Toronto FC II is a Canadian 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 ...

team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as in partnership with Toronto FC Academy.

History

Pre-history

Upon their entrance into

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, Toronto FC fielded their reserves in the

MLS Reserve League The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

from 2007 to 2013. In 2014, Toronto FC entered into a one-year partnership with the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL to serve as their affiliate, with whom they would loan players to.

Formation

On November 20, 2014, Toronto FC announced the creation of a reserve team that would play in the third-tier United Soccer League under the name Toronto FC II. The team began play in March 2015, playing at the then-newly constructed 3,500-seat stadium at the

Ontario Soccer Centre The Soccer Centre, also known as the Ontario Soccer Centre, is a Canadian competition, training, education, and exposition soccer facility. It is located in Vaughan, Ontario, 20 km north-west of downtown Toronto. Details The centre featur ...

in Vaughan, just north-northwest of Toronto. They played their first match on June 27, 2015, against Wilmington Hammerheads. From 2017, the USL was sanctioned as a second-tier league. On July 2, 2018, the team announced they would move down from the United Soccer League to USL League One for the league's first season in 2019. TFC II played in Saskatoon for the first SK Summer Soccer Series, which is hosted by the Saskatchewan Selects. The Selects defeated TFC II 2–0. In July 2020, the team withdrew from the

2020 USL League One season The 2020 USL League One season was the second season of USL League One. The regular season was scheduled to begin on March 27 and end on October 3. On March 13, it was announced the regular season start would be delayed to April 11 due to the CO ...

, due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. They returned to the league in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, beginning the season at the Grande Sports World training facility in

Casa Grande, Arizona , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

, due to continued travel restrictions caused by the continuing pandemic. After playing their first three home games there, following three home games were played at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. Toronto FC II ultimately resumed playing their home games in Toronto on July 30, 2021, when they hosted Greenville Triumph SC at the BMO Training Ground.

MLS Next Pro

The club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the 21-team MLS Next Pro for the inaugural 2022 season. In their debut season, they qualified for their first-ever playoff birth, after winning the Northeast Division. After defeating

Philadelphia Union 2 Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. ...

in the Conference semi-finals, they were defeated by Columbus Crew 2 in extra time in the Conference finals.

Players and staff

Roster

Technical staff

Record

Coaches since 2015

Jason Bent Jason Andrew Bent (born March 8, 1977) is a Canadian former soccer player and current assistant coach for LA Galaxy. A midfielder, he played in Major League Soccer for the Colorado Rapids, 2. Bundesliga for FSV Zwickau and the Football League ...

(2015–2017) *

Laurent Guyot Laurent Guyot (born 17 December 1969) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Annecy. He played as a defender mostly for Nantes, winning Division 1 in 1995, and also represented Toulouse and ...

(2018) * Michael Rabasca (2018–2019) * Mike Muñoz (2020–2021) *

Gianni Cimini Gianni Cimini (born July 13, 1983) is a Canadian soccer coach, who currently serves as head coach of Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro. Playing career He played youth soccer with the Woodbridge Strikers and also played for the Team Ontario provi ...

(2022–present)

Stadium

The expansion Toronto FC II hosted their games at a new stadium constructed at the

beginning with the first season in 2015. However, after the planned expansion of the OSC to 5,000 seats, which is a minimum requirement set by the United States Soccer Federation for the USL to be sanctioned as a division 2 league, did not materialize, the club announced that it would move its home games to BMO Field and Lamport Stadium beginning with the 2018 season. In 2018, the team used Monarch Park Stadium for one game in May, relocated one game to Charlotte, and relocated another four games to Rochester's Marina Auto Stadium, while waiting on availability at Lamport Stadium. With their drop to the division 3 USL League One for the 2019 season, the team moved their home games to

BMO Training Ground Downsview Park is a large urban park located in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The park's name is officially bilingual due to it being federally owned and managed, and was first home to de Havilland Canada, an aircraft ...

. On April 4, 2022, after the team left USL League One to join the newly formed MLS Next Pro, Toronto FC II announced that York Lions Stadium would serve as their new home stadium, while also playing 2 home games at BMO Field as a second match of a double header with their parent club, Toronto FC.

References

External links

*
Official website
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