Whitby FC

Whitby FC

Full name	Whitby Football Club
Founded	2015;10 years ago (2015)
Stadium	Whitby Soccer Centre
Head Coach	Ramin Mohammadi (men) Rich Hirst (women)
League	League1 Ontario
2025	L1O-C, 4th (men) L1O-C, 5th (women)
Website	https://www.whitbysoccer.com/page/show/2812831-league-1-darby-fc
Current season

Whitby Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Whitby, Ontario that plays in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The club was founded in 2015 as Darby FC as a partnership between Whitby FC and Darlington SC.

Founders

The club was founded in 2015 as a joint partnership between Durham Region clubs Darlington Soccer Club and Whitby Soccer Club with the name Darby coming from name blending the two names. ^{[1] [2]}

Darlington SC

Founding clubs of Darby FC

Darlington Soccer Club is a youth soccer club from the municipality of Clarington. Its roots date back to the foundation of the Darlington Soccer League founded in 1880; which is argued to be the oldest in Canada. ^{[3] [4]}

Whitby FC

Whitby FC is a youth soccer club in Whitby, Ontario. It was founded in 1966 as the Whitby Iroquois SC. In 2016, the club rebranded as Whitby FC with a new logo. ^[5]

History

Darby FC logo

The club's first team entered the women's division of League1 Ontario in 2016. ^[6] Their inaugural game resulted in a 1–1 draw with North Mississauga SC. ^[7] They finished their debut season in eighth place, out of nine clubs. ^[8]

In 2018, Darby added their men's team to the men's league, ^[9] which is one division below the top-tier Canadian Premier League. ^[10] Many of the players on their inaugural roster came from the prior year's Durham United FA roster, as Durham did not enter a team for the 2018 season. ^[11] Their debut match on April 28, 2018 was against the Woodbridge Strikers and resulted in a 1–1 draw. ^{[12] [13]}

In December 2024, the club announced the re-branding of their League1 Ontario team to Whitby FC for the 2025 season. ^[14]

Seasons

Men

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	League Cup	Ref
2018	League1 Ontario	17	6–3–7	9th	Group stage	Round of 16	[15]
2019		16	7–2–6	9th	Did not qualify	–	[15]
2020		Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [16]
2021		15	3–3–6	6th, East (12th overall)	Did not qualify	–	[15]
2022		22	7–4–10	13th	Did not qualify	–
2023		21	6–5–9	14th	Did not qualify	–
2024	League1 Ontario Championship	10	5–2–11	8th	–	Round of 16
2025		12	10–6–6	4th	–	Round of 16

Women

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	League Cup	Ref
2016	League1 Ontario	9	2–3–11	8th	–	Preliminary Round	[17]
2017		11	2–2–16	11th	–	Round of 16	[17]
2018		13	1–1–10	12th	Did not qualify	Round of 16	[17]
2019		14	6–1–6	8th	Quarter-finals	–	[17]
2020	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [16]
2021	League1 Ontario Summer Championship	7	1–1–4	7th	–	–	[17]
2022	League1 Ontario	20	9–0–9	10th	Did not qualify	–
2023		19	4–4–10	16th	Did not qualify	–
2024	League1 Ontario Championship	10	4–4–10	9th	–	Semi-finals
2025		9	6–7–3	5th	–	Quarter-finals

Notable former players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:

Men

• Kashiff de Jonge
• Trivine Esprit
• Steven Furlano
• Stefan Lamanna
• Shawn-Claud Lawson
• Taylor Lord
• Cale Loughrey
• Frantz Pangop
• Joe Zupo

Women

• Mollie Eriksson
• Christine Exeter
• Alicia Zaban

References

1. "Darlington, Whitby soccer clubs join forces to form Darby FC". Clarington This Week. December 30, 2015.
2. McNair, Brian (July 16, 2019). "Women's soccer in Durham Region hits interesting new heights". Durham Region News.
3. Buczkowski, Al (July 11, 2016). "Stewards of a soccer tradition". Sports Engine.
4. "About Darlington Soccer Club". Darlington Soccer Club.
5. "Home of Whitby FC". Archived from the original on April 25, 2017.
6. "Darby FC Bolsters Eastern Ontario League1 Presence". League1 Ontario . March 19, 2016.
7. "Durham United FA soccer clubs off to nice start in League1 Ontario". Oshawa This Week. June 13, 2016.
8. Bates, Matt (June 23, 2022). "A Bluffer's Guide to Darby". League1 Ontario .
9. Glover, Robin (March 16, 2018). "League1 Ontario releases their 2018 schedule". Waking The Red.
10. Davidson, John (January 24, 2020). "Former NPL defender Alfred Hess is out to make a name for himself as both a player and coach in Canada". The World Game.
11. Glover, Robin (June 20, 2018). "L1O Game of the Week: Late equalizer seals Alliance United draw". Waking The Red. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
12. "Match Preview: Darby FC v Woodbridge Strikers". League1 Ontario. April 27, 2018.
13. Halis, Irene (April 30, 2018). "Late Paredes Strike Snatches Draw For Woodbridge Away To Darby". League1 Ontario.
14. "Darby rebranding to Whitby for the 2025 season". League1 Ontario . December 13, 2024.
15. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
16. "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League . September 4, 2020.
17. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.