FC London

Last updated

FC London
FCLondonlogo2016.png
Full nameFootball Club London
Founded2008 (as Forest City London)
StadiumTricar Field
Capacity900
OwnerDave DeBenedictis
Head CoachYiannis Tsalatsidis (men)
Garett Peters (women)
League League1 Ontario
2024 L1O-C, 2nd - promoted (men)
L1O-P, 2nd (women)
Website www.fclondon.ca
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

FC London is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in London, Ontario that plays in the men's and women's divisions of League1 Ontario in the Canadian third tier. [1] The men's plays in League1 Ontario's second tier Championship division and the women's team play's in League1 Ontario's first tier Premier Division.

Contents

The team was founded in 2008 as Forest City London Soccer Club, and were a member of the Premier Development League from 2009 to 2015; they won the 2012 PDL title, their first championship during this time. They re-branded to FC London following their move to League1 Ontario in 2016, being officially named Football Club London.

In 2017, the club partnered with Toronto FC. FC London's youth teams were renamed London TFC, while the senior team retained the name FC London, but changed its colours to red to match those of Toronto FC.

History

The original Forest City London crest, used 2008-2015 Forestcitylondonlogo.gif
The original Forest City London crest, used 2008–2015

Founded in 2008, Forest City London joined the Premier Development League in 2009. [2] In their first season, they had to split home matches between four stadiums. [3] and played their first ever game on May 29, 2009, against Cleveland Internationals. [4] London won the game 2–1, with the first goal in franchise history being scored by Kevin Zimmermann. [5]

London's debut season was a generally positive one; they remained unbeaten over the course of their first ten games, winning seven games. London's first loss was a 3–1 drop to the Indiana Invaders at the beginning of July, and it initiated a complete reversal of fortune for the team. They did not win another game all season and dropped down the divisional standings. The team finished third in the Great Lakes Division, seven points behind divisional champions Kalamazoo, and faced off against Chicago Fire Premier in the first round of the playoffs. London lost their playoff match 1–0 to the Illinoisans on a goal by Andre Akpan. Kevin Zimmermann and Alan McGreal were London's top scorers in their debut season, with nine and seven goals respectively, while Anthony Di Biase contributed four assists.

They won the 2012 PDL Championship defeating Carolina Dynamo in the finals. [6] The won their first Great Lakes division title the following season. [7]

Club logo from 2016 to 2017 FC London 2016 logo.png
Club logo from 2016 to 2017

The club moved to League1 Ontario in 2016, adding teams in both the male and female divisions. [8] The club went under new ownership and were renamed Football Club London following the move to L1O. [9]

The women's team won the league title in the 2016 and 2017 seasons by winning the league division, while also winning the League Cup in 2017. [10] They won the league division again in 2018, but fell in the semi-finals in the new playoff format. [11] In 2019, they finished third in the regular season, but won the league championship, defeating Oakville Blue Devils in the playoff final. [12]

The men's team won the Western Conference in their debut season in L1O in 2016, but fell to Vaughan Azzurri in the championship final. [13] In 2018, they finished as regular season champions, but ultimately fell in the playoffs. [14] During the 2019 season, they defeated Alliance United in the two legged playoff semi-finals by a 15–0 aggregate score, after victories of 5–0 and 10–0 across the two legs, respectively, [15] before ultimately falling to Master's FA in the championship final. [16]

London TFC logo.jpg

In the latter part of 2017, the club became a partner of Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, with the club being renamed London TFC, although the senior side retained the name FC London, under which it still competes in L1O. [17] As part of the rebrand, FC London changed their club colours and logo to red to match those of Toronto FC. [18] [19] In 2022, the club changed ownership from Ian Campbell to a group led by Dave DeBenedictis, the director of the London TFC Academy. [20]

In 2024, the women's team won the league cup, in the first edition of the competition since 2018. [21]

Former players

The following players have either moved on to the professional ranks after their time with FC London, or played professionally before joining the club.

Men

Women

Seasons

Men

SeasonLeagueRecordRegular seasonPlayoffsLeague CupCanadian ChampionshipRef
2009 Premier Development League 8–3–53rd, Great LakesDivisional Semifinals—not eligible [22]
2010 10–1–52nd, Great LakesConference Semifinals [22]
2011 9–5–23rd, Great LakesConference Quarterfinals [22]
2012 7–5–42nd, Great LakesChampions [22]
2013 10–2–21st, Great LakesConference Final [22]
2014 6–4–44th, Great Lakesdid not qualify [22]
2015 9–4–13rd, Great LakesDivisional Playoff [22]
2016 League1 Ontario 15–2–51st, WestRunner-upRound of 16 [23]
2017 11–5–64th, Westdid not qualifyQuarter-finals [23]
2018 12–2–21st (overall)Group stageQuarter-finalsdid not qualify [23]
2019 8–1–67th (overall)Runner-up—did not qualify [23]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [24]
2021 8–0–43rd, Westdid not qualify—did not qualify
2022 2–4–1522nddid not qualify—did not qualify
2023 6–7–713thdid not qualify—did not qualify
2024 League1 Ontario Championship 13–2–32nd ↑–Round of 16did not qualify

Women

FC London wins 2017 L1O League Cup FC London 2017 Cup.jpg
FC London wins 2017 L1O League Cup
SeasonLeagueTeamsRecordRankPlayoffsLeague CupRef
2016 League1 Ontario 914–0–2Champions–Semi-finals [25]
2017 1115–3–2Champions–Champions [25]
2018 1311–1–01stSemi-finalsQuarter-finals [25]
2019 147–3–33rdChampions– [25]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [24]
2021 79–2–11stSemi-finals– [25]
2022 2013–2–44thSemi-finals– [25]
2023 199–5–46thSemi-finals– [25]
2024 League1 Ontario Premier 1012–2–42nd–Champions

Honours

Head coaches

Stadium history

Average attendance

Attendance [26]

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References

  1. ↑ Elioff, Michael (May 7, 2022). "FC Men hungry to compete, develop on the pitch". gamedaylondon.com. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  2. ↑ "PDL adds London, Ontario for 2009". United Soccer League . December 3, 2008. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012.
  3. ↑ Massey, Benjamin (April 22, 2009). "Canada in the USL PDL: The Ontario Teams". Eighty Six Forever. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ "FC London kicks off with high hopes". The Londoner. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". United Soccer League. May 29, 2009. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ "FC London wins USL PDL Championship". Canadian Soccer Association . August 6, 2012. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ Rowaan, Dave (July 29, 2013). "Canadian clubs turning heads with PDL success". Waking The Red. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  8. ↑ Dalla Costa, Morris. "Everything new at FC London". The London Free Press. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  9. ↑ Pyette, Ryan (December 17, 2015). "FC London rebrands for League1". The London Free Press . Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  10. ↑ "FC London Women Win 2017 League1 Ontario Title". Ontario Soccer Association . October 3, 2017. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ Bowman, Greg (August 29, 2018). "FC London: Growing Soccer For Young Women". Radio Western . Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  12. ↑ "FC London wins 2019 League1 Ontario women's championship". Canadian Premier League . September 1, 2019. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  13. ↑ Hayakawa, Michael (October 21, 2016). "Vaughan Azzurri kicks up a storm to win Ontario soccer championship". Vaughan Citizen. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  14. ↑ Vanderhoeven, Paul (September 28, 2018). "FC London begins playoffs as favourites". The Sun Times .
  15. ↑ Vanderhoeven, Paul (September 24, 2019). "FC London men looking to follow women's lead". The London Free Press . Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  16. ↑ Vanderhoeven, Paul (September 28, 2019). "FC London battles to the finish in League1 championship loss to Scarborough Masters". The London Free Press . Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  17. ↑ Dalla Costa, Morris (November 29, 2017). "Soccer: FC London's academy changes look, adds programs with Toronto FC link". The London Free Press . Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  18. ↑ Dalla Costa, Morris (April 27, 2018). "FC London changes colours, continues to grow". The London Free Press . Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  19. ↑ "A Bluffer's Guide to FC London". League1 Ontario . July 29, 2022. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  20. ↑ Devlin, Todd (April 28, 2022). "FC Women eyeing another chance at fourth title". Gameday London. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  21. ↑ Mahmoudi, Nelson (August 1, 2024). "London Lifts L1 Cup Over Nitros". Northern Tribune.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Forest City London". Canadian Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "FC London". Canadian Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  24. 1 2 "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League . September 4, 2020. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Previous Season Stat Archives". United Soccer League . Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
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