Première Ligue de soccer du Québec

The Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012 and organized by the Quebec Soccer Federation, which operates at the third tier of the Canadian soccer pyramid.[1] The Canadian Soccer Association relies on provincial soccer organizations to sanction regional leagues at the tier 3 level. The men's division is below the Canadian Premier League (CPL) (Division I), and equal to League1 Ontario (L1O) (Division III). The PLSQ women's division is behind the U.S.-based National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) (Division I). The league's commissioner is Kambiz Ebadi.[2]

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec
Founded2012
CountryCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams9 (men's)
9 (women's)
Level on pyramid3
Domestic cup(s)Canadian Championship
League cup(s)Coupe PLSQ
Current championsAS Blainville (men’s)
AS Blainville (women's)
(2020)
TV partnersRDS.ca (streaming)
Websitewww.plsq.ca
Current: 2020 season

History

The history of soccer in Quebec dates back to 1884, with the first league established in 1886. In 1911, the Province of Quebec Football Association, now known as the Quebec Soccer Federation was founded.[3] In 1986, a semi-professional league called the Ligue nationale de soccer du Québec (LNSQ) was created, but it merged with different rival leagues to form the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec in 1992.[4][5] In 1993, five of the former LNSQ clubs Corfinium St-Leonard, Cosmos de LaSalle, Luso Stars Mont-Royal, Montreal Croatia, and Montreal Ramblers joined the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL) to form the league's Eastern Division.[6][7] Following this, the amateur Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec served as the top level of soccer in the province, although Quebec clubs did play in the United Soccer League (Montreal Impact) and the semi-professional Canadian Soccer League (Laval Dynamites/Trois-Rivières Attak and Montreal Impact Academy).[8]

In 2011, the PLSQ was established, marking the return of a semi-professional soccer league to the province for the first time in 20 years.[4] The league was sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as a level 3 league, below Major League Soccer (level 1) and the North American Soccer League and United Soccer League (level 2), which were American-based fully professional leagues featuring some Canadian teams,[4] including CF Montreal of the MLS.

The PLSQ had its debut season in 2012 with a male division featuring 5 teams – AS Blainville, FC Brossard, FC Boisbriand, FC L'Assomption, and FC Saint-Léonard.[9] FC Saint-Léonard won the inaugural season.[10] The following season, the league added a League Cup to its schedule, the Coupe PLSQ, which would take place annually at the conclusion of the season, unrelated to the results of the regular season.[11] In 2014, the province of Ontario created its own semi-professional level 3 league, League1 Ontario,[12] and the Inter-Provincial Cup was established which would be contested between the champions of each league and ran for three years until 2016.[13] In 2015, the league added its first club from outside of the province of Quebec, with the Ottawa Fury FC Academy joining the league.[14] Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the Canadian Championship for the following season.[15] In 2018, a women's division was added, starting with five teams.[16] The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [17] but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams did opt out of playing for the season.[18] However, the remainder of the male season was cancelled about three-quarters of the way through the season, due to a resurgence of the pandemic (the female season had already concluded).[19]

Over the course of its history, various clubs have joined and departed the league. AS Blainville is the only club to have participated in every season since the league's inception.[20] Blainville has been the most successful club, winning the league championship 4 times and the league cup twice and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has been second-most successful with three league championships and one league cup title.

PLSQ Trophy Winners
Season Teams PLSQ Champions
League winners
Coupe PLSQ
Cup winners
2012 5 FC St-Léonard
2013 7 CS Mont-Royal Outremont CS Mont-Royal Outremont
2014 6 CS Longueuil FC Gatineau
2015 7 CS Mont-Royal Outremont Lakeshore SC
2016 7 CS Mont-Royal Outremont AS Blainville
2017 7 AS Blainville AS Blainville
2018 8 AS Blainville FC Lanaudière
2019 9 AS Blainville CS Fabrose
2020[note 1] 6[note 2] AS Blainville

Format

Depending on the number of teams in the league, teams will play every other team between 2-4 times per season, for a length of usually between 15 and 20 games. The winner gets the regular season championship. At the end of the year, there is a League Cup, called the Coupe PLSQ, which began in 2013. The format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league.[21] The most recent Cup competition featured nine teams, where three groups of three teams were formed. The winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals.

Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.

Men's Division

Current clubs

The following nine teams are members of the league for the 2021 season.

Team City Stadium Joined Head Coach
Current teams
A.S. Blainville Blainville, Laurentides Parc Blainville 2012 Emmanuel Macagno
Celtix du Haut-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montérégie Stade Alphonse-Desjardins 2020 David Sauvry
CS Fabrose Laval, Laval Parc Cartier 2018 Amine Yacine Benmouffok
CS Longueuil Longueuil, Montérégie Centre Multi-Sport 2014 Aziz Dieng
CS Mont-Royal Outremont Mount Royal, Montréal Parc Recreatif de TMR 2013 Luc Brutus
CS Monteuil Laval, Laval Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne 2019 Antoine Katako
CS St-Hubert Saint-Hubert, Montérégie Centre Sportif Roseanne-Laflamme 2017 François Bourgeais
FC Lanaudière Terrebonne, Lanaudière Centre de Soccer Multifonctionnel de Terrebonne 2016 Kevin Mendes Duarte
Ottawa South United Ottawa, Ontario George Nelms Sports Park 2020 Jim Lianos
Blainville
Celtix
Fabrose
Monteuil
Lanaudière
Longueuil
Mont-Royal
St-Hubert
Ottawa
Locations of current (red) and future (green) clubs.


Former clubs

Club City Stadium Joined Left
Former teams
FC Boisbriand Boisbriand, Laurentides Parc Régional 640 2012 2013
FC Brossard Brossard, Montérégie Parc Illinois 2012 2013
FC St-Léonard St Leonard, Montreal Stade Hébert 2012 2013
ACP Montréal-Nord Montréal-Nord, Montreal Parc Saint-Laurent 2014 2014
FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière L'Assomption, Lanaudière Parc André-Courcelles 2012 2015
Lakeshore SC Kirkland, Montréal John Abbott College 2015 2016
Ottawa Fury FC Academy Ottawa, Ontario Algonquin College 2015 2016
FC Gatineau Gatineau, Outaouais Terrain Mont-Bleu 2013 2019
Dynamo de Quebec Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale Polyvalente L'Ancienne-Lorette 2017 2019

Timeline

Women's Division

PLSQ Women's Trophy Winners
Season Teams PLSQ Champions
League winners
Coupe PLSQ
Cup winners
2018 5 Dynamo de Québec
2019 6 CS Monteuil
2020 4[note 3] AS Blainville

Current clubs

The following nine teams are members of the league for the 2021 season.





Team City Stadium Joined Head coach
Current teams
AS Blainville Blainville, Laurentides Parc Blainville 2018 Jean-Lou Gosselin
AS Pierrefonds Lac St-Louis, Montreal 2020 Carlos Carvalho
Celtix du Haut-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montérégie Stade Alphonse-Desjardins 2021
CS Fabrose Laval Parc Cartier 2019 Angelo Jean-Baptiste
CS Longueuil Longueuil, Montérégie Parc Laurier 2020 Gilbert Bayiha
CS Mont-Royal Outremont Mount Royal, Montréal Parc Recreatif de TMR 2019 Lyonel Joseph
CS Monteuil Laval, Laval Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne 2018 Antoine Katako
CS St-Hubert Saint-Hubert, Montérégie Centre Sportif Roseanne-Laflamme 2020 Cindy Walsh
Ottawa South United Ottawa, Ontario George Nelms Sports Park 2020 Abraham Osman
Blainville
Longueuil
Fabrose
Celtix
Monteuil
Mont-Royal
Ottawa
St-Hubert
Pierrefonds
Locations of current (red) and future (green) clubs.


Former clubs

Club City Stadium Joined Left
Former teams
Dynamo de Quebec Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale ESLE 2018 2019
FC Sélect Rive-Sud Longueuil, Montérégie Centre Multi Sport 2018 2019
Lakers du Lac Saint-Louis Lachine, Montréal Dollard 2 2018 2018

Timeline

See also

Notes

  1. The season was cancelled before its conclusion, with the final standings determined on a points earned per game basis
  2. Originally 9 clubs were set to participate, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, three clubs withdrew from the season
  3. Originally 8 clubs were set to participate, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, four clubs withdrew from the season

References

  1. "League 1 kicks off Ontario soccer season, offering a chance to rise up the ranks". chatnewstoday.ca. Canadian Press. April 28, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2019. League 1 Ontario and the PLSQ league in Quebec are sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as Division 3 leagues.
  2. "Personnel" [Staff]. PLSQ (in French).
  3. Chenoix, Eric. "L'avant 1911" [Before 1911]. Viau Park (in French).
  4. "Retour d'une ligue semi-pro" [Return of a semi-pro league]. Ici Radio-Canada Télé. August 30, 2011.
  5. Phillips, Randy (May 9, 1992). "New league groups best in Quebec". Newspapers.com. Montreal Gazette. p. 71. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  6. "Roundup Overtime". Newspapers.com. The Leader-Post. January 7, 1993. p. 11. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. "25 Sep 1993, 75 - The Gazette at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  8. "2001 - May 20 - Expanded CPSL set to kickoff". Canadian Professional Soccer League. December 24, 2001. Archived from the original on December 24, 2001. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  9. "La Première ligue voit le jour" [The Premier League is born]. Le Journal de Montréal (in French). April 3, 2012.
  10. Gauthier, Audrey (October 15, 2012). "FC Saint-Léonard, champions" [Saint-Léonard FC, champions]. Métro (in French).
  11. "Toute une saison inaugurale!" [A whole inaugural season!]. Métro (in French). November 7, 2013.
  12. "OSA announces League1 Ontario teams". Ontario Soccer Association. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  13. "OSA and QSF announce Division 3 Inter-Provincial Cup final". Ontario Soccer Association. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  14. "Fury FC Academy and the Premier League de Soccer du Quebec". Bytown Boys. May 1, 2015.
  15. Tierney, Mitchell (March 9, 2017). "Report: Provincial Champions to Play in Voyageurs Cup as Early as 2018". Waking the Red. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  16. O'Neill, Paméla (January 11, 2018). "Une première saison de PLSQ féminine!" [A first season of women's PLSQ!]. Viau Park (in French).
  17. "COVID-19: Report du Début de la Saison" [COVID-19: Postponement of Early Season]. PLSQ (in French). March 25, 2020.
  18. "La Première ligue de soccer du Québec lancera bientôt sa saison" [The Premier league of Quebec soccer will launch its season soon]. RDS (in French). July 13, 2020.
  19. "COVID-19 : Mise à Jour Du 29 Septembre 2020" [COVID-19: Update September 29, 2020]. Quebec Soccer Federation (in French). September 29, 2020.
  20. Gray, Shawn (January 31, 2017). "Quebec's 3rd Division". Northern Starting XI.
  21. "À Propos De La Coupe PLSQ" [About the PLSQ Cup]. RDS (in French).


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