FC London is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. The club was founded in 2008 and plays in the

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's association football, soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league ...

men's and women's divisions. The team plays home games at the Portuguese Club of London and the Hellenic Community Centre. 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 Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. 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

Founded in 2008, Forest City London joined the Premier Development League in 2009. In their first season, they had to split home matches between four stadiums. and played their first ever game on May 29, 2009, against

Cleveland Internationals Cleveland Internationals was an American soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2004, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Division ...

. London won the game 2–1, with the first goal in franchise history being scored by Kevin Zimmermann. 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 The Indiana Invaders was an American soccer team based in South Bend, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1998, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Divisi ...

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 Chicago Fire U-23 was an American soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 2001, the team last played in the PDL, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. They last played in 2016, choosing to leave the PDL. The ...

in the first round of the playoffs. London lost their playoff match 1–0 to the Illinoisans on a goal by

Andre Akpan Andre Ubong Akpan (born December 9, 1987) is an American former soccer player who most recently played for New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. Career Youth and college Akpan was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, to a Nigerian father an ...

. Kevin Zimmermann and Alan McGreal were London's top scorers in their debut season, with nine and seven goals respectively, while

Anthony Di Biase Anthony Di Biase (born April 26, 1988) is a Canadian soccer player. He played the majority of his career in North America in the USL Second Division, USL Premier Development League, and the Canadian Soccer League. Career College and Amateur D ...

contributed four assists. They won the 2012 PDL Championship defeating

Carolina Dynamo North Carolina Fusion U-23, formerly known as Carolina Dynamo, is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Th ...

in the finals. The won their first Great Lakes division title the following season. The club moved to

in 2016, adding teams in both the male and female divisions. The club went under new ownership and were renamed Football Club London following the move to L1O. 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. They won the league division again in 2018, but fell in the semi-finals in the new playoff format. In 2019, they finished third in the regular season, but won the league championship, defeating Oakville Blue Devils in the playoff final. The men's team won the Western Conference in their debut season in L1O in 2016, but fell to

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

in the championship final. In 2018, they finished as regular season champions, but ultimately fell in the playoffs. During the 2019 season, they defeated

Alliance United Alliance United Futbol Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Markham and Scarborough, Ontario. The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario. The club was formed as a partnership between two youth clubs - Mark ...

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, before ultimately falling to

Master's FA Master's Futbol Academy, commonly known as Master's FA, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The club was founded in 2009 as a soccer academy and added its team in the semi-professional League1 Ontar ...

in the championship final. In the latter part of 2017, the club became a partner of Major League Soccer club

, with the club being renamed London TFC, although the senior side retained the name FC London, under which it still competes in L1O. As part of the rebrand, FC London changed their club colours and logo to red to match those of Toronto FC. In 2022, the club changed ownership from Ian Campbell to a group led by Dave DeBenedictis, the director of the London TFC Academy.

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.

Seasons

Men

Women

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) * Mike Marcoccia (2018–2021) * Ruben Quintão (2022) * Yiannis Tsalatsidis (2023-present)

Stadium history

TD Waterhouse Stadium Western Alumni Stadium (formerly TD Stadium) is an 8,000-seat Canadian football stadium located on the campus of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. It is home to the Western Mustangs football team and is one of the largest stad ...

;

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

(2009–2010) * London Portuguese Club Field;

two games (2009–2010) * London Marconi Soccer Club Field;

four games (2009–2011) *

German Canadian Club of London Field German Canadian Club of London Field is a multi-purpose stadium in London, Ontario, Canada. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of German Canadian FC and FC London (League 1 only). The stadium holds 1,000 spec ...

;

(2009–2021) * London Portuguese Club Field;

(2022–present)

Average attendance

Attendance * 2009: 1632 * 2010: 1246 * 2011: 841 * 2012: 507 * 2013: 1146 * 2014: 777 * 2015: 944 * 2019: 250

References

External links

*
Official PDL site
{{Ontario Sports Soccer clubs in Ontario League1 Ontario teams Sports teams in London, Ontario Association football clubs established in 2008 2008 establishments in Ontario Toronto FC