Alliance United FC explained

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

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, 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

^[21]

Seasons

Men

Season	League	Teams		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	–
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		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
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
2024	League1 Ontario Premier	10	5–4–9	8th	–	Round of 16	Did not qualify

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:

Women

Notes and References

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