League1 Ontario 2022 Season Schedule Drops
By The 2022 League1 Ontario men’s season schedule has been released – and it’s a juicy one.
The regular season of the semi-professional league will run from April to August, with each of the twenty-two teams set to play 21 regular season matches over an 18 week spring-to-summer period.
A newly-ratified playoff format is set to take place this year, with the top six teams of the table advancing to the postseason stage. Here the top two teams will get a bye to the semi-finals (August 27 or 28), while the third-to-sixth-placed teams will go through a play-in round.
The League1 Ontario Championship final will take place on Saturday, September 3rd at the Ontario Soccer Centre, with the winner also earning a berth to the 2023 Canadian Championship.
Last season saw newcomers Guelph United lay claim to the throne, with this year seeing ambitious expansion sides Simcoe County Rovers, Electric City FC, and Burlington SC try to do the same.
This season has significant ramifications for all involved: with promotion and relegation set to arrive in 2024, points earned both this season and next will determine which division each club will be placed into when the 2024 League1 Ontario season begins.
Related: Seven Things To Know About The League1 Ontario Restructure
New Peterborough-based expansion side Electric City FC will spark off the men’s season with an away trip away to current champions Guelph United. The women’s season will kick off with a newly-minted NDC-Ontario side the Woodbridge Strikers on April 22.
Each week will see League1 Ontario stream a match live on YouTube, where an archive of every match of the season will also be hosted.
This year also marks the inaugural League1 BC season, which will run from from May 22 to July 24. The semi-professional British Columbian league is hoping to replicate the success seen by League1 Ontario, and hopes to have an entrant in the Canadian Championship one day, too.
With the 2022 League1 Ontario season to be one of the league’s most action-packed seasons yet, it’ll be interesting to see how the province’s pathway-to-professional-football continues to forge ahead.