The Laval Comets () was a Canadian women's

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 established in 2006 in the city of Laval,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, a northern suburb of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The team was a member of the W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played its home games at the

Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne The Centre sportif Bois-de-Boulogne is a soccer centre situated in the city of Laval, Quebec, Laval, a suburb of Montreal, in the province of Quebec in Canada. Outdoor soccer fields The centre has six outdoor grounds (in the official dimensions ...

. The club's colours were light blue and dark blue.

History

The Comets were founded in 2005 by Pierre Marchand, a Laval businessman, following the demise of the

Montreal Xtreme The Montreal Xtreme were a women's soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They played only the 2004 season in the W-League. The team played its home games in Soccerplexe Catalogna in Lachine, Quebec. The team's colours were blue and wh ...

(2004) and Dynamites de Laval (1997-2001). Marchand was joined by 3 partners, the Montreal Impact,

, and the Fédération de soccer du Québec, who assured the operation of the team for a minimum of three years. The club was set up as a non-profit organization owned by the 3 partners, to assure the long-term survival of the team. In October 2005, contacts were established with the W-League, and a new franchise was granted to the group for the city of Laval. In November 2005, a competition was started for a name for the new team; hundreds of names were submitted. The club management selected the name ''Comètes de Laval''. In January 2006, the club confirmed its first major team sponsor, Grolsch beer. The team's official colours, uniforms and the first players under contract were presented on March 8, 2006.

Year-by-year

Players

The Comets had a wide range of talent, some from university and high school teams, and others that have played for the Canadian National Team (7 Comets players in the 2010

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

Women’s Under-20 Championship). Seasons were brief since most players played at Canadian and American universities, therefore these were designed to accommodate their schedules, ending the first week of August. Laval-Comets

Squad 2014

Coaching staff 2014

* ''Head Coach:'' Cindy Walsh * ''Assistant Coach:'' Chantal Daigle

Former head coach

* Mohamed Hilen (2006-2008) * Lyonel Joseph (2009-2012)

Former assistant coach

* Owen Braun (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

Former assistant coach

* Jimmy Patsilivas (2014 & 2015)

Rivalries

The Comets had a major rivalry with Quebec City Amiral SC. Several former players on the Comets played for the Amiral SC. In matches between the two teams, it was common for supporters to travel between Montreal and Quebec City to watch the teams. Centre sportif Bois-de-Boulogne-2

Supporters

At the gate, the Comets had average crowds of 500 fans. After a disappointing season in 2009 (where the average gate was between 800 and 900 people), the attendance to the matches fell to 266 persons a match in 2010. The all-time single-game high was the 952 fans in attendance against Ottawa Fury Women on Friday, July 4, 2008.(French) http://www.lavalcometes.com/lavalcometes.com/Nouvelles/Entrees/2008/7/4_Les_Cometes_sincline_devant_le_Fury.html

External links

Officiel web site of Laval Comets/Comètes de Laval

References

{{Quebec Sports Women's soccer clubs in Canada Soccer clubs in Quebec Sport in Laval, Quebec United Soccer League teams based in Canada USL W-League (1995–2015) teams 2006 establishments in Quebec 2016 disestablishments in Quebec Association football clubs established in 2006 Association football clubs disestablished in 2016