Unionville Milliken SC

Unionville Milliken Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Unionville, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2018.[1]

Unionville Milliken SC
Full nameUnionville Milliken Soccer Club
Nickname(s)UMSC Strikers
Founded1976
StadiumAzzurri Village
LeagueLeague1 Ontario
2019League1 Ontario, 12th
Playoffs: DNQ
WebsiteClub website

The club also fields a team in the League1 Ontario women's division, which entered the league in the 2017 season.[2]

History

The club was founded in 1976 to serve the communities of Unionville and Milliken in Ontario.[3]

Originally a youth soccer club, the team added semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in the women's and men's division in 2017 and 2018, respectively.[4] Unionville announced that their club would go with a fully professional model, as opposed to an amateur or semi-professional approach, becoming the second fully professional team in the league, after Toronto FC III.[5]

The men's team was formed through a partnership with York Region Shooters, who played in the Canadian Soccer League until 2017, to form a professional club in L1O to begin in 2018, created through the relationship of Shooters' owner Tony De Thomasis and UMSC coach Filipe Bento.[6] They played their inaugural match on April 29, 2018 against Windsor TFC,[7] which resulted in a 3–1 victory.[8]

Seasons

Men
Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2018 League1 Ontario 17 6–5–5 8th Group Stage Round of 16 [9]
2019 16 3–3–9 12th Did not qualify – [9]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[10]

Women
Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2017 League1 Ontario 11 10–3–7 4th – Quarter-finals [11]
2018 13 5–3–4 8th Did not qualify Finalists [11]
2019 14 5–5–4 11th Did not qualify – [11]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[10]

Notable former players

References
  1. Cudmore, John (December 21, 2017). "League1 expansion focus zooms in on Unionville, Markham entries". Markham Economist & Sun.
  2. Cudmore, John (May 2, 2017). "Aurora, Unionville-Milliken women kick off League1 season". Aurora Banner.
  3. "About UMSC". Unionville Milliken SC.
  4. "Significant expansion planned for League1 Ontario". League1 Ontario. December 20, 2017.
  5. Baldwin, Dan (April 27, 2018). "League 1 Ontario 2018 Preview". Northern Starting XI.
  6. "Unionville Milliken Men To Spotlight Pro Model, Community Roots, In Debut Season". League1 Ontario. April 16, 2018.
  7. Parker, Jim (April 28, 2018). "Windsor TFC soccer team has a new focus this season". Windsor Star.
  8. "Game 1: Unionville with the Win Over Windsor". Unionville Milliken SC. October 17, 2018.
  9. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
  10. "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
  11. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
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