Unionville Milliken Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Unionville, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its women's and men's semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in 2017 and 2018 respectively.[1][2]
 | |
| Full name | Unionville Milliken Soccer Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | UMSC Strikers |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Stadium | Ontario Soccer Centre |
| Head Coach | Filipe Bento (men) Paul Omoghan (women) |
| League | League1 Ontario |
| 2024 | L1O-C, 4th (men) L1O-C, 6th (women) |
| Website | https://www.u-msc.com/ |
History
editThe club was founded in 1976 to serve the communities of Unionville and Milliken in Ontario.[3]
Originally a youth soccer club, the team added semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in the women's division in 2017, followed by a men's team in 2018.[4] In their inaugural season, the women's team finished in 4th place.[5] Unionville announced that their club would go with a fully professional model, as opposed to an amateur or semi-professional approach, becoming the second fully professional team in the league, after Toronto FC III.[6]
The men's team was formed through a partnership with York Region Shooters, who played in the Canadian Soccer League until 2017, to form a professional club in L1O to begin in 2018, created through the relationship of Shooters' owner Tony De Thomasis and UMSC coach Filipe Bento.[7] They played their inaugural match on April 29, 2018 against Windsor TFC,[8] which resulted in a 3–1 victory.[9] In 2022, the women's reserve team won the League1 Ontario Reserve Division.[10]
Seasons
editMen
edit| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | League1 Ontario | 17 | 6–5–5 | 8th | Group stage | Round of 16 | [11] |
| 2019 | 16 | 3–3–9 | 12th | Did not qualify | – | [11] | |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[12] | ||||||
| 2021 | 15 | 5–2–5 | 4th, East (8th overall) | Did not qualify | – | [11] | |
| 2022 | 22 | 4–2–15 | 20th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2023 | 21 | 1–1–18 | 20th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Championship | 10 | 9–3–6 | 4th | – | Round of 32 | |
Women
edit| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | League1 Ontario | 11 | 10–3–7 | 4th | – | Quarter-finals | [13] |
| 2018 | 13 | 5–3–4 | 8th | Did not qualify | Finalists | [13] | |
| 2019 | 14 | 5–5–4 | 11th | Did not qualify | – | [13] | |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[12] | ||||||
| 2021 | League1 Ontario Summer Championship | 7 | 2–1–3 | 5th | – | – | [13] |
| 2022 | League1 Ontario | 20 | 7–1–10 | 14th | Did not qualify | – | |
| 2023 | 19 | 7–0–11 | 13th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Championship | 10 | 6–6–6 | 6th | – | Round of 32 | |
Notable former players
editThe following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:
Men
edit
Women
edit
References
edit- ^ Cudmore, John (December 21, 2017). "League1 expansion focus zooms in on Unionville, Markham entries". Markham Economist & Sun.
- ^ Cudmore, John (May 2, 2017). "Aurora, Unionville-Milliken women kick off League1 season". Aurora Banner.
- ^ "About UMSC". Unionville Milliken SC.
- ^ "Significant expansion planned for League1 Ontario". League1 Ontario. December 20, 2017.
- ^ Anstee, James (June 15, 2022). "A Bluffer's Guide to Unionville Milliken". League1 Ontario.
- ^ Baldwin, Dan (April 27, 2018). "League 1 Ontario 2018 Preview". Northern Starting XI.
- ^ "Unionville Milliken Men To Spotlight Pro Model, Community Roots, In Debut Season". League1 Ontario. April 16, 2018.
- ^ Parker, Jim (April 28, 2018). "Windsor TFC soccer team has a new focus this season". Windsor Star.
- ^ "Game 1: Unionville with the Win Over Windsor". Unionville Milliken SC. October 17, 2018.
- ^ "Unionville Milliken and Simcoe County Rovers win reserve titles". League1 Ontario. August 8, 2022.
- ^ a b c "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
- ^ a b "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.