Première Ligue de soccer du Québec

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Première Ligue de soccer du Québec
PLSQ league logo.png
Founded2012
CountryCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams12 (men's)
11 (women's)
Level on pyramid3
Domestic cup(s)Canadian Championship
League cup(s)Coupe PLSQ
Current championsCS Mont-Royal Outremont (men’s)
AS Blainville (women's)
(2021)
TV partnersRDS.ca (streaming)
Websitewww.plsq.ca
Current: 2021 season

The Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012, organized by the Quebec Soccer Federation, which operates at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system.[1] The Canadian Soccer Association relies on provincial soccer organizations to sanction regional leagues. The men's division is below the Canadian Premier League and equal to League1 Ontario and League1 British Columbia. The PLSQ women's division is below the U.S.-based National Women's Soccer League (U.S. Division I).

History[edit]

The history of soccer in Quebec dates back to 1884, with the first league established in 1886. In 1911, the Province of Quebec Football Association, now known as the Quebec Soccer Federation was founded.[2] In 1986, a semi-professional league called the Ligue nationale de soccer du Québec (LNSQ) was created, but it merged with different rival leagues to form the Ligue de soccer élite du Québec in 1992.[3][4] In 1993, five of the former LNSQ clubs Corfinium St-Leonard, Cosmos de LaSalle, Luso Stars Mont-Royal, Montreal Croatia, and Montreal Ramblers joined the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL) to form the league's Eastern Division.[5][6] Following this, the amateur Ligue de soccer élite du Québec served as the top level of soccer in the province, although Quebec clubs did play in the United Soccer League (Montreal Impact) and the semi-professional Canadian Soccer League (Laval Dynamites/Trois-Rivières Attak and Montreal Impact Academy).[7]

In 2011, the PLSQ was established, marking the return of a semi-professional soccer league to the province for the first time in 20 years.[3] The league was sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as a level 3 league, below Major League Soccer (level 1) and the North American Soccer League and United Soccer League (level 2), which were American-based fully professional leagues featuring some Canadian teams,[3] including the Montreal Impact of the MLS.

The PLSQ had its debut season in 2012 with a male division featuring 5 teams – AS Blainville, FC Brossard, FC Boisbriand, FC L'Assomption, and FC Saint-Léonard.[8] FC Saint-Léonard won the inaugural season.[9] The following season, the league added a League Cup to its schedule, the Coupe PLSQ, which would take place annually at the conclusion of the season, unrelated to the results of the regular season.[10] In 2014, the province of Ontario created its own semi-professional level 3 league, League1 Ontario,[11] and the Inter-Provincial Cup was established which would be contested between the champions of each league and ran for three years until 2016.[12] In 2015, the league added its first club from outside of the province of Quebec, with the Ottawa Fury FC Academy joining the league.[13] Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the Canadian Championship for the following season.[14] In 2018, a women's division was added, starting with five teams.[15] The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [16] but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams did opt out of playing for the season.[17] However, the remainder of the male season was cancelled about three-quarters of the way through the season, due to a resurgence of the pandemic (the female season had already concluded).[18]

Over the course of its history, various clubs have joined and departed the league. AS Blainville is the only club to have participated in every season since the league's inception.[19] Blainville has been the most successful club, winning the league championship 4 times and the league cup twice and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has been second-most successful with three league championships and one league cup title.

PLSQ Trophy Winners
Season Teams PLSQ Champions
League winners 		Coupe PLSQ
Cup winners
2012 5 FC St-Léonard —
2013 7 CS Mont-Royal Outremont CS Mont-Royal Outremont
2014 6 CS Longueuil FC Gatineau
2015 7 CS Mont-Royal Outremont Lakeshore SC
2016 7 CS Mont-Royal Outremont AS Blainville
2017 7 AS Blainville AS Blainville
2018 8 AS Blainville FC Lanaudière
2019 9 AS Blainville CS Fabrose
2020[note 1] 6[note 2] AS Blainville —
2021 10[note 3] CS Mont-Royal Outremont —

Format[edit]

Depending on the number of teams in the league, teams will play every other team between 2-4 times per season, for a length of usually between 15 and 20 games. The winner gets the regular season championship. At the end of the year, there is a League Cup, called the Coupe PLSQ, which began in 2013. The format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league.[20] The most recent Cup competition featured nine teams, where three groups of three teams were formed. The winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals.

Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.

Men's Division[edit]

Current clubs[edit]

The following twelve teams are members of the league for the 2022 season:

Team City Stadium Joined Head Coach[21]
Current teams
A.S. Blainville Blainville, Laurentides Parc Blainville 2012 France Emmanuel Macagno
Celtix du Haut-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montérégie Stade Alphonse-Desjardins 2020 Canada David Sauvry
CS Lanaudière-Nord[note 4] Joliette, Lanaudière 2012/2022
AS Laval[note 5] Laval, Laval Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne 2019 Canada Billy Zagakos
FC Laval[note 6] Laval, Laval Parc Cartier 2018 Canada Boubacar Coulibaly
CS Longueuil Longueuil, Montérégie Centre Multi-Sport 2014 Canada François Bourgeais
CF Montréal Réserve Montréal, Montréal CF Montréal training grounds 2022
CS Mont-Royal Outremont Mount Royal, Montréal Parc Recreatif de TMR 2013 Canada Luc Brutus
CS Saint-Laurent Saint-Laurent, Montreal 2022 Canada Nicolas Razzaghi
CS St-Hubert Saint-Hubert, Montérégie Centre Sportif Roseanne-Laflamme 2017 Canada Nasson Theosmy
Ottawa South United Ottawa, Ontario George Nelms Sports Park 2020 Canada Chris Roth
Royal-Sélect de Beauport Beauport, Quebec City Centre Sportif Marc-Simoneau 2021 Canada Samir Ghrib
  1. ^ The season was cancelled before its conclusion, with the final standings determined on a points earned per game basis
  2. ^ Originally 9 clubs were set to participate, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, three clubs withdrew from the season
  3. ^ Ottawa South United withdrew midway through the season due to provincial government and cross-border restrictions, with 9 teams finishing the season
  4. ^ CS Lanaudière-Nord was known as FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière from 2012 to 2015. Departed league after 2015, returned in 2022
  5. ^ AS Laval was known as CS Monteuil until the 2021 season
  6. ^ FC Laval was known as CS Fabrose until the 2020 season
Première Ligue de soccer du Québec is located in Southern Quebec
Blainville
Blainville
Celtix
Celtix
FC Laval
FC Laval
AS Laval
AS Laval
Lanaudière-Nord
Lanaudière-Nord
Longueuil
Longueuil
CF Montréal
CF Montréal
Mont-Royal
Mont-Royal
St-Hubert
St-Hubert
Ottawa
Ottawa
Beauport
Beauport
Saint-Laurent
Saint-Laurent
Locations of current (red) and future (green) clubs.



Former clubs[edit]

Club City Stadium Joined Left
Former teams
FC Boisbriand Boisbriand, Laurentides Parc Régional 640 2012 2013
FC Brossard Brossard, Montérégie Parc Illinois 2012 2013
FC St-Léonard St Leonard, Montreal Stade Hébert 2012 2013
ACP Montréal-Nord Montréal-Nord, Montreal Parc Saint-Laurent 2014 2014
FC Lanaudière Terrebonne, Lanaudière Centre de Soccer Multifonctionnel de Terrebonne 2016 2021
Lakeshore SC Kirkland, Montréal John Abbott College 2015 2016
Ottawa Fury FC Academy Ottawa, Ontario Algonquin College 2015 2016
FC Gatineau Gatineau, Outaouais Terrain Mont-Bleu 2013 2019
Dynamo de Quebec Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale Polyvalente L'Ancienne-Lorette 2017 2019

Timeline[edit]

Women's Division[edit]

PLSQ Women's Trophy Winners
Season Teams PLSQ Champions
League winners 		Coupe PLSQ
Cup winners
2018 5 Dynamo de Québec —
2019 6 CS Monteuil —
2020 4[note 1] AS Blainville —
2021 10 AS Blainville AS Blainville

Current clubs[edit]

The following eleven teams are members of the league for the 2022 season:






Team City Stadium Joined Head coach[22]
Current teams
AS Blainville Blainville, Laurentides Parc Blainville 2018 Canada Jean-Lou Gosselin
AS Chaudière-Ouest Lévis 2022
Pierrefonds FC Lac St-Louis, Montreal 2020 Portugal Carlos Carvalho
Celtix du Haut-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montérégie Stade Alphonse-Desjardins 2021 Canada Julian Labalec
AS Laval[note 2] Laval, Laval Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne 2018 Canada Amro Radwan
FC Laval[note 3] Laval, Laval Parc Cartier 2019 Canada Angelo Jean-Baptiste
CS Longueuil Longueuil, Montérégie Parc Laurier 2020 Canada Gilbert Bayiha
CS Mont-Royal Outremont Mount Royal, Montréal Parc Recreatif de TMR 2019 Canada George-Éric Painson
CS St-Hubert Saint-Hubert, Montérégie Centre Sportif Roseanne-Laflamme 2020 Canada Cindy Walsh
Ottawa South United Ottawa, Ontario George Nelms Sports Park 2020 Canada Anthony Vassallo
Royal-Sélect de Beauport Beauport, Quebec City Centre Sportif Marc-Simoneau 2021 Canada Michel Fischer
Première Ligue de soccer du Québec is located in Southern Quebec
Blainville
Blainville
Longueuil
Longueuil
FC Laval
FC Laval
Celtix
Celtix
AS Laval
AS Laval
Mont-Royal
Mont-Royal
Ottawa
Ottawa
St-Hubert
St-Hubert
Pierrefonds
Pierrefonds
Beauport
Beauport
Chaudière-Ouest
Chaudière-Ouest
Locations of current (red) and future (green) clubs.


Former clubs[edit]

Club City Stadium Joined Left
Former teams
Dynamo de Quebec Quebec City, Capitale-Nationale ESLE 2018 2019
FC Sélect Rive-Sud Longueuil, Montérégie Centre Multi Sport 2018 2019
Lakers du Lac Saint-Louis Lachine, Montréal Dollard 2 2018 2018

Timeline[edit]

Players who earned national team caps while in the PLSQ[edit]

The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in the PLSQ (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in the PLSQ are not included.

Player Country Year Ref
Armel Dagrou  Burundi 2014 [23]
Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin  Mauritius 2016 [24]
Zohib Islam Amiri  Afghanistan 2019 [25]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Originally 8 clubs were set to participate, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, four clubs withdrew from the season
  2. ^ AS Laval was known as CS Monteuil until the 2021 season
  3. ^ FC Laval was known as CS Fabrose until the 2020 season

References[edit]

  1. ^ "League 1 kicks off Ontario soccer season, offering a chance to rise up the ranks". chatnewstoday.ca. Canadian Press. April 28, 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2019. League 1 Ontario and the PLSQ league in Quebec are sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as Division 3 leagues.
  2. ^ Chenoix, Eric. "L'avant 1911" [Before 1911]. Viau Park (in French).
  3. ^ a b c "Retour d'une ligue semi-pro" [Return of a semi-pro league]. Ici Radio-Canada Télé. August 30, 2011.
  4. ^ Phillips, Randy (May 9, 1992). "New league groups best in Quebec". Newspapers.com. Montreal Gazette. p. 71. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  5. ^ "Roundup Overtime". Newspapers.com. The Leader-Post. January 7, 1993. p. 11. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  6. ^ "25 Sep 1993, 75 - The Gazette at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "2001 - May 20 - Expanded CPSL set to kickoff". Canadian Professional Soccer League. December 24, 2001. Archived from the original on December 24, 2001. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  8. ^ "La Première ligue voit le jour" [The Premier League is born]. Le Journal de Montréal (in French). April 3, 2012.
  9. ^ Gauthier, Audrey (October 15, 2012). "FC Saint-Léonard, champions" [Saint-Léonard FC, champions]. Métro (in French).
  10. ^ "Toute une saison inaugurale!" [A whole inaugural season!]. Métro (in French). November 7, 2013.
  11. ^ "OSA announces League1 Ontario teams". Ontario Soccer Association. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  12. ^ "OSA and QSF announce Division 3 Inter-Provincial Cup final". Ontario Soccer Association. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  13. ^ "Fury FC Academy and the Premier League de Soccer du Quebec". Bytown Boys. May 1, 2015.
  14. ^ Tierney, Mitchell (March 9, 2017). "Report: Provincial Champions to Play in Voyageurs Cup as Early as 2018". Waking the Red. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  15. ^ O'Neill, Paméla (January 11, 2018). "Une première saison de PLSQ féminine!" [A first season of women's PLSQ!]. Viau Park (in French).
  16. ^ "COVID-19: Report du Début de la Saison" [COVID-19: Postponement of Early Season]. PLSQ (in French). March 25, 2020.
  17. ^ "La Première ligue de soccer du Québec lancera bientôt sa saison" [The Premier league of Quebec soccer will launch its season soon]. RDS (in French). July 13, 2020.
  18. ^ "COVID-19 : Mise à Jour Du 29 Septembre 2020" [COVID-19: Update September 29, 2020]. Quebec Soccer Federation (in French). September 29, 2020.
  19. ^ Gray, Shawn (January 31, 2017). "Quebec's 3rd Division". Northern Starting XI.
  20. ^ "À Propos De La Coupe PLSQ" [About the PLSQ Cup]. RDS (in French).
  21. ^ Tour des clubs de PLSQ masculine 2021 [2021 Men's PLSQ Club Tour]. Just eSoccer (in French). YouTube. February 15, 2021.
  22. ^ Le tour des clubs de PLSQ féminine 2021. Just eSoccer. YouTube. March 6, 2021.
  23. ^ Ducharme, Jean-François (September 15, 2014). "Un Citadin au Burundi" [A Citizen in Burundi]. Université du Québec à Montréal (in French).
  24. ^ "Kevin Dean Chan-Yu-Tin (Lakeshore SC): L'international Mauricien" [Kevin Dean Chan-Yu-Tin (Lakeshore SC): The International Mauritius]. Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. March 20, 2017.
  25. ^ Rialdi, Irwan Febri (November 8, 2021). "3 Bintang Timnas Afghanistan yang Perlu Diwaspadai, Ada Eks Persib Bandung" [3 Stars of the Afghan National Team to Watch Out for]. Bola Times (in Indonesian).


External links[edit]

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