Alliance United FC

Alliance United Futbol Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Markham and Scarborough, Ontario. The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario. The club was formed as a partnership between two youth clubs - Markham FC and Wexford SC. It fields teams in both the men's and women's divisions of League1 Ontario.

Alliance United
Full nameAlliance United Futbol Club
Founded2017
StadiumMount Joy Turf Field / Turf Sports Field
Head CoachIlya Orlov (men)
Angelo Cavalluzzo (women)
LeagueLeague1 Ontario
2022League, 3rd; Playoffs, SF (men)
League, 6th; Playoffs, Finals (women)
WebsiteClub website

Founders

The club was founded in 2017 as a joint partnership between clubs Markham FC and Wexford SC with the team playing out of Centennial College.[1][2] The name Alliance United was initially meant to be a temporary with a 'name the team' initiative planned, but it ultimately remained the official name.[3][4]

Markham FC
Founding clubs of Alliance United

Markham FC is a youth soccer club in Markham, Ontario. It was founded in 1971 as the Markham Minor Soccer Club, before changing its name to the Markham Youth Soccer Club.[5]

Wexford SC

Wexford SC is a youth soccer club in Scarborough in Toronto. It was founded in 1967 as the Buchanan Soccer Club and is the longest running club in Scarborough.[6]

History

Alliance United joined the men's division of League1 Ontario for the 2018 season.[7] They played their inaugural match on April 29, 2018 against North Mississauga SC at home, which they lost by a score of 1–0.[8] They finished in 7th place in their debut season.[9] They improved to a 3rd-place finish in the 2019 season, but had a very poor showing in the playoffs where they lost 15–0 to FC London on aggregate in the semi-finals over the two-game series, due to being unable to field many of their best players, who missed the series due to college and university commitments,[10] thereby having to rely on many youth players instead.[11]

In 2019, the club added a team in the League1 Ontario women's division.[12] In their debut season, they finished in a three-way tie for fifth, but did not play in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] In their return in 2022, they finished 6th in the regular season, but advanced to the Championship Final in the playoffs, where they were defeated by NDC Ontario.[13] In addition, they advanced to the League1 Canada Women's Interprovincial Championship for 2022, as NDC Ontario was unable to compete due to player unavailability,[13] where they finished in 3rd place, following a defeat to PLSQ side AS Laval in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals,[14][15] before defeating League1 British Columbia side Varsity FC in the third-place match in another penalty shootout.[16] In 2023, after finishing 4th in the regular season, they won the women's league championship defeating NDC Ontario in the playoff final.[17][18]

In 2023, they formed an affiliation with Canadian Premier League club York United FC, which enables York United to send players to Alliance on short-term loans.[19] On July 29, 2023, they recorded their largest victory, defeating Unionville Milliken SC by a score of 13-1.[20]

Squad
As of 16 April 2023[21]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Canada CAN Praveen Ahilan
— DF Canada CAN Zak Drake
5 DF Canada CAN Sam Gardner
2 DF Canada CAN Kenny Lioutas
20 DF Canada CAN Jacob Maurutto-Robinson
3 DF Canada CAN Matthew Monteiro
— DF Canada CAN Koosha Nazemi
4 DF Canada CAN Nikola Stakic
— DF Canada CAN Russell Stewart
No. Pos. Nation Player
8 MF Canada CAN Mehdi Essoussi
6 MF Canada CAN Nicholas Osorio
— MF Italy ITA Andrea Schifano
— MF Israel ISR Shon Siegelwachs
17 MF Canada CAN Atchu Sivananthan
— MF Canada CAN Anthony Sousa
— FW Canada CAN Christian Keshishian
— FW Canada CAN Kingsley Belele
10 FW Canada CAN Dusan Kovacevic
7 FW Canada CAN Nirun Sivananthan

Seasons

Men

Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2018 League1 Ontario 17 7–3–6 7th Group Stage Preliminary Round [22]
2019 16 11–3–1 3rd Semi-finals – [22]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[23]
2021 League1 Ontario Summer Championship 11 3–2–2 3rd – –
2022 League1 Ontario 22 13–6–2 3rd Semi-Finals –
2023 22 9–6–5 8th did not qualify –

Women

Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Interprovinical Championship Ref
2019 League1 Ontario 14 6–2–5 7th Quarter-finals – – [24]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[23]
2021 Did not enter due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 League1 Ontario 20 11–4–4 6th Finalists – 3rd
2023 19 10–5–3 4th Champions – 4th

Notable former players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:

Men

Women
  • GuyanaCanada Jade Vyfhuis

References
  1. "East-GTA Partnership Driving New League1 Club Alliance United FC Has Orlov In The Manager's Seat". League1 Ontario. February 9, 2018.
  2. Glover, Robin (June 20, 2018). "L1O Game of the Week: Late equalizer seals Alliance United draw". Waking The Red.
  3. Cudmore, John (December 21, 2017). "League1 expansion focus zooms in on Unionville, Markham entries". Markham Economist & Sun.
  4. Bates, Matt (May 26, 2022). "A Bluffer's Guide to Alliance United". League1 Ontario.
  5. "About Markham Soccer". Markham Soccer Club.
  6. "Wexford History". Wexford SC.
  7. "Significant Expansion Planned for League1 Ontario". Ontario Soccer Association. December 20, 2017.
  8. Anchour, Yacine (April 27, 2018). "New season, New Kits & New Ambitions". NMSC.
  9. Stancati, Johnny (September 24, 2018). "Alliance Books Spot In The Playoffs With 1-0 Victory Over Sanjaxx". League1 Ontario.
  10. Thompson, Marty (October 30, 2020). "Ilya Orlov on Alliance's COVID-19 training, 'biggest worry' from L1O stoppage". League1 Ontario.
  11. Vanderhoeven, Paul (September 24, 2019). "FC London men looking to follow women's lead". The London Free Press.
  12. "FC Oshawa set to make soccer debut in League1 Ontario loop". Oshawa This Week. February 1, 2019.
  13. Cheng, Jonathan (August 7, 2022). "NDC Ontario cap off dream season with victory in Women's Premier Division Final". League1 Ontario.
  14. "L'AS Laval l'emporte contre Alliance United aux tirs au but" [AS Laval wins against Alliance United on penalties]. Première ligue de soccer du Québec (in French). August 13, 2022.
  15. "AS Laval defeat Alliance United on penalties". League1 Canada. August 13, 2022.
  16. "Alliance United finish third after beating Varsity on penalties". League1 Canada. August 15, 2022.
  17. Cheng, Jonathan (August 6, 2023). "Alliance United win Women's Premier Division title in extra-time". League1 Ontario.
  18. Parkes, David (August 8, 2023). "Alliance United Claims League1 Ontario Women's Crown". Northern Tribune.
  19. "York United FC announces key partnership with League1 Ontario side Alliance United". York United FC. April 16, 2023.
  20. Jacques, John (July 30, 2023). "Misery For Unionville Milliken As Alliance Asserts Itself In Fourteen-Goal Match". Northern Tribune.
  21. "Alliance United FC". League 1 Ontario.
  22. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
  23. "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
  24. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
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