League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in British Columbia, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the BC Soccer Association as a Division III Pro-Am league in the Canadian soccer league system.
 | |
| Organising body | BC Soccer Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 5, 2021 |
| First season | 2022 |
| Country | Canada |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Number of teams | 7 (men's) 7 (women's) |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Canadian Championship (men) Interprovincial Championship (women) |
| Current champions | Whitecaps FC Academy (men) Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite (women) (2023) |
| Current Juan de Fuca Plate | Whitecaps FC Academy (2023) |
| Most championships | TSS FC Rovers (1, men), Whitecaps FC Academy (1, men) Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite (2, women) |
| Most Juan de Fuca Plates | Whitecaps FC Academy (3) |
| TV partners | Telus TV |
| Website | league1bc |
| Current: 2024 League1 BC season | |
In the Canadian soccer league system, the men's division is behind the Canadian Premier League (CPL). It is part of League1 Canada, the national third tier with regional division, with L1BC equaivalent to Ligue1 Québec (L1QC), League1 Ontario (L1ON), and League1 Alberta (L1AB). The men's league champion qualifies for the Canadian Championship, the domestic cup championship, for the following season.
The semi-professional league was created to fill in the gap between the top amateur leagues in the province, such as the Pacific Coast Soccer League, Fraser Valley Soccer League, Vancouver Island Soccer League and Vancouver Metro Soccer League, with the professional top tier Canadian Premier League.[1][2]
History edit
BC Soccer originally looked into the possibility of starting a "Regional Tier 3" league in their 2016 Strategic Plan,[3] with the goal of beginning in 2018 with eight teams.[4] However, nothing came to fruition due to insufficient interest from clubs.[5][6] In June 2019, they announced their intention to begin play in 2021 with at least six clubs.[7] Teams would need to commit for three years minimum and field teams in both the male and female divisions.[5] The proposed league would be open to professional clubs fielding reserve sides, provided they are not branded with "Reserves" or "U-23" in their team name.[8][9]
In January 2021, the league was rumoured to be launching later that year with six or eight teams, including a development team from the Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC.[10] On October 5, 2021, the league was officially announced by BC Soccer to begin play in May 2022.[11][12] The inaugural league began on May 22, with the Championship Final occurring on August 1 (British Columbia Day), with seven clubs participating in the first season.[13][14] It was announced that with the creation of the league, the Juan de Fuca Plate, which was previously awarded to the top BC-based Premier Development League team in head-to-head matches, would now be awarded to the League1 BC club that accrued the greatest number of points across both the men's and women's divisions in an aggregate table.[15][16] In addition, a cedar trophy was created to be awarded to both the men's and women's division champions.[17] In November 2022, it was confirmed that the league winner would qualify for the following season's Canadian Championship, the national cup tournament.[18]
On December 1, 2023, Canadian Soccer Business acquired L1BC from BC Soccer. CSB have owned League1 Ontario since 2018 and now oversee the day-to-day operations of both leagues.[19]
Competition format edit
The L1BC regular season lasts approximately two months, from late May to late July. Teams play each other team home and away for a total of 12 matches in 2022. The regular season champion and runner-up advance to a single match final where the winner is crowned finals champion.
Results edit
By year edit
| Season | Teams | Men's division | Women's division | Juan de Fuca Plate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League champions | Regular season winner | League champions | Regular season winner | |||
| 2022 | 7 | TSS FC Rovers | Varsity FC | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Varsity FC | Varsity FC |
| 2023 | 8 | Whitecaps FC Academy | Victoria Highlanders FC | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Whitecaps FC Academy |
By club edit
| Club | Combined | Men | Women | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LC | RS | IP | Total | LC | RS | Total | LC | RS | IP | Total | |
| Whitecaps FC Academy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Varsity FC | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| TSS FC Rovers | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| Victoria Highlanders FC | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
Note: This table only includes titles within the League1 Canada system.
Clubs edit
Current teams edit
Seven teams are members of the league, of which five are based in Greater Vancouver, one on Vancouver Island, and one in the province's interior. All teams compete in both the men's and women's divisions of the league.[20]
| Team | City | Stadium | First season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altitude FC | North Vancouver | Kinsmen Field South | 2022 |
| Burnaby FC | Burnaby | Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West | 2024 |
| Harbourside FC | Nanaimo | Nanaimo District Secondary School | 2023 |
| Rivers FC | Kamloops | McArthur Island Sports Complex | 2022 |
| TSS FC Rovers | Richmond | Swangard Stadium | 2022 |
| Unity FC | Surrey | Cloverdale Athletic Park | 2022 |
| Whitecaps FC Academy | Vancouver(UBC Campus)[a] | Ken Woods Field Canada Soccer National Development Centres |
2022 |
- ^ Based on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The campus is part of the unincorporated Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A and is located just west of the City of Vancouver proper.
Current teams 
See Vancouver inset
Current teamTimeline edit
Former teams edit
| Team | City | Stadium | First season | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nautsa’mawt FC[a] | UBC Campus[b] | Thunderbird Stadium | 2022 | 2023 |
| Victoria Highlanders FC | Saanich | Centennial Stadium | 2022 | 2023 |
- ^ Nautsa’mawt FC was known as Varsity FC in 2022
- ^ Based on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The campus is part of the unincorporated Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A and is located just west of the City of Vancouver proper.
L1BC clubs in other competitions edit
| Season | Men's division | Women's division | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Competition | Result | Record | Club | Competition | Result | Record | |
| 2022 | No competition held | Varsity FC | Interprovincial Championship | 4th | 0–1–1[a] | |||
| 2023 | TSS FC Rovers | Canadian Championship | Quarter-finals | 1–0–1 | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup | W | 1–3–1[b] |
| Inter-provincial Championship | W | 2–0–0 | ||||||
| Unity FC | Inter-provincial Championship | 3rd | 1–0–1 | |||||
| 2024 | TSS FC Rovers[c] | Canadian Championship | Preliminary round | 0–0–0 | TBD | Inter-provincial Championship | TBD | |
- ^ The 1 draw was a penalty shoot-out loss.
- ^ The 3 draws include 2 penalty shoot-out wins in the knockout stages.
- ^ Victoria Highlanders FC originally qualified but withdrew before the tournament began.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Doyle, Jeff (April 15, 2020). "The future of the BC soccer pyramid". Away From the Numbers.
- ^ Gray, Shawn (March 8, 2017). "BC Regional Tier 3: March Update". Northern Starting XI.
- ^ Gray, Shawn (January 17, 2017). "BC Soccer RT3: New Division-3 coming to BC". Northern Starting XI.
- ^ Gray, Shawn (April 4, 2017). "BCRT3: Where do BC's PDL teams stand?". Northern Starting XI.
- ^ a b Notenboom, Rob (January 21, 2020). "League 1 BC Approaching Critical Moment". Northern Starting XI.
- ^ "BC Soccer Provides Update on Proposed Regional Tier 3 League". British Columbia Soccer Association. June 27, 2019.
- ^ Jacques, John (June 29, 2019). "What We Know About BC's Proposed New League So Far". Northern Tribune.
- ^ "League One British Columbia (L1BC)" (PDF). BC Soccer. British Columbia Soccer Association. June 27, 2019.
- ^ Rupert, Alex (February 23, 2021). "L'avènement d'une nouvelle ligue : La BC League 1" [The advent of a new league: The BC League 1]. Culture Soccer (in French).
- ^ Jacques, John (January 30, 2021). "Is League1 BC Starting This Year?". Northern Tribune.
- ^ "BC Soccer officially launches League1 British Columbia". BC Soccer. October 5, 2021. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ^ Jacques, John (October 5, 2021). "League1 BC Officially Announced, Launching Next Year". Northern Tribune.
- ^ @League1BC (February 11, 2022). "100 DAY COUNTDOWN! League1BC kicks off its inaugural season on May 22, 2022!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Jacques, John (October 6, 2021). "Six Big Things To Know About League1 BC". Northern Tribune.
- ^ "About the Juan de Fuca Plate". Juan de Fuca Plate. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
- ^ Steiner, Ben (July 9, 2022). "L1BC Weekend Preview and Power Rankings". 49 Sport.
- ^ "League1 BC presented by HALL unveils trophies for August 1st Finals". BC Soccer. July 27, 2022.
- ^ Jacques, John (November 3, 2022). "League1 BC Announced As New Entrant In Canadian Championship". Northern Tribune.
- ^ "League1 BC acquired by Canadian Soccer Business". Canadian Premier League. December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ "League1 BC". League1 British Columbia.