Alliance United FC
Canadian soccer team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alliance United Futbol Club was a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Markham and Scarborough, Ontario. It fielded teams in both the men's and women's divisions of League1 Ontario.
| |
| Full name | Alliance United Futbol Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| Dissolved | January 9, 2026 |
| Stadium | Varsity Stadium |
| League | League1 Ontario |
| 2025 | L1O-P, 3rd (men) L1O-P, 10th (relegated) (women) |
| Website | https://allianceunited.club/ |
The club was founded in 2017 to compete in League1 Ontario, originally as a partnership between two youth clubs - Markham FC and Wexford SC. It then became a partnership between Markham FC and Toronto High Park FC.
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 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 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]
In November 2023, the club became a joint partnership between Markham FC and Toronto High Park FC, with Wexford leaving the program.[7]
History
Alliance United joined the men's division of League1 Ontario for the 2018 season.[8] They played their inaugural match on April 29, 2018 against North Mississauga SC at home, which they lost by a score of 1–0.[9] They finished in 7th place in their debut season.[10] 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,[11] thereby having to rely on many youth players instead.[12]
In 2019, the club added a team in the League1 Ontario women's division.[13] 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.[14] 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,[14] where they finished in 3rd place, following a defeat to PLSQ side AS Laval in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals,[15][16] before defeating League1 British Columbia side Varsity FC in the third-place match in another penalty shootout.[17] In 2023, after finishing 4th in the regular season, they won the women's league championship defeating NDC Ontario in the playoff final.[18][19]
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.[20] On July 29, 2023, they recorded their largest victory, defeating Unionville Milliken SC by a score of 13-1.[21] In 2024, the men's second team won the inaugural third tier League2 Ontario title, earning promotion to the second tier League1 Ontario Championship.[22] However, they chose to decline the promotion to remain in League2 Ontario for 2025.[23]
In January 2026, it was announced that the club sold their League1 Ontario license to International FC, ending their participation in League1 Onatrio.[24]
Seasons
Men
| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | League1 Ontario | 17 | 7–3–6 | 7th | Group Stage | Preliminary Round | [25] |
| 2019 | 16 | 11–3–1 | 3rd | Semi-finals | – | [25] | |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[26] | ||||||
| 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 | – | ||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Premier | 12 | 8–6–8 | 6th | – | Round of 16 | |
| 2025 | 11 | 10–5–5 | 3rd | – | Round of 32 | ||
Women
| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Interprovinical Championship | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | League1 Ontario | 14 | 6–2–5 | 7th | Quarter-finals | – | – | [27] |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[26] | |||||||
| 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 | |
| 2025 | 10 | 1–7–10 | 10th ↓ | – | Finalists | 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:
Men
Women
Jade Vyfhuis
