FC London

This article is about the Canadian soccer club. For soccer clubs based in London, England, see Football in London.

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.

FC London

Full name	Football Club London
Founded	2008 (as Forest City London)
Stadium	Tricar Field
Capacity	900
Owner	Dave DeBenedictis
Head Coach	Yiannis Tsalatsidis (men) Garett Peters (women)
League	League1 Ontario
2024	L1O-C, 2nd - promoted (men) L1O-P, 2nd (women)
Website	http://www.fclondon.ca
Current season

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

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

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]

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]

Squad

As of 6 June 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player - GK  ATG Taj Moore - GK  CAN Luka Palajsa - DF  CAN Bradley Heath - DF  CAN Finn Bansal - DF  CAN David Bulos - DF  CAN Justin Wood - DF  CAN Sokol Qamili - DF  CAN Charles Orbaugh - MF  CAN Jonathan Lopez - MF  CAN Tomas Alvarez - MF  CAN Dante D'Oria - MF  CAN Ryan Baker

No. Pos. Nation Player - MF  CAN Daniel Oshana - MF  CAN Ibrahem Saadi - MF  IND Aman Khanna - MF  COL Santiago Fonseca - MF  CAN Alexander Nagy - MF  CAN Obada Abdallah - MF  CAN Julian Sanchez - FW  CAN Owen-Dillon Holmes - FW  CAN D'Andre Williams - FW  CAN Bai-Essa Coker - FW  CAN Efosa Emovon - FW  CAN Jalen Loague

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

• Thomas Beattie
• Brandon Beresford
• Danny Deakin
• Jamie Dell
• Alex De Carolis
• Kevin De Serpa
• Anthony Di Biase
• Kelsey Egwu
• Ben Fitzpatrick
• Elvir Gigolaj
• Carl Haworth
• Tyler Hemming
• Eleias Himaras
• Luke Holmes
• Josh Hughes
• Ryan Maduro
• Marko Maletic
• Kyle Manscuk
• Darlington Murasiranwa
• Kal Okot
• Mark Serjeant
• Andrew Sousa
• Ryan Woods

Women

• Julia Benati
• Jade Kovacevic

Seasons

Men

Season	League	Record	Regular season	Playoffs	League Cup	Canadian Championship	Ref
2009	Premier Development League	8–3–5	3rd, Great Lakes	Divisional Semifinals	—	not eligible	[22]
2010		10–1–5	2nd, Great Lakes	Conference Semifinals			[22]
2011		9–5–2	3rd, Great Lakes	Conference Quarterfinals			[22]
2012		7–5–4	2nd, Great Lakes	Champions			[22]
2013		10–2–2	1st, Great Lakes	Conference Final			[22]
2014		6–4–4	4th, Great Lakes	did not qualify			[22]
2015		9–4–1	3rd, Great Lakes	Divisional Playoff			[22]
2016	League1 Ontario	15–2–5	1st, West	Runner-up	Round of 16		[23]
2017		11–5–6	4th, West	did not qualify	Quarter-finals		[23]
2018		12–2–2	1st (overall)	Group stage	Quarter-finals	did not qualify	[23]
2019		8–1–6	7th (overall)	Runner-up	—	did not qualify	[23]
2020		Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[24]
2021		8–0–4	3rd, West	did not qualify	—	did not qualify
2022		2–4–15	22nd	did not qualify	—	did not qualify
2023		6–7–7	13th	did not qualify	—	did not qualify
2024	League1 Ontario Championship	13–2–3	2nd ↑	–	Round of 16	did not qualify

Women

FC London wins 2017 L1O League Cup

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	League Cup	Ref
2016	League1 Ontario	9	14–0–2	Champions	–	Semi-finals	[25]
2017		11	15–3–2	Champions	–	Champions	[25]
2018		13	11–1–0	1st	Semi-finals	Quarter-finals	[25]
2019		14	7–3–3	3rd	Champions	–	[25]
2020		Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[24]
2021		7	9–2–1	1st	Semi-finals	–	[25]
2022		20	13–2–4	4th	Semi-finals	–	[25]
2023		19	9–5–4	6th	Semi-finals	–	[25]
2024	League1 Ontario Premier	10	12–2–4	2nd	–	Champions

Honours

• Premier Development League
  • National Champions: 2012
  • Central Conference Champions: 2012
  • Great Lakes Division Champions: 2013
• League1 Ontario
  • Western Conference Champions: 2016
  • Regular Season Champions: 2018

Head coaches

• Martin Painter (2009–2016)
• Mario Despotović (2016–2017)
• Dom Kosic (2017–2018)
• Michael Marcoccia (2018–2021)
• Ruben Quintão (2022)
• Yiannis Tsalatsidis (2023–present)

Stadium history

• TD Waterhouse Stadium; London, Ontario (2009–2010)
• London Portuguese Club Field; London, Ontario two games (2009–2010)
• London Marconi Soccer Club Field; London, Ontario four games (2009–2011)
• German Canadian Club of London Field; London, Ontario (2009–2021)
• London Portuguese Club Field; London, Ontario (2022)
• Tricar Field; London, Ontario (2023–present)

Average attendance

Attendance^[26]

• 2009: 1632
• 2010: 1246
• 2011: 841
• 2012: 507
• 2013: 1146
• 2014: 777
• 2015: 944
• 2019: 250
• 2024: 947

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. "Forest City London". Canadian Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
23. "FC London". Canadian Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
24. "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. "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.

External links

• Official website
• Official PDL site