, 2020). "League1 Ontario cancels 'Fall season' plans for 2020". League1 Ontario.
  17. ^ "League1 Ontario 2021 season now slated to start July 29th". Canadian Premier League. June 15, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  18. ^ "League1 Ontario Set To Kick Off Seventh Season With Late July Fixtures". League1 Ontario. July 22, 2021.
  19. ^ "League1 Ontario reveals league pyramid, pro/rel system for 2024 season". Canadian Premier League. January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Jacques, John (January 25, 2022). "Seven Things To Know About The League1 Ontario Restructure". Northern Tribune. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  21. ^ "CSB hires Carmelina Moscato as Manager, Women's Professional Football Development, League1 Women's Division Commissioner". League1 Ontario. September 12, 2019.
  22. ^ Jacques, John (December 17, 2020). "Carmelina Moscato Steps Down As League1 Ontario Women's Commissioner". Northern Tribune.
  23. ^ Jacques, John (February 12, 2021). "Bahamas Football Association Adds Carmelina Moscato As Director Of Women's Football". Northern Tribune.
  24. ^ Thompson, Marty (March 8, 2021). "League1 Ontario unveils Women's Division leadership". Canadian Premier League.
  25. ^ "2018 League1 Ontario Season To Feature New Format, Divisional Configuration And Several Exciting New Additions". League1 Ontario. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  26. ^ "Supporters Like No Others". League1 Ontario. September 13, 2019.
  27. ^ "Womens L1 Cup". League1 Ontario. League1 Ontario. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  28. ^ "Pickering FC Can't Field League1 Ontario Premier Division Teams This Year". Northern Tribune. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Lady Jags Kayla DeSouza named League 1 Ontario Defender-of-the-Year". Guyana Chronicle. November 25, 2015.
  30. ^ "Farkhunda Muhtaj". Facebook. Afghans of Toronto. January 14, 2022.
  31. ^ a b Gallo, Anthony (December 31, 2016). "Forty-Nine League1 Players (Incl. Alumni) Represented Canada In 2016". League1 Ontario.
  32. ^ a b "CANADACONCACAF Olympic Qualifying rosters announced". The Equalizer. February 8, 2016.
  33. ^ a b Davidson, Neil (February 22, 2017). "Coach Herdman picks young squad to defend Algarve Cup". CBC Sports.
  34. ^ Cudmore, John (May 16, 2018). "Aurora Stingers' Uddenberg looks forward to Women's World Cup qualifier". Richmond Hill Liberal.
  35. ^ a b "Lady Jags arrive in Puerto Rico for Training Camp and Practice Matches". Kaieteur News. October 20, 2021.
  36. ^ Kisser, Bill (April 13, 2022). "USVI blanked by St. Kitts and Nevis in CONCACAF W Qualifiers finale". Virgin Islands Daily News.
  37. ^ "Lady Jags pummel Dominica 4-0". Guyana Times. February 18, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.

External links

League1 Ontario – Women's Division
League1 Canada
Soccer in Canada
Categories