Simcoe County Rovers Football 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, that plays in the

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

Premier men's and women's divisions. The Rovers won the 2023 League1 Ontario championship and qualified for the 2024 Canadian Championship. The Rovers played their first season in League1 Ontario in 2022.

History

The club was founded in 2021, by former Canadian national team player

Julian de Guzman Julian Bobby de Guzman (born March 25, 1981) is a Canadian association football, soccer executive and former professional player and coach who currently serves as the Sporting Director for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. A midfie ...

, Peter Raco, and the Barrie Soccer Club under the name FC Barrie, who had initially been part of the group forming 1812 FC Barrie, before departing to form their own team. On July 6, 2021, the club was officially unveiled under the name Simcoe County Rovers FC as a joint partnership between Raco and de Guzman. In August 2021, it was announced that Canadian national team player

Cyle Larin Cyle Christopher Larin (; born April 17, 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a striker or a left winger for La Liga club Mallorca and the Canada national team. After playing college soccer for the UConn Huskies, Larin ...

was joining the club as a co-owner; in December 2021, fellow Canadian national team player

Doneil Henry Doneil Jor-Dee Ashley Henry (born April 20, 1993) is a Canadian former professional soccer player. He currently serves as the Sporting Director of League1 Ontario club Simcoe County Rovers FC, with whom he is also a co-owner. Club career Early ...

was announced as another co-owner. In January 2022, Canadian women's team player Janine Beckie also joined the ownership group. In April 2022,

Atiba Hutchinson Atiba Hutchinson (born 8 February 1983) is a former Canadian professional Association football, soccer player. Considered an iconic figure of North American soccer and a Canada soccer legend, with 105 international appearances in the span of 20 ...

also joined the ownership group. Since its formation, the team has been affiliated with youth clubs Barrie SC and Aurora FC (who previously operated a team in League1 Ontario until 2020), and Orangeville-based school

Athlete Institute The Athlete Institute is an athletic centre located in Mono, Ontario. It is made up of three facilities, the training centre, residence and the fieldhouse. The Institute is home to The Orangeville Prep Basketball Academy, who compete in the Ontar ...

. On October 21, 2021, it was announced that the club was officially joining both the

male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

and female divisions of League1 Ontario for 2022, acquiring the license of Aurora FC, who did not play in 2021 and joined the Rovers as an affiliate club. Both teams played their debut matches on April 24 against

Blue Devils FC Blue Devils Football Club (formerly known as Oakville Blue Devils FC) was a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakville, Ontario in League1 Ontario's men's and women's divisions. In October 2024, they merged under Oakville SC's branding, ...

, with the women winning 3–0 and the men drawing 1–1. In 2022, the men's reserve team won the League1 Ontario U21 Reserve Division. Rovers 2023 Championship

In 2023, the men finished the regular season in second place, earning their first home playoff game, where they defeated

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 semi-finals, in front of over 1,200 fans. In the championship final, they defeated

Scrosoppi FC Scrosoppi Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Milton, Ontario, that plays in League1 Ontario Premier. The club is named after St. Luigi Scrosoppi, who is the patron saint of soccer players. History The club was ...

to win the League1 Ontario title, thereby qualifying for the

2024 Canadian Championship The 2024 Canadian Championship () was the seventeenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 23rd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup. It featur ...

. Over 600 travelling supporters attended the League1 Ontario final, marking a League1 Canada traveling supporters record. On April 24, 2024, the club made their

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

debut, where they were defeated 5-0 by

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

, with over 2000 estimated Rovers fans having purchased tickets and attending the match.

Players, staff, and ownership

Coaching staff

Owners

Rovers Sports and Entertainment Group (RSEG) owns the Simcoe County Rovers Football Club. RSEG is made up of current and former Canadian National team players, as well as others. The ownership group includes

, Peter Raco, Kosi Stobbs, Will Devellis, Jason Melbourne, David Zbar, Steve Mantzouranis, as well as Canadian national team players

, Janine Beckie,

, and

Executives

Past Executives

Seasons

Men

Women

Honours

Senior *

**Champions (1):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

*Trent Severn Cup **Winners (2): 2022, 2023 Reserves *

U-21 Reserve Division **Champions (1): 2022

Notable 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

Club records

Below are current record holders for the club.

Men

Women

References

{{Barrie Soccer clubs in Ontario League1 Ontario teams Association football clubs established in 2021 Sport in Barrie Sport in Simcoe County Sports clubs and teams in Simcoe County