2020 League1 Ontario season (women)
| Season | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 25 – August 16 (planned) |
← 2019 2021 → | |
The 2020 Women's League1 Ontario season was supposed to be the sixth season of play for League1 Ontario (L1O), a Division 3 women's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario.
On March 20, 2020, L1O postponed the start of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] On June 6, 2020, the league announced the cancellation of the "summer season" while also mentioning the possibility of returning in September 2020 for a shortened "fall season",[2] though this was later ruled out.[3]
Format
For the regular season, each team would have played every other team once for a total of 12 matches. The playoff format would have included the top 8 teams, facing each other over 3 rounds, with the difference that the games will now be played over a single leg, instead of two.
League1 Ontario and the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec had planned to hold a Final Four end-of-season tournament for the women's divisions, from August 14 to 16, pitting the top two sides from each league in an inter-provincial playoff.[4]
The L1O season was scheduled to start on April 25, and end with the Playoffs Final on August 8, with the L1O-PLSQ series scheduled for August 14 to 16.[4]
Clubs
The women's division consists of 13 teams, an decrease from 14 teams in 2019. North Toronto Nitros added a women's team for the first time, while Ottawa South United moved to the PLSQ[5] and DeRo United FC did not return. Durham United FA re-branded as Pickering FC.
The following clubs were set to participate in the league prior to the season's cancellation.
| Team | City | Principal stadium |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance United FC | Markham | Mount Joy & Centennial College |
| Aurora FC | Aurora | Stewart Burnett Park |
| Darby FC | Whitby | Whitby Soccer Centre & Darlington Field |
| Hamilton United | Hamilton | Ron Joyce Stadium & Tim Hortons Field |
| FC Oshawa | Oshawa | Civic Stadium |
| FC London | London | German Canadian Club |
| North Mississauga SC | Mississauga | Paramount Fine Foods Centre |
| North Toronto Nitros | Toronto | Downsview Turf |
| Oakville Blue Devils | Oakville | Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium |
| Pickering FC | Pickering | Kinsmen Park |
| Unionville Milliken SC | Markham | Azzurri Village & Mount Joy |
| Vaughan Azzurri | Vaughan | North Maple Regional Park |
| Woodbridge Strikers | Vaughan | Vaughan Grove |
Reserve Division
After introducing the Reserve Division during the 2019 men's season, it was set to be added to the women's division for the 2020 season. All of the clubs in L1O would be required to field a club in the division, while some other Ontario soccer clubs who did not have a team in the league were invited to field teams in the U21 Reserve division.[6]
References
- ^ "League1 Ontario postpones start of 2020 season over COVID-19 concerns". League1 Ontario. March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ "League1 Ontario cancels 'Summer' season due to COVID-19, eyes Fall restart". Canadian Premier League. June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
- ^ a b "2020 L1O schedule: Condensed seasons & revamped championships for men's, women's". League1 Ontario. March 5, 2020.
- ^ "Three New Teams Join 2020 League1 Ontario Men's And Women's Divisions". League1 Ontario. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- ^ "League1 Ontario Reserve groups".