“We’re thrilled to have FC LONDON and their ownership group as part of League1 Ontario,” said Dino Rossi,
chairman of League1 and member of the CSA Professional Soccer Committee.
These words rang loud and clear at the launch press conference held at Joe Kool’s. As of 2016, FC LONDON is a
member of League1 Ontario, a standards-based league operating with Ontario teams at the highest amateur level for young men and women under age 23. With the new team comes a new logo representing London’s architectural
heritage and the addition of the colour green to represent the Forest City.
League1 Ontario is a semi-professional men’s and women’s soccer league in Ontario, Canada, and is sanctioned
by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a Division III league in the Canadian soccer league system. League1 is proving to be a pathway to National team recognition and to the MLS with Orlando City FC’s most recent central midfielder playing with Sigma FC’s 2015 League1 Ontario squad in the first round of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. For the 2016 season, FC LONDON will compete as an amateur team in League1.
Majority owner, Ian Campbell, is joined by several local investors to backstop the new venture.
“League1 represents a new day for London soccer, especially with the alignment with LTPD [Ontario’s Long Term
Player Development program],” said Campbell. “With the addition of a League1 Women’s team, it truly gives London the opportunity to continue the championship run that teams such as London Marconi, London Galaxy and Forest City London have had in the past.”
The team has also selected coaches including Women’s coach Michael Marcoccia, a former professional player
with head coach & technical director experience. The League1 Men’s team will have Mario Despotovic at the helm.
Mario is a former professional player and is one of a handful of UEAFA PRO License holders with experience coaching at the U15 and U21 level with Dynamo Zagreb.
The team will be made up of many young talented soccer players from London and surrounding areas. The team
will conduct open trials in the spring and is already working with coaches at Fanshawe and Western to maximize the synergies with post-secondary teams and with local clubs who operate U17, U18 and U21 programs. FC LONDON will also operate U21 teams in both men’s and women’s Ontario divisions. The league is focused on the development of talent for the pro ranks and national team identification, and to that end has put standards in place to ensure local player development.
“No less than eight players on any game sheet must be U23, no less than four of those players must be on the
starting 11, and no more than three non-Canadian players on any game-sheet,” said Campbell, confirming that young local players will be exposed to the game at the highest level in the province.
Schedules will come out in mid-March with the men playing a 22-game season with 11 Friday home games in
their own division plus crossover games with the east division. The season will run from early May to the third week of September plus cup games to crown an East vs. West Champion.
The Women will play a 16-game season with eight Saturday games plus cup games running from May to the first
week of September with Cup game weekend set for July 30-31, 2016. With the League1 Men’s division breaking into two conferences, FC LONDON will play against the Oakville Blue Devils (2015 champions), Sigma FC, TFC Academy (2014 champions), Windsor Stars, Sanjaxx Lions, Pro Stars FC and North Mississauga SC. Games will be played at the German Canadian Club on Cove Rd., a venue that is regarded as one of the best places in North America to watch a soccer game.
The club has already lined up equipment sponsor UMBRO for the 2016 season. UMBRO, in coordination with
Source for Sports, has an outstanding reputation in their support of local elite soccer.
Campbell is enthusiastic about the upcoming season.
“Our goal is to provide the London soccer community with affordable family entertainment through individual
and season ticket packages, all of which will be available online at www.fclondon.ca in the coming months,” he said. “It’s going to be a great season ahead.”
Story submitted by FC London
