FC Continentals

For the American soccer club, see Continentals F.C.

Full name	FC Continentals
Founded	2008;17 years ago (2008) as FC Vorkuta
Stadium	Centennial Park Stadium Toronto, Ontario
Owner(s)	Igor Demitchev
Chairman	Igor Demitchev
Manager	Denys Yanchuk
Coach	Andrei Malychenkov
League	Canadian Soccer League
2022	Regular season: 4th Playoffs: Champions
Website	https://continentalsfc.com/

FC Continentals is a Canadian soccer club founded in 2008. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a non-FIFA sanctioned league. The club originally played under the name FC Vorkuta and was renamed FC Continentals in 2022. Their home venue is Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto, Ontario.

History

The club was formed by Russian immigrants Igor Demitchev and Samad Kadirov in Toronto in 2008. ^{[1] [2]} The club derived its name from the main financier Demitchev's hometown Vorkuta in Russia. ^{[3] [4]} Initially the club operated at the amateur level in the Downtown Polson Pier Soccer League. In their debut season, Vorkuta achieved instant success after clinching both the regular and postseason titles. Within a year, the club transferred to the Thornhill Soccer Club League, and continued its uphill climb to success by winning the playoff title.

In 2010, the team remained in the York Region territory by joining the Richmond Hill Soccer League, and the Downsview Hangar Indoor Soccer League. In 2016, the organization decided to make the transition to the professional ranks by applying for membership in the Canadian Soccer League. ^{[5] [6]} After presenting a successful strategic business plan, the club received the necessary votes in order to be approved by the league ownership. ^{[7] [8]} In preparation for the 2017 CSL season, the team hired the services of Serhiy Zayets as head coach. ^[9] Zayets assembled a roster with several key CSL veterans acquired primarily from FC Ukraine United. The acquisitions included Sergiy Ivliev, Oleg Shutov, Mykhailo Bulkin, Vitaliy Dnistryan, Danylo Lazar, Vadym Gostiev, and Oleh Kerchu was assigned the team captain. ^{[10] [11]} In addition to the CSL veterans, several imports were brought in from Ukraine and Russia to further strengthen the roster. ^{[12] [13]}

Vorkuta made their professional debut on May 27, 2017 against Milton SC with a 7–0 victory with goals coming from Kerchu, Lazar, Shutov, Gostiev, and Yaroslav Svorak. ^[14] In the club's inaugural season at the professional level, Vorkuta managed to produce a significant result. By clinching the regular season title, and establishing the best offensive record with the second best defensive record. ^{[15] [16]} In the preliminary round of the postseason, they defeated Royal Toronto FC by a score of 6–3. ^{[17] [18]} Their 2017 campaign came to a conclusion in the following round after a 1–0 defeat to Scarborough SC. ^[19]

In 2018, the club produced a notable season by securing the CSL Championship, and found further success in the Second Division as its reserve squad secured the double (division title and DII Championship). ^{[20] [21]} In 2022, the club was renamed FC Continentals. ^{[22] [23]}

Crest

The crest used from 2008 to 2021

The club's first crest was in the shape of a circle with a soccer ball placed in the center along with the name of the club beneath it. ^[3] The colors of the crest were blue, red, and white which represented the colors of the Canadian and the city of Toronto flags. ^[3] On top of the crest was a barbed wire which symbolized the owner's birthplace Vorkuta in Siberia, Russia where a former Gulag labor camp was located. ^{[4] [24]}

In 2022, the club's name was changed to FC Continentals which also resulted in a rebranding of the club's logo. ^[25]

Players

Current squad

As of 31 July 2023 ^[26]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player – DF   UKR Oleksandr Alyeksyeyev – DF   UKR Maksym Banasevych – FW   UKR Oleksiy Boyko – MF   UKR Bohdan Borovskyi – GK   Andrei Ciurchin – DF   MEX Jesus Eduardo Compean Gonzalez – DF   UKR Leonid Husak – FW   UKR Serhiy Ivlyev – DF   UKR Serhiy Melnyk – GK   UKR Oleksandr Musiyenko – DF   UKR Borys Orlovskyi

No. Pos. Nation Player – DF   UKR Illya Piltenko – MF   UKR Serhiy Pitel – FW   UKR Viktor Raskov – MF   UKR Pavlo Shulhan – MF   UKR Andriy Sorokin – GK   UKR Anatoliy Starushchenko – FW   UKR Mykola Temnyuk – DF   UKR Mykyta Tkachov – MF   UKR Vitaliy Tymofiyenko – MF   UKR Serhiy Ursulenko

Head coaches

Serhiy Zayets (2017) Samad Kadirov (2018) [27] Denys Yanchuk (2020) Andrei Malychenkov & Viktor Raskov (2021) Andrei Malychenkov (2022–)

Honours

FC Continentals

• CSL Championship: 2018, 2020, 2022
• CSL Championship runner-up: 2021
• Canadian Soccer League First Division/Regular Season: 2017, 2019, 2021
• Canadian Soccer League First Division runner-up: 2018, 2020
• ProSound Cup: 2021

FC Continentals II

• CSL II Championship: 2018, 2019
• Canadian Soccer League Second Division: 2018, 2019

Seasons

First team

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	Ref
2017	Canadian Soccer League (First Division)	8	10–2–2	1st	Semifinals	[28]
2018		9	12–2–2	2nd	Champions	[28]
2019		10	15–3–0	1st	Quarterfinals	[28]
2020		5	4–3–1	2nd	Champions	[28]
2021	Canadian Soccer League	8	6–1–0	1st	Finals	[29]
2022		6	4–4–2	4th	Champions	[30]

Second team

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	Ref
2017	Canadian Soccer League (Second Division)	8	8–0–6	3rd	Semifinals	[31]
2018		6	12–1–2	1st	Champions	[32]
2019		6	13–0–2	1st	Champions	[33]

References

1. "FC Vorkuta » About FC Vorkuta". www.fcvorkuta.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
2. "Клуб мигрантов из России и Украины стал чемпионом Канады. ФК «Воркута» из Торонто, на эмблеме — колючая проволока - 13 января 2021 - Sport24". sport24.ru (in Russian). January 13, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
3. Kazantsev, Mikhail (June 26, 2017). "Воркута в Канаде | Моя Воркута". Моя Воркута (in Russian). Retrieved October 28, 2017.
4. Kovalev, Alexey. ""Нас постоянно просили снять "колючку" с логотипа". Жизнь русскоязычного клуба в Канаде" (in Russian). Retrieved June 6, 2018.
5. "FC Vorkuta » 2017! Here we come!!!". www.fcvorkuta.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
6. "FC Vorkuta to Join the CSL in 2017?". TOTAL90 Canada. December 5, 2016. Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
7. "ФК "Воркута" – победитель регулярного чемпионата Канады по футб... Cтоп, кто?". Sports.ru (in Russian). October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
8. Adamson, Stan (April 29, 2017). "CSL EXPANSION TEAMS VORKUTA AND ROYAL TORONTO GIVE NEW LOOK……End of May kickoff | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
9. источники, Внешние. "Керчу стал игроком канадского клуба" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 28, 2017.
10. "Pre-Carpathian footballer switched to Russian-Canadian club "Vorkuta"". Archived from the original on January 24, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
11. "Досвідчений буковинський футболіст Керчу грає за "Воркуту"" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 28, 2017.
12. "ФК "Воркута" Торонто: футболисты, тренеры, история, статистика, трансферы, протоколы". footballfacts.ru. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
13. "Волчков: "Воркута" настроена на высокие задачи". Sports.ru (in Russian). October 28, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
14. Adamson, Stan (May 29, 2017). "EXPANSION TEAM VORKUTA SHINES IN CSL OPENER………the weekend wrap-up | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
15. "Чернівці Спорт — "Воркута" з буковинцями перемогла у Канадській лізі" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 28, 2017.
16. "FC Vorkuta » 2017 SUCCESS". www.fcvorkuta.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
17. Adamson, Stan (September 18, 2017). "SERBIAN EAGLES, VORKUTA, SCARBOROUGH AND YORK REGION ADVANCE ……..weekend games in the CSL playoffs | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
18. ""Воркута" выиграла "регулярку" чемпионата Канады и вылетела в полуфинале". October 1, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
19. "Побългареният "Скарбъро" на исторически финал за титлата". Вестник СТРУМА (in Bulgarian). Retrieved October 28, 2017.
20. "Денис Янчук: "Спортивні цілі у "Воркути" найвищі" — Чернівці Спорт". chernivtsisport.com (in Ukrainian). December 21, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
21. Stanchev, Stancho (October 18, 2018). "Прокобата на дузпите отново провали К. Димитров в Канада". Вестник СТРУМА (in Bulgarian). Retrieved January 26, 2020.
22. Adamson, Stan (May 9, 2022). "New Name, New Teams for a New-Look CSL". Canadian Soccer League. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
23. "У Канаді зникла футбольна "Воркута" — Чернівці Спорт" [Vorkuta Football Disappears in Canada]. chernivtsisport.com. April 14, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
24. "Клуб мигрантов из России и Украины стал чемпионом Канады. ФК «Воркута» из Торонто, на эмблеме — колючая проволока - 13 января 2021 - Sport24" [The club of migrants from Russia and Ukraine became the champion of Canada. FC "Vorkuta" from Toronto, on the emblem - barbed wire]. sport24.ru (in Russian). January 13, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
25. Fitz-Gerald, Sean (June 28, 2022). "In Toronto, a semi-pro soccer team of Ukrainians lifts each other up". The Athletic. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
26. "Canadian Soccer League". Canadian Soccer League. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
27. Adamson, Stan (October 14, 2018). "Vorkuta, Vorkuta, Vorkuta Spells Three CSL Titles" . Retrieved December 7, 2018.
28. "CSL First Division Standings". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
29. "ProSound Cup Standings". Canadian Soccer League. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
30. "Standings". Canadian Soccer League. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
31. "2017 CSL Second Division". ca.soccerway.com. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
32. "2018 CSL Second Division". ca.soccerway.com. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
33. "2019 CSL Second Division". ca.soccerway.com. Retrieved January 10, 2025.

External links

• FC Continentals (Official website)