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

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.

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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
  23. 1 2 "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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