League1 Ontario Releases 2023 Season Schedule
By This morning, League1 Ontario released the full schedule for its men’s and women’s Premier Division for the 2023 season.
Entering its ninth year on the men’s side and eighth in the women’s, the league is set for what will likely be the biggest season ever.
It is worth repeating that all points accumulated in the regular season will go towards determining the twelve men’s teams and ten women’s teams to be allotted in their respective premier division next season, with the rest of the teams going into lower tiers.
Three quarters of the points earned in the 2022 regular season will be carried over to a cumulative table including results from last year to decide who stays up top and who drops down.
See Also: Here’s Where League1 Ontario Clubs Stand Ahead Of Promotion And Relegation
There are 21 men’s clubs and 19 women’s teams that will be partaking in this year’s competition. Pickering FC pulled out of the competition as they could not find a club partner. The format remains identical to last year, where every team will face each other once each. The schedule is the exact reverse to a year ago, leaving teams who faced a certain opponent at home in 2022, will take them away this year, and vice versa.
Defending men’s champions Vaughan Azzurri will kick off the new campaign on Thursday 13 April as they host North Toronto Nitros. The next day, North Mississauga and Burlington SC squares off. The remaining games that week are as follows:
Saturday – Hamilton United Elite vs Sigma, Electric City vs Scrosoppi, Alliance United vs St. Catharines Roma Wolves, Darby vs Woodbridge Strikers
Sunday – Unionville Milliken vs Windsor City, Blue Devils vs Guelph United, BVB IA Waterloo vs Simcoe County Rovers, Prostars vs Masters
FC London will be off the first weekend, travelling to St. Catharines on Sunday 23 April to face the Roma Wolves.
The men’s regular season will end on 19 August, with four games slated for that day.
The repeat of last year’s final will take place on Sunday, August 13as the Blue Devils will host Vaughan Azzurri. The latter triumphed 5-1 last September in the showpiece event, qualifying for this year’s Canadian Championship. The Azzurri will head to Montreal to face CF Montreal in the first round of this year’s tournament.
The women’s season will get underway on Friday, April 21 with two games: Darby will welcome Tecumseh, while last year’s playoff champions NDC Ontario hostsSt. Catharines Roma Wolves. The 2022 regular season winners Vaughan Azzurri will cap off the first weekend of play on the Sunday as they travel to Unionville Milliken. The remaining games are:
Saturday – Simcoe County Rovers vs Guelph United, BVB IA Waterloo vs FC London, Alliance United vs Woodbridge Strikers, Hamilton United Elite vs Electric City
Sunday – Burlington SC vs North Toronto Nitros, Pro Stars vs North Mississauga
The Blue Devils will be idle during the first weekend of play. Their season will get underway on 30 April when they host North Mississauga.
NDC Ontario hosts Alliance on 7 July, marking the repeat of last year’s final. NDC won that game 3-1. The regular season will end on 23 July with two games on tap.
This will be an exciting year for League1 Ontario and the last before promotion and relegation comes into play in 2024. It will be an intense race over the next few months to determine who will stay in the Premier Division a year on from now.