League1 Alberta

League1 Alberta (L1AB) is a proposed semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Alberta, Canada, to be sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Alberta Soccer Association as a tier 3 league in the Canadian soccer league system.

League1 Alberta
Organising bodyCanadian Soccer Association
Alberta Soccer Association
Founded2023 (2023)
First season2024 (proposed)
CountryCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams5 (men's)
5 (women's)
Level on pyramid3
WebsiteLeague website
Current: 2023 League1 Alberta Exhibition Series

Belonging to the League1 Canada organization, the men's division will fall below the Canadian Premier League (CPL), and both divisions will be equivalent to current pro-am leagues in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. The league will begin in 2023 as an exhibition series, and plans to fully launch in 2024.

History

In 2021, a group of clubs from British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba organized the 2021 Summer Series, a series of friendly soccer matches played between Western Canadian soccer clubs to showcase a potential national second division.[1] In 2022, another exhibition showcase was organized by four clubs – three from Alberta (Calgary Foothills FC, Edmonton Scottish, BTB Soccer Academy) and one from Manitoba (FC Manitoba) – as an entity known as Central League1.[2]

In March 2023, League1 Alberta was announced with an exhibition series being organized, with six clubs participating (five in each gendered division) – the Calgary Foothills, Edmonton Scottish, St. Albert Impact, and BTB Soccer Academy would field teams of both genders, while Cavalry FC would field a team in the men's series and the Calgary Blizzard in the women's division.[3][4] The first matches will be played on May 12, 2023.[5] An official league season is planned to be launched for the 2024 season.[6][7]

Teams

Currently five men's teams and five women's teams have been announced to participate in the exhibition series, of which three are based in Greater Calgary and three are based in Greater Edmonton.

Men's division
Team City Principal stadium First season
Edmonton BTB SC Edmonton Clarke Stadium 2023
Calgary Foothills FC Calgary Broadview Park 2023
Cavalry FC U21 Foothills County Hellard Field/Dino Field 2023
Edmonton Scottish Edmonton Hamish Black Field 2023
St. Albert Impact St. Albert Riel Recreation Park 2023
Women's division
Team City Principal stadium First season
Edmonton BTB SC Edmonton Clarke Stadium 2023
Calgary Blizzard SC Calgary Broadview Park 2023
Calgary Foothills WFC Calgary Broadview Park 2023
Edmonton Scottish Edmonton Hamish Black Field 2023
St. Albert Impact St. Albert Riel Recreation Park 2023

See also

References
  1. "Press Release: Central League 1 2022 Exhibition Series". Calgary Foothills FC. May 5, 2022.
  2. Parkes, David (May 6, 2022). "Is A League1 Prairies In The Pipeline?". Northern Tribune.
  3. "League1 Alberta Exhibition Series confirms participating clubs for 2023". OneSoccer. March 10, 2023.
  4. "League1 Alberta Exhibition Series Clubs Confirmed" (PDF). Alberta Soccer Association. March 10, 2023.
  5. @league1alberta (April 17, 2023). "Opening day announced" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "League1 Alberta In The Works". Northern Tribune. January 19, 2023.
  7. Parkes, David (March 10, 2023). "Official:League1 Alberta Exhibition Series Confirmed". Northern Tribune.
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