Thanks for the info, FS. Hmm, it looks like they're focused on stabilizing the Montreal-Ottawa corridor teams before expanding further east to Quebec City. They also seem to be going about development differently. In Ontario, L1O is being positioned as the next step for U13-U18 players coming from the OPDL system to develop their skills. In Quebec, they don't have an OPDL equivalent, but they're setting up a reserve league under the PLSQ that I'm assuming will be for U18s and under. We'll see how it plays out, but I know that the Fury Academy teams were getting man-handled (literally) by the older players in the PLSQ.
http://www.league1ontario.com.prod....=2335430&_ga=1.220021777.984117593.1401834612 League1 Ontario Men: sixteen teams in two divisions, 22 matches (h+h in-division, eight games out-of-division), championship between the two division winners, league cup will be single-elimination Eastern Conference: Woodbridge Strikers, Vaughan Azzurri, Durham United FC, Kingston Clippers, Master's FA Saints, North Toronto Nitros (new), Toronto Skillz FC (new), Aurora United FC (new) Western Conference: Oakville Blue Devils, Sigma FC, TFC Academy, Windsor Stars, Pro Stars FC, Sanjaxx Lions, FC London (new), North Mississauga (new)
Looks like a little more time till we get a British Columbia "tier 3" league. BC Soccer (finally) released their Strategic Plan through 2019 (March 2020): (article) https://www.bcsoccer.net/news/post/...and-mission-with-its-2016-2019-strategic-plan (PDF of plan) https://www.bcsoccer.net/files/Abou...16MarchBC Soccer 2016-2019 Strategic Plan.pdf Buried on the last page of the PDF: "Introduce a professionally administered adult amateur soccer league by 2019 (Tier 3 League)" Of course, could be sooner, but could actually be three more years.
@SJJ Great find! I wonder what will happen with the PCSL as this comes to fruition. There may be room for both leagues, but you gotta expect the PDL (Victoria Highlanders) team to be forced into either the PCSL or the new BC d3 league sometime after the league launches.
Get one in Alberta and there 87% of the population. Alberta currently has a top flight province wide league, though it's an ameteur league rather than semi-pro.
They also have a team in NASL with an academy, and a PDL team in the province; both of which have ties to that amateur league. The question is, how feasible is a d3 set up in Alberta with such a small population? It definitely would be the smallest one after the BC league. On the one hand they could look to joining the BC system, or on the other with the prairies but neither really does a good job of balancing costs while being effective at development. If BC is looking to 2019 (or before) for their d3 league then Alberta would probably be sometime after that unfortunately.
They'd be best to be part of a Prairie-wide D3 league that includes Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Adding an extra 2 million to the base population they can draw upon would provide more competitive teams.
It's not just population that matters; it's also population density (cities) and geographic distances. Adding Saskatchewan to an Alberta league let's you add a team in each of Saskatoon and Regina. These are both large enough cities (305K and 241k metro respectively) to host D3 teams and the travel distance isn't bad compared to other trips an Alberta league would be looking at (Edmonton to Lethbridge, for example). Plus you could do the two cities on one trip pretty easily. Adding Manitoba isn't too useful, however. Winnipeg is the only city in the whole province. Adding Winnipeg turns the league from an easy bus league to one where you're either looking at air travel or really long bus rides. It's not impossible but I'm not sure it would be worth the benefit.
Winnipeg is just one city, it probably makes more sense if they just have a CPL team and a PDL farm team +their own academy in the local youth league. Regional D3 might only go so far, before it quickly becomes inviable. Thats what happened in Thunder Bay's case right?
If I were Manitoba, I would have an 8-team provincial youth league from U12-U18 playing with teams in the Brandon to Stienbach corridor (that holds two-thirds of the provincial population) that feed the best players into the Winnipeg PDL team (and another PDL team to start-up in Brandon), then have the best of those players play onto the much anticipated CPL team as they mature. That's probably the best pyramid they can hope for. Thunder Bay is doomed by geography. It's probably best served staying in PDL because L1O is not going to work beyond Sudbury travel-wise. I think eventually L1O will break up into 4 divisions with teams no more than 4 hours distant. If you want to spread the development net as wide as possible, I'd go with a four 6-team divisions - North (Sudbury to Markham), East (Ottawa to Pickering), West (Windsor to Missisauga), Metro (Toronto) - playing a 22-game unbalanced schedule. The top team in each division at the end of the season would play in a Final-Four Style tournament to determine the overall winner.
More on the expansion of the PLSQ; talk about 12 teams by 2017 and about incorporating play of D3 in the V-cup. http://www.rds.ca/videos/soccer/soc...-premiere-ligue-de-soccer-du-quebec-3.1182822 Quebec has been mentioned as an expansion for the past three years, it would be nice to see them finally join, along with Trois-rivieres and Sherbrooke. I could also see the Ottawa area supporting another team in Hull or Gloucester but its all speculative until it actually happens. Good to see potential growth at this level.
Based on that comment, It's interesting how little is actually set in stone yet. The PLSQ commisionner has confirmed that their teams have a path to the cup, but everything else remains in flux. either 2017 OR 2018, plus no details about how many teams or rounds and such. Based on the way he phrased it, it's nost that we does not want to talk about it, it's that the choice has not been made. My first thought is that they are still finalizing things for CPL, and basedon how many teams and such are there, it'll affect the PLSQ stuff.
http://www.league1ontario.com/page/show/2497178-mens-l1-cup-2016- The League Cup has started. Single elimination, games tied at regulation goes directly to PK: Tue, May 17, Sanjaxx Lions [1:2] Aurora United, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #1 Wed, May 18, Vaughan [2:1] Oakville Blue Devils, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #2 Wed, May 18, Pro Stars FC [3:4] Woodbridge, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #3 Thu, May 26, Kingston Clippers [3:1] TFC Academy, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #4 Thu, May 26, Durham United FA [3:0] FC London, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #5 Tue, May 31, 8:00 PM, North Mississauga -v- North Toronto Nitros, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #6 @ Hershey Centre 2 - Mississauga Wed, Jun 1, 8:00 PM, Windsor Stars -v- Toronto Skillz, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #7 @ Ontario Soccer Centre Stadium - Vaughan Wed, Jun 1, 9:00 PM, Sigma FC -v- Master's FA, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, R-16, #8 @ Hershey Centre 1 - Mississauga (Sigma FC -v- Master's FA) -v- (Windsor Stars -v- Toronto Skillz), League1 Ontario, Cup, M, QF, #1 Vaughan -v- Aurora United, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, QF, #2 (North Mississauga -v- North Toronto Nitros) -v- Durham United FA, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, QF, #3 Woodbridge -v- Kingston Clippers, League1 Ontario, Cup, M, QF, #4 (Sigma FC -v- Master's FA -v- Windsor Stars -v- Toronto Skillz) -v- (Vaughan -v- Aurora United), League1 Ontario, Cup, M, SF, #1 (North Mississauga -v- North Toronto Nitros -v- Durham United FA) -v- (Woodbridge -v- Kingston Clippers), League1 Ontario, Cup, M, SF, #2 (Sigma FC -v- Master's FA -v- Windsor Stars -v- Toronto Skillz -v- Vaughan -v- Aurora United) -v- (North Mississauga -v- North Toronto Nitros -v- Durham United FA -v- Woodbridge -v- Kingston Clippers), League1 Ontario, Cup, M, F The PLSQ has a League Cup, also, with the first two rounds played on two legs, and a single-game Final (at least that is what is listed) http://www.plsq.ca/fr/page/coupe_plsq.html: QF (2016-jun-18 and 2016-jul-17) Ottawa Fury FC -v- FC Gatineau FC Lanaudière -v- CSMRO CS Longueuil -v- AS Blainville SF (2016-aug-13/14 and 2016-sep-10/11): (Ottawa Fury FC -v- FC Gatineau) -v- Lakeshore SC (CS Longueuil -v- AS Blainville) -v- (FC Lanaudière -v- CSMRO) F (2016-10-29, single match) (Ottawa Fury FC -v- FC Gatineau -v- Lakeshore SC) -v- (CS Longueuil -v- AS Blainville) -v- (FC Lanaudière -v- CSMRO) @ Terrebonne (int.) I'm up to having the Inter-Cup being a four-team tournament, with both leagues giving their league champion and Cup champion to the tourney.
That's an interesting idea... What would happen if the results from the league cups match the league champions? You could end up with only 2 or 3 teams instead of 4. Then it might become top 2 of the league table. They certainly should add something to the respective cup's to make them meaningful, or maybe make them the sole qualifying path for the inter provincial cup. Just spitballing here, but maybe the best bet is to make the league cups a sponsored tournament with a winnings purse -however small- and keep the inter cup qualifying base off the league play.
Similar to the Charity Shield in England which pits the Premiership champion against the FA Cup champion. In the case where it's the same club, the league runner up takes part.
Quebec Dynamo officially announces -third time IIRC- expansion into the PLSQ. http://www.plsq.ca/fr/publication/nouvelle/quebec_se_joint_a_la_plsq.html
Both League Cups in action; Ontario this midweek and next; Quebec last weekend and mid-July: Ontario R-16 Tuesday, May 17, Aurora United 2, Sanjaxx Lions 1 Wednesday, May 18, Oakville Blue Devils 1, Vaughan 2 Wednesday, May 18, Woodbridge 4, Pro Stars FC 3 Thursday, May 26, TFC Academy 1, Kingston Clippers 3 Thursday, May 26, FC London 0, Durham United FA 3 Tuesday, May 31, North Toronto Nitros 2, North Mississauga 1 Wednesday, June 1, Toronto Skillz 2, Windsor Stars 1 Wednesday, June 1, Master's FA 2, Sigma FC 1 Ontario QF Tuesday, June 21, Master's FA -v- Toronto Skillz (final: http://www.league1ontario.com/game/show/13560254?subseason=296555&referrer=2497178) Wednesday, June 22, Aurora United -v- Vaughan (http://www.league1ontario.com/game/show/13560255?subseason=296555&referrer=2497178) Thursday, June 23, Kingston Clippers -v- Woodbridge (http://www.league1ontario.com/game/show/13560257?subseason=296555&referrer=2497178) Thursday, June 30, Durham United FA -v- North Toronto Nitros (http://www.league1ontario.com/game/show/13560256?subseason=296555&referrer=2497178) Ontario SF (Master's FA -v- Toronto Skillz) -v- (Vaughan -v- Aurora United) (North Toronto Nitros -v- Durham United FA) -v- (Woodbridge -v- Kingston Clippers) Ontario F (Master's FA -v- Toronto Skillz -v- Vaughan -v- Aurora United) -v- (North Toronto Nitros -v- Durham United FA -v- Woodbridge -v- Kingston Clippers) Quebec QF, Leg 1 2016-june-18, Ottawa Fury FC [2-2] FC Gatineau 2016-june-18, FC Lanaudière [3-4] CSMRO 2016-june-18, CS Longueuil [0-4] AS Blainville Quebec QF, Leg 2 2016-july-17
L1O's North Mississauga SC sells a player to Liverpool's Academy. Good to see some compensation and inroads being made with L1O and Europe. Hope to see more of this as the league grows. President Bertrand also mentions some clubs merging in the future to foster this sort of transaction.
This is probably the most likely way to get people to support local clubs, the idea that they may be watching someone who will make it big someday. That's basically the premise on which the CHL brings in fans.