FC Manitoba is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. The club was founded in 2010 as WSA Winnipeg. In 2020, the club was acquired by a new ownership group and re-organized and branded as FC Manitoba. The team played in

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, part of the

United States soccer league system The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Although sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by a system o ...

, from 2011 until 2023. The team played its home games at the

Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex The Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex, originally known as the Winnipeg Soccer Complex, is a multi-use stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), soccer matches. The main pitch, John Scouras Field, holds 2,000 s ...

on the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

-approved synthetic grass of the complex's John Scouras Field. The team's colours are navy, gold, and white.

History

WSA Winnipeg

The World Soccer Academy was founded in 2001 in Winnipeg as a youth soccer academy by Eduardo Badescu. In December 2010, WSA Winnipeg created a semi-professional team to participate in the US-based

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

to begin play in the 2011 season. This marked the return of high level soccer to the city of Winnipeg since the

Winnipeg Fury The Winnipeg Fury were a professional soccer team in Winnipeg, Canada. The team was part of the Canadian Soccer League from 1987 to 1992. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. In 1993, they played in the Canadia ...

of the original

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

ceased operations in 1993. The club was supported by Mondetta, a well-recognized brand in Canadian professional sports, as one of its primary sponsors. The team primarily fielded rosters built around local talent. They played their debut match on May 28, 2011, against the

Thunder Bay Chill Thunder Bay Chill Soccer Club is a Canadian soccer team based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2000, the team played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer pyramid from 2000 to 2024. The team plays its home ...

, losing 1–0. They got their first win the next day in a rematch versus the Chill, winning 3–0. The first goal in franchise history was scored by Kenny Sacramento. In their first season, they played an exhibition match against Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

FC Manitoba

In January 2020, the team was purchased by the Garcea Group of Companies and renamed FC Manitoba, while revamping the entire development system of the club, separating from the World Soccer Academy. The team also received new colours and a new logo. The new team's debut season in 2020 was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In September 2020, they signed former

player Michele Paolucci to a contract. Due to the travel restrictions as a result of the continuing pandemic, the team opted out of the 2021 USL League Two season as well. Instead, in 2021, they participated in the 2021 Summer Series with other Canadian semi-professional and amateur clubs. FC Manitoba returned to USL2 for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The team did return return for subsequent seasons.

Year-by-year

Head coaches

*Eduardo Badescu (2011–2019) *Tony Mazza (2020) * Jose Borg (2021–2022) *Walter Obregón (2023)

Notable former players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the PDL/USL2 team:

Affiliate team

FC Manitoba also operates an affiliate team, Ital-Inter SC, in Premier Division of the Manitoba Major Soccer League.

Women's team

In 2021, they announced that they would be creating a women's team. They were set to join the semi-professional US-based

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

References

External links

*
Official USL League Two site
{{Manitoba Sports Association football clubs established in 2010 USL League Two teams Soccer clubs in Winnipeg 2010 establishments in Manitoba Canadian soccer clubs in American leagues