Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in Woodbridge,

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 Ca ...

. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in

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 ...

in 2014. The team plays home games at Vaughan Grove Park. The club was one of the ten original founding men's teams in League1 Ontario, which was established in 2014, as well as one of eight original founding teams in the

League1 Ontario women's division League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional women's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian soccer league system. The ...

, which was established in 2015.

History

The club's history dates back to 1972, when the East Woodbridge Soccer Club and West Woodbridge Soccer Club were created to serve the Woodbridge Community. In 1976, these two clubs merged to form Woodbridge Soccer Club. In 2014, the semi-professional club was established to play in the newly formed League1 Ontario as one of the founding members. Woodbridge played their first match on June 1, 2014 against ANB Futbol, which they won 2–1. They finished in second place in the league in each of their first two seasons. In 2015, Woodbridge won the League1 Ontario League Cup, defeating Sigma FC 2–1 in the finals. They repeated as champions in the 2017 League1 Ontario League Cup with a 3–1 victory over

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 finals. They lost in the 2017 League1 Championship final to the Oakville Blue Devils in a penalty shoot-out, narrowly missing out on the opportunity to represent the league in the

2018 Canadian Championship The 2018 Canadian Championship was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. It was the eleventh edition of the annual Canadian Championship. Toronto FC won the competition for the third consecutive year and qua ...

as a result. They again lost in the 2018 Playoff Final, this time against

, missing out on the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

for the second consecutive year. They added a women's club to participate in the inaugural season of the

in 2015. In their debut season, they finished second in the league. In 2018, the women won their first trophy, capturing the League Cup. In 2021, the women captured their first League1 Championship, defeating

Blue Devils FC Blue Devils Football Club (formerly known as Oakville Blue Devils FC) is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakville, Ontario. The senior men's and women's teams currently compete in League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. History ...

1-0 in the finals.

Coaching staff

*Head coach –

Peter Pinizzotto Peter Pinizzotto is an Italian born Canadian soccer coach who serves as the head coach for Woodbridge Strikers in League1 Ontario. Pinizzotto is known for managing the Toronto Lynx, and is the longest-serving manager in the history of Toronto Ly ...

*Boys technical director –

Marco Reda Marco Reda (born June 22, 1977) is a Canadian former soccer player who began his professional career in the USL A-League with the Toronto Lynx where he developed his skills as a solid defender. This led to his transfer to Europe to sign with Sognd ...

*Technical advisor –

Paul Stalteri Paul Andrew Stalteri (born October 18, 1977) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. He spent most of his professional career in Germany, winning the league and cup double with Werder Bremen in th ...

*Goalkeeping coach – Roberto Stillo

Seasons

Men

Women

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

Honours

*L1O Cup (1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

References

External links

{{Toronto Sports Association football clubs established in 2014 Soccer clubs in Ontario League1 Ontario teams 2015 establishments in Ontario Sport in Vaughan