Alliance United FC

Alliance United Futbol Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Markham, Ontario. The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario. The club was formed as a partnership between two youth clubs - Markham FC and Wexford SC. It fields teams in both the men's and women's divisions of League1 Ontario.

Alliance United
Full nameAlliance United Futbol Club
Founded2017
StadiumMount Joy Turf Field
Head CoachIlya Orlov
LeagueLeague1 Ontario
2019League1 Ontario, 3rd
Playoffs: Semi-finals
WebsiteClub website

Founders

The club was founded in 2017 as a joint partnership between clubs Markham FC and Wexford SC with the team playing out of Centennial College.[1][2] The name Alliance United was initially meant to be a temporary with a 'name the team' initiative planned, but it ultimately remained the official name.[3]

Markham FC
Founding clubs of Alliance United

Markham FC is a youth soccer club in Markham, Ontario. It was founded in 1971 as the Markham Minor Soccer Club, before changing its name to the Markham Youth Soccer Club.[4]

Wexford SC

Wexford SC is a youth soccer club in Scarborough in Toronto. It was founded in 1967 as the Buchanan Soccer Club and is the longest running club in Scarborough.[5]

History

Alliance United joined the men's division of League1 Ontario for the 2018 season.[6] They played their inaugural match on April 29, 2018 against North Mississauga SC at home, which they lost by a score of 1–0.[7] They finished in 7th place in their debut season.[8] They improved to a 3rd-place finish in the 2019 season, but had a very poor showing in the playoffs where they lost 15–0 to FC London on aggregate in the semi-finals over the two-game series, due to being unable to field many of their best players, who missed the series due to college and university commitments,[9] thereby having to rely on many youth players instead.[10]

In 2019, the club added a team in the League1 Ontario women's division.[11]

Seasons

Men

Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2018 League1 Ontario 17 7–3–6 7th Group Stage Preliminary Round [12]
2019 16 11–3–1 3rd Semi-finals – [12]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[13]
2021 League1 Ontario Summer Championship 11 3–2–2 3rd – – [12]

Women

Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2019 League1 Ontario 14 6–2–5 7th Quarter-finals – [14]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[13]
2021 Did not enter due to COVID-19 pandemic

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

Women

References
  1. "East-GTA Partnership Driving New League1 Club Alliance United FC Has Orlov In The Manager's Seat". League1 Ontario. February 9, 2018.
  2. Glover, Robin (June 20, 2018). "L1O Game of the Week: Late equalizer seals Alliance United draw". Waking The Red.
  3. Cudmore, John (December 21, 2017). "League1 expansion focus zooms in on Unionville, Markham entries". Markham Economist & Sun.
  4. "About Markham Soccer". Markham Soccer Club.
  5. "Wexford History". Wexford SC.
  6. "Significant Expansion Planned for League1 Ontario". Ontario Soccer Association. December 20, 2017.
  7. Anchour, Yacine (April 27, 2018). "New season, New Kits & New Ambitions". NMSC.
  8. Stancati, Johnny (September 24, 2018). "Alliance Books Spot In The Playoffs With 1-0 Victory Over Sanjaxx". League1 Ontario.
  9. Thompson, Marty (October 30, 2020). "Ilya Orlov on Alliance's COVID-19 training, 'biggest worry' from L1O stoppage". League1 Ontario.
  10. Vanderhoeven, Paul (September 24, 2019). "FC London men looking to follow women's lead". The London Free Press.
  11. "FC Oshawa set to make soccer debut in League1 Ontario loop". Oshawa This Week. February 1, 2019.
  12. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
  13. "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
  14. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
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