Roses FC (also known as the Montreal Roses; ) is a professional

women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

club based in

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 ...

, Quebec, that competes in the

Northern Super League The Northern Super League (NSL; ) is a Canada soccer league system#Women, top-division professional women's association football, women's soccer league in Canada. The league is owned and operated by Project 8 Sports, Inc., and includes six team ...

, in the top flight of the

Canadian soccer league system The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), ...

. One of two professional soccer clubs in the province of

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, ...

alongside

CF Montréal Club de Foot Montréal () is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Montreal. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Mo ...

, it is owned by Isabèle Chevalier and Jean-François Crevier, led by Annie Larouche, and managed by

Marinette Pichon Marinette Pichon (; born 26 November 1975) is a French former football player. Biography Pichon grew up while having a dysfunctional childhood with an alcoholic father. Career She started her career at Saint-Memmie Olympique, then signed on ...

. The club is symbolized by a

blue rose A blue rose is a flower of the genus ''Rosa'' (family Rosaceae) that presents blue-to-violet pigmentation instead of the more common red, white, or yellow, through use of artificial means such as dyes. Blue roses are often used to symbolize myst ...

, and its colours are

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. Roses FC was founded in July 2023 by Chevalier and Crevier, who both sought involvement in the Northern Super League after its formation the previous year. It was one of the last two charter members of the league, alongside the

Ottawa Rapid Ottawa Rapid FC () is a professional women's soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. It competes in the Northern Super League, the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The club plays its home matches at the 24,000-capacity TD Place ...

. In lieu of a tenancy deal with a venue in Montreal, the club will play its

home games A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

at various venues. Its first season will be played in 2025, with

Robert Rositoiu Robert Rositoiu is a Romanian soccer coach, who currently serves as head coach of Montreal Roses FC in the Northern Super League. Early life Rositoiu was born in Romania and moved to Canada at age 11. Coaching career At age 24, he began coach ...

as its

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. The club won its first-ever home-opener game on May 3, 2025, defeating the Ottawa Rapid 2-1 in front of a sold-out, 5,400-person Stade Boréale.

History

Roses FC were co-founded by Quebecer

entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

Isabèle Chevalier and Jean-François Crevier, who bought a

licence A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

for a team in the

, then tentatively known as Project 8, in July 2023. Chevalier, who gained notoriety as a "dragon" on both the French and French-Canadian adaptations of ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it ...

'', sought a team in the league as a passion project inspired by her advocacy for

women's sports Women and girls have participated in sports, physical fitness, and exercise throughout history. However, the extent of their involvement has varied depending on factors such as country, time, geographical location, and level of economic develo ...

; while Crevier, whose companies manufacture and distribute

lubricant A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, ...

s, sought involvement in the league after news reports covering its establishment piqued his interest. Their acquisition, along with regulatory approval by

Canada Soccer The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for association football, soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the internati ...

, was achieved in May 2024, and the league publicly announced Roses FC and

Ottawa Rapid FC Ottawa Rapid FC () is a professional women's soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. It competes in the Northern Super League, the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The club plays its home matches at the 24,000-capacity TD Plac ...

as the last two of its six charter members at the espnW Summit Canada shortly after. During the club's development, Chevalier and Crevier sought advice from former

Laval Comets The Laval Comets () was a Canadian women's soccer team established in 2006 in the city of Laval, Quebec, Canada, a northern suburb of Montreal. The team was a member of the W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and ...

and Canadian national team player Amy Walsh, and former

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

president Patrick Boivin. They appointed former

Montréal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes ( French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compete in the East ...

and

Montreal Alliance The Montreal Alliance () are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada founded in 2021. They compete in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) and play their home games at the Verdun Auditorium. The Montreal A ...

executive Annie Larouche as the first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of Roses FC, and former

Juvisy Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located southeast of Paris and a few kilometres south of Orly Airport. The city is known for Gare de Juvisy, ...

and French national team player

as its first

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

. Larouche, who was still an executive with the Alliance when she was nominated, served out the rest of her tenure with the Alliance until the end of the

2024 CEBL season The 2024 CEBL season was the sixth season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). It began on May 21, 2024, and the regular season ended on July 29, 2024. Regular season Standings Western Conference Eastern Conference Attendance ...

. Pichon had immigrated to Quebec in 2019, following her tenure as Juvisy's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, and participated in the local soccer scene prior to her appointment. Pichon appointed

, who achieved a

League1 Canada League1 Canada (L1C; ) is a national pro–am Association football, soccer organization in Canada. It consists of four regional leagues; League1 Alberta, League1 British Columbia, League1 Ontario, and Ligue1 Québec with each league operating m ...

treble as coach of A.S. Blainville Féminin in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, as Roses FC's first ever

. Fifteen investors were secured for the club, some of which were appointed as

brand ambassadors A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person paid by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embody the ...

under the title of ''investor-ambassadors''. Roses FC were the last of the six charter members of the league to unveil their branding, and did so at a high-profile event held at Dalhousie Station in

Old Montreal Old Montreal (, ) is a historic List of neighbourhoods in Montreal, neighbourhood within the List of municipalities in Quebec, municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is b ...

on 8 October 2024, attended by around 550 people including

Isabelle Charest Isabelle Charest (born January 3, 1971) is a Canadian athlete and politician.Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (; born February 11, 1991) is a Canadian physician and former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played university football and attended medical school at McGill Univ ...

, members of the

Montreal Victoire The Montreal Victoire () are a professional ice hockey team based in the Greater Montreal area that competes in the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL). They are one of the six charter franchises of the league. The team plays its home game ...

and

Canada men's national soccer team The Canada men's national soccer team () represents Canada in international Association football, soccer competitions since 1924. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Canada. They have been a m ...

, and various club and league executives and investors. The first player signings were announced a few weeks later – French

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Charlotte Bilbault and Canadian

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Gabrielle Lambert Gabrielle Lambert (born December 27, 1993) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as goalkeeper for Northern Super League club Montreal Roses FC. She formerly played for SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is ...

, who both transferred from European clubs to join Roses FC. The club initially found difficulty in securing a long-term tenancy at a venue in Montreal, and will adopt a touring model for their inaugural 2025 season, in which their

will be played in various venues.

Identity

The official name of the club is ''Roses FC'', though ''Montreal Roses'' and ''Roses de Montréal'' are also used by the club in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

- and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

-language media, respectively.

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

s were chosen as the central motif in the club's identity for their

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

name, and recognition as symbols of

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

and of Montreal itself – being featured in the city's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

, and logo. The club's branding was workshopped with Quebec-based

advertising agencies An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generall ...

Cossette and GRDN from over forty ideas. It primarily uses

hue In color theory, hue is one of the properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as ...

s of

and

, symbolizing the "diverse cultural heritage shared between Quebec and Canada," that intentionally differ from blue and red hues traditionally used by Montreal sports teams.

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, and

are also used in the club's colours. A

, which does not occur naturally, features prominently on the club's crest – intended to evoke perseverance, resilience, and the idea of " akingthe impossible possible." The

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

used in the club's branding, inspired by the Farine Five Roses sign, was designed to resemble thorns on the stems of roses.

Stadium

Roses FC initially planned to have no permanent

home ground In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a sports team. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as sc ...

, and to play their home games at various venues. Its

training ground A training ground is an area where professional association football teams prepare for matches, with activities primarily concentrating on skills and fitness. They also sometimes form part of a club's youth system, as clubs consider it important ...

is 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 ...

Laval, Quebec Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Can ...

, which will undertake two rounds of renovations to accommodate the club. In January 2025, it was announced that a modular stadium will be built on the same land as their training ground to have a single home for their debut season.

Organization

Roses FC are independently owned by Isabèle Chevalier and Jean-François Crevier. It is led by Annie Larouche as its

, while

manages the club as its

. The club's

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

also includes Mélissa Beauchesne in the operations portfolio, Antoine Chevalier in ticketing, Andréanne Gagné in culture and

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, Baptiste Robert in

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

s, and Nathalie Vachon in

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...

and

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

. A number of

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of pr ...

s hold shares in the club, some of which also serve as

for the club under the title of ''investor-ambassadors'' (). Notable investors include LCI Education,

Patrice Bernier Patrice Bernier (born September 23, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player. A long-time mainstay of the Canada national team, the midfielder played the majority of his career with Montreal Impact in addition to playing in Denma ...

, Maxime Crépeau,

Julie du Page Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

Mark Pathy Mark Pathy (born July 1969) is a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and commercial astronaut. He is the CEO of Mavrik, a privately owned Canadian investment company. He is also the chairman of Stingray Group and the former co-CEO of Fednav, a ...

Samuel Piette Samuel Piette (born 12 November 1994) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a defensive midfielder for Major League Soccer club CF Montréal and the Canada national team. Club career Early career Piette began playing soccer a ...

, and

Bruny Surin Bruny Surin (born July 12, 1967) is a Canadian former track and field athlete, who was the winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 1 ...

Players and staff

Current squad

Coaching staff

Administration

References

Notes Citations

External links

Official websiteFrench
{{Quebec Sports Northern Super League teams Soccer clubs in Montreal Women's sports clubs and teams in Montreal Association football clubs established in 2023 2023 establishments in Quebec

History

Identity

Stadium

Organization

Players and staff

Current squad

Coaching staff

Administration

See also

References

External links