Première_Ligue_de_soccer_du_Québec
Ligue1 Québec
Football league
Ligue1 Québec (L1QC) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2011 as the Première ligue de soccer du Québec, the league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Quebec Soccer Federation.
| Organising body | Soccer Quebec |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 31, 2011; 12 years ago (2011-08-31) |
| Country | Canada |
| Provinces | Quebec (11 teams) Ontario (1 team) |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Number of teams | 11 (men's) 12 (women's) |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Canadian Championship (men) Interprovincial Championship (women) |
| League cup(s) | Coupe L1QC |
| Current champions | CS Saint-Laurent (men's) PEF Québec (women's) (2023) |
| Current league cup champions | CS Saint-Laurent (men's) PEF Québec (women's) (2023) |
| TV partners | RDS.ca (streaming) |
| Website | ligue1quebec |
| Current: 2023 season (men) 2023 season (women) | |
In the Canadian soccer league system, the men's division is behind the fully-professional Canadian Premier League. It is part of League1 Canada, the national third tier with regional division, along with three other provincial leagues. The men's league champion qualifies for the Canadian Championship, Canada's domestic cup tournament.
Background
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.[1] 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 élite du Québec in 1992.[2][3] 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.[4][5] Following this, the amateur Ligue de soccer élite du Québec 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).[6]
Foundation
In 2011, the Première ligue de soccer du Québec was established, marking the return of a semi-professional soccer league to the province for the first time in 20 years.[2][7] 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,[2] including the Montreal Impact of the MLS.
The league had its debut season in 2012 with a men's division featuring five teams – A.S. Blainville, FC Brossard, FC Boisbriand, FC L'Assomption, and FC Saint-Léonard.[8] FC Saint-Léonard won the inaugural season.[9] 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.[10] In 2014, the province of Ontario created its own semi-professional level 3 league, League1 Ontario,[11] and the Inter-Provincial Cup was established which would be contested between the champions of each league and ran for three years until 2016.[12] In 2015, the league added its first club from outside of the province of Quebec, with the Ottawa Fury FC Academy joining the league.[13]
Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the Canadian Championship for the following season.[14] In 2018, a women's division was added, starting with five teams.[15] The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[16] but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams opted out of playing for the season.[17] However, the remainder of the men's 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).[18]
In 2022, the PLSQ joined League1 Canada along with League1 Ontario and League1 British Columbia. On April 19, 2023, the league rebranded to Ligue1 Québec to align with its partner leagues.[19]
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. Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.[citation needed]
Coupe L1QC
At the end of the year, there is a league cup, called the Coupe L1QC (formerly the Coupe PLSQ), which began in 2013. The format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league.[20] The most recent cup competition featured the top four teams from league play in a single-knockout tournament. In the past, the cup has also used a group stage and knockout format where three groups of three teams were formed, and the winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals.
Yearly results
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Over the course of its history, various clubs have joined and departed the league. A.S. Blainville is the only club to have participated in every season since the league's inception.[21] Blainville has been the most successful club, winning the league championship four times and the league cup twice and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has been second-most successful with four league championships and one league cup title.
Current clubs
The following eleven teams are members of the league for the 2024 season:
| Team | City | Stadium | Joined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current teams | |||||
| A.S. Blainville | Blainville, Laurentides | Parc Blainville | 2012 | ||
| Celtix du Haut-Richelieu | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montérégie | Parc Pierre-Benoît | 2020 | ||
| AS Laval[note 1] | Laval | Parc de Lausanne | 2019 | ||
| FC Laval[note 2] | Laval | Collège Montmorency & Parc Roseval | 2018 | ||
| CS Longueuil | Longueuil, Montérégie | Parc Laurier | 2014 | ||
| CF Montréal U23 | Montréal | CF Montréal training grounds | 2022 | ||
| CS Mont-Royal Outremont | Mount Royal, Montréal | Parc Recreatif de TMR | 2013 | ||
| CS Saint-Laurent | Saint-Laurent, Montreal | Vanier College Stadium | 2022 | ||
| CS St-Hubert | Saint-Hubert, Montérégie | Centre Sportif Roseanne-Laflamme | 2017 | ||
| Ottawa South United | Ottawa, Ontario | TAAG Park (Carleton University) | 2020 | ||
| Royal-Sélect de Beauport | Quebec City | Stade Beauport | 2021 | ||
Former clubs
| Club | City | Stadium | Joined | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Lanaudière | Terrebonne, Lanaudière | Centre de Soccer Multifonctionnel de Terrebonne | 2016 | 2021 | |
| 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 | |
| CS Lanaudière-Nord[note 1] | Joliette, Lanaudière | École secondaire Barthélemy-Joliette | 2012-2015, 2022-2023 | ||
Timeline
Current clubs
The following twelve teams are members of the league for the 2022 season:
| Team | City | Stadium | Joined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current teams | |||||
| A.S. Blainville | Blainville, Laurentides | Parc Blainville | 2018 | ||
| AS Chaudière-Ouest | Lévis | Parc Renaud-Maillette | 2022 | ||
| Pierrefonds FC | Lac St-Louis, Montreal | Pierrefonds Community High School | 2020 | ||
| Celtix du Haut-Richelieu | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montérégie | Parc Pierre-Benoît | 2021 | ||
| AS Laval[note 2] | Laval, Laval | Parc de Lausanne | 2018 | ||
| FC Laval[note 3] | Laval, Laval | Parc Roseval & Parc Raymond-Millar | 2019 | ||
| CS Longueuil | Longueuil, Montérégie | Parc Laurier | 2020 | ||
| CS Mont-Royal Outremont | Mount Royal, Montréal | Parc Recreatif de TMR | 2019 | ||
| CS St-Hubert | Saint-Hubert, Montérégie | Centre Sportif Roseanne-Laflamme | 2020 | ||
| Ottawa South United | Ottawa, Ontario | TAAG Park (Carleton University) | 2020 | ||
| PEF Québec | Laval, Laval | Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne | 2022 | ||
| Royal-Sélect de Beauport | Beauport, Quebec City | Stade Beauport | 2021 | ||
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
The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in the L1QC (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in the L1QC are not included, unless they also earned caps while in the league. This section also does not include youth caps (U23 or below).
Men
| Player | Country | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armel Dagrou |  Burundi |
2014 | [22] |
| Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin |  Mauritius |
2016 | [23] |
| Zohib Islam Amiri |  Afghanistan |
2019 | [24] |
| Lemus Christopher |  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
2022 | [25] |
Women
| Season | Men's division | Women's division | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Competition | Result | Record | Club | Competition | Result | Record | |
| 2012 | No competition held | No women's division | ||||||
| 2013 | ||||||||
| 2014 | CS Longueuil | Inter-Provincial Cup | Runner-up | 0–1–1 | ||||
| 2015 | CS Mont-Royal Outremont | Inter-Provincial Cup | Runner-up | 0–1–1 | ||||
| 2016 | CS Mont-Royal Outremont | Inter-Provincial Cup | Champions | 1–1–0 | ||||
| 2017 | No competition held | |||||||
| 2018 | A.S. Blainville | Canadian Championship | Second qualifying round | 2–0–2 | No competition held | |||
| 2019 | A.S. Blainville | Canadian Championship | First qualifying round | 0–1–1 | ||||
| 2020 | No competition held | |||||||
| 2021 | A.S. Blainville | Canadian Championship | Preliminary round | 0–0–1 | ||||
| 2022 | CS Mont-Royal Outremont | Canadian Championship | Preliminary round | 0–0–1 | A.S. Blainville | Interprovincial Championship | Champions | 2–0–0 |
| AS Laval | Runner-up | 1–0–1 | ||||||
| 2023 | FC Laval | Canadian Championship | Preliminary round | 0–0–1 | PEF Québec | Inter-provincial Championship | Runner-up | 1–0–1 |
- Chenoix, Eric (October 15, 2018). "L'avant 1911" [Before 1911]. Viau Park (in French).
- "Retour d'une ligue semi-pro" [Return of a semi-pro league]. Ici Radio-Canada Télé. August 30, 2011.
- Phillips, Randy (May 9, 1992). "New league groups best in Quebec". Newspapers.com. Montreal Gazette. p. 71. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
- "Roundup Overtime". Newspapers.com. The Leader-Post. January 7, 1993. p. 11. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
- "25 Sep 1993, 75 - The Gazette at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
- "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.
- canadienne, La Presse (September 1, 2011). "La Première Ligue de soccer du Québec voit le jour". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved April 23, 2023.
- "La Première ligue voit le jour" [The Premier League is born]. Le Journal de Montréal (in French). April 3, 2012.
- Gauthier, Audrey (October 15, 2012). "FC Saint-Léonard, champions" [Saint-Léonard FC, champions]. Métro (in French).
- "Toute une saison inaugurale!" [A whole inaugural season!]. Métro (in French). November 7, 2013.
- "OSA announces League1 Ontario teams". Ontario Soccer Association. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
- "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.
- "Fury FC Academy and the Premier League de Soccer du Quebec". Bytown Boys. May 1, 2015.
- Tierney, Mitchell (March 9, 2017). "Report: Provincial Champions to Play in Voyageurs Cup as Early as 2018". Waking the Red. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
- O'Neill, Paméla (January 11, 2018). "Une première saison de PLSQ féminine!" [A first season of women's PLSQ!]. Viau Park (in French).
- "COVID-19: Report du Début de la Saison" [COVID-19: Postponement of Early Season]. PLSQ (in French). March 25, 2020.
- "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.
- "COVID-19 : Mise à Jour Du 29 Septembre 2020" [COVID-19: Update September 29, 2020]. Quebec Soccer Federation (in French). September 29, 2020.
- "Première ligue de soccer du Québec transitions to Ligue1 Québec". League1 Canada. April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
- "À Propos De La Coupe PLSQ" [About the PLSQ Cup]. RDS (in French).
- Gray, Shawn (January 31, 2017). "Quebec's 3rd Division". Northern Starting XI.
- Ducharme, Jean-François (September 15, 2014). "Un Citadin au Burundi" [A Citizen in Burundi]. Université du Québec à Montréal (in French).
- "Kevin Dean Chan-Yu-Tin (Lakeshore SC): L'international Mauricien" [Kevin Dean Chan-Yu-Tin (Lakeshore SC): The International Mauritius]. Première ligue de soccer du Québec. March 20, 2017.
- Rialdi, Irwan Febri (November 8, 2021). "3 Bintang Timnas Afghanistan yang Perlu Diwaspadai, Ada Eks Persib Bandung" [3 Stars of the Afghanistan National Team to Watch Out for]. Bola Times (in Indonesian).
- "Lady Jags Head Coach embraces "underdogs" tag". News Room. April 8, 2022.