In an inaugural year to be proud of, FC LONDON has garnered the attention of top League1 Ontario teams as a force to be reckoned with. The club focused on local players and local development, and in creating opportunities for local players FC LONDON has done just that while collecting a lot of hardware along the way.
“We’re thrilled with what 2016 has meant to London soccer. We were able to take local London soccer talent and mould the players into champions,” said Ian Campbell, President of FC LONDON. “By helping to set up an academy feeder system, we’re looking down the road at many more championships to come.”
The FC LONDON women finished their league season with 14 wins, 2 losses and 0 ties, all while scoring a staggering 50 goals while allowing only 15 in their 16-game season. Much of that scoring punch came from striker Jade Kovacevic, who racked up more than half of the team’s goals en route to earning the league’s ‘Golden Boot’ award.
The pinnacle for the women is their right to brag that they got the ‘first star’ on the FC LONDON logo, which will now be modified to accommodate the change. The FC LONDON women’s team won the league title and thus are declared the 2016 champions.
On the men’s front, the results were similar, as they ended up winning the West Conference with a record of 15 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties. Elvir Gigolaj accounted for 24 of the team’s 64 goals, and keeper Anthony Sokalski held a clean sheet 10 times in 22 games. The team unfortunately lost in the League1 final to Vaughan Azzurri. A shining light in the season was definitely the emergence of young players from the U21 squad, many of whom finished their season in League1 as other players returned to school.
FC LONDON capped off the summer with an announcement about partnering with Toronto FC as a ‘TFC development and identification centre.’ This will give local players a direct opportunity to be noticed by the top professional team in the region, thus creating a solid pathway to a professional career.
www.fclondon.ca
Submitted by FC LONDON
