FC London

FC London is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in London, Ontario. The club was founded in 2008 and plays in League1 Ontario. The team plays home games at German Canadian Club of London Field, which seats 1,000 spectators.

FC London
Full nameForest City London
Founded2008 (2008)
StadiumGerman Canadian Club Field
Capacity1,000
OwnerIan Campbell
Head CoachMike Marcoccia
LeagueLeague1 Ontario
2019League1 Ontario, 7th
Playoffs: Runners-up
WebsiteClub website

The team was founded in 2008 as Forest City London Soccer Club, and were a member of the Premier Development League from 2009 to 2015; they won the 2012 PDL title, their first championship during this time. They re-branded to FC London following their move to League1 Ontario in 2016.

History
The original Forest City London crest, used 2008–2015

Forest City London joined the Premier Development League in 2009,[1] and played their first ever game on May 29, 2009, against Cleveland Internationals.[2] London won the game 2–1, with the first goal in franchise history being scored by Kevin Zimmermann.[3]

London's debut season was a generally positive one; they remained unbeaten over the course of their first ten games, winning seven games. London's first loss was a 3–1 drop to the Indiana Invaders at the beginning of July, and it initiated a complete reversal of fortune for the team. They did not win another game all season and dropped down the divisional standings.

The team finished third in the Great Lakes Division, seven points behind divisional champions Kalamazoo, and faced off against Chicago Fire Premier in the first round of the playoffs. London lost their playoff match 1–0 to the Illinoisans on a goal by Andre Akpan. Kevin Zimmermann and Alan McGreal were London's top scorers in their debut season, with nine and seven goals respectively, while Anthony Di Biase contributed four assists.

The club moved to League1 Ontario in 2016, they were renamed FC London following the move.[4]

Players

Current squad
As of August 18, 2018[5]

Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth.

No. Position Player Nation
— Goalkeeper Anthony Sokalski  Canada
— Midfielder Jeremy Arnold  Canada
— Defender Randy Ribeiro (C)  Canada
— Defender Bradley Heath  Canada
— Midfielder Patrick Melo  Canada
— Midfielder Mohammed Reza Nafar  Sweden
— Midfielder Connor Wilson  Canada
— Midfielder Michael Bitel  Canada
— Forward Ethan Gopaul  Canada
— Forward Tomas Alvarez  Colombia
— Forward Chad Gopaul  Canada
— Forward Mike Sneddon  Canada
— Forward Ben Vyfschaft  Canada
— Midfielder Logan Rieck  Canada
— Goalkeeper Connor Dalton  Canada
— Goalkeeper Ryan Miners  Canada
— Midfielder Camilo Siabato  Canada
— Midfielder Carson Wood  Canada
— Defender Sean Fawsitt  Canada
— Defender Belal Halbouni  Canada
— Midfielder Anthony Crysanthou  Canada
— Midfielder Christian Devia  Canada

Professional players

The following players have either moved on to the professional ranks after their time with FC London, or played professionally before joining the club. Players with names in bold have senior international caps.

Seasons

Men
Season Div League Record Regular season Playoffs L1 Cup Canadian Championship
2009 4 (US) Premier Development League 8–3–5 3rd, Great Lakes Divisional Semifinals — No route of qualification
2010 10–1–5 2nd, Great Lakes Conference Semifinals
2011 9–5–2 3rd, Great Lakes Conference Quarterfinals
2012 7–5–4 2nd, Great Lakes Champions
2013 10–2–2 1st, Great Lakes Conference Final
2014 6–4–4 4th, Great Lakes Did not qualify
2015 9–4–1 3rd, Great Lakes Divisional Playoff
2016 3 League1 Ontario 15–2–5 1st, Western Conference Runner-up Round of 16
2017 11–5–6 4th, Western Conference Did not qualify Quarter-finals
2018 12–2–2 1st (overall) Group stage Quarter-finals Did not qualify
2019 8–1–6 7th (overall) Runner-up — Did not qualify

Women
Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2016 League1 Ontario 9 14–0–2 1st – Semi-finals [6]
2017 11 15–3–2 1st – Champions [7]
2018 13 11–1–0 1st Semi-finals Quarter-finals [8]
2019 14 7–3–3 3rd Champions – [9]

Honours

Premier Development League
  • National Champions: 2012
  • Central Conference Champions: 2012
  • Great Lakes Division Champions: 2013

League1 Ontario
  • Western Conference Champions: 2016
  • Regular Season Champions: 2018

Head coaches
  • Martin Painter (2009–2016)
  • Mario Despotović (2016–2017)
  • Dom Kosic (2017-2018)
  • Mike Marcoccia (2018–present)

Stadium history

Average attendance

Attendance[10]

  • 2009: 1632
  • 2010: 1246
  • 2011: 841
  • 2012: 507
  • 2013: 1146
  • 2014: 777
  • 2015: 944
  • 2019: 250

References
  1. Press announcement Archived February 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "FC London kicks off with high hopes". Thelondoner.ca. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  3. "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Uslsoccer.com. May 29, 2009. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  4. "Everything new at FC London". London Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  5. "FC London Roster 2017". League1 Ontario. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  6. "2016 Women's Standings". League1 Ontario.
  7. "2017 Women's Standings". League1 Ontario.
  8. "2018 Women's Standings". League1 Ontario.
  9. "2019 Women's Standings". League1 Ontario.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175057/http://www.uslsoccer.com/history/index_E.html. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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