It’s Official: PLSQ Becomes Ligue1 Quebec

It is the announcement fans of League1 Canada have been waiting for: the Premiere Ligue de Soccer du Quebec has officially changed its name and branding. The new name: Ligue1 Québec.

The oldest league within League1 Canada, the name and brand change were already made aware last year when the League1 Canada alliance was created. However, such adjustments were not going to occur until the 2023 season.

In a press release, League1 Canada president Dino Rossi considers this change to be ‘nother significant moment in the development of League1 Canada.’

The interim Director-General of Soccer Quebec, Olivier Plante elaborated:

“It’s great news for soccer to see the three pro-am leagues in the country come together under the same identity to lead development efforts in the same direction. More than ever, we need to work together for a strong soccer structure from the grassroots to the elite.”

The league’s Twitter page pointed out that the season schedule will be released in the coming days. It was revealed on Tuesday that the campaign will get underway the weekend of May 6. The same 12 teams from last year in both the men’s and women’s divisions are set to take part again this year.

No format change is expected either, with the league champion on the men’s side partaking in the 2024 Canadian Championship. The winner on the women’s side will play in this summer’s League1 Canada Interprovincial Championship in Vancouver. In 2022, the inaugural edition was won by L1 Quebec side AS Blainville last year.

The announcement comes the day after the 2022 league champions FC Laval fell 3-0 to Forge FC in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championship.

There’s a lot going on in the League 1 Canada fold: last week, the League1 Ontario season got underway with promotion and relegation on the horizon; League 1 BC commences its second year of action next week, and earlier this week League 1 Alberta released their schedule for the summer exhibition series.

Finally, Dino Rossi and company went out to Halifax and Moncton a couple of weeks ago to present to interested parties about starting a League1 Atlantic. With all of that said, the Ligue1 Quebec announcement just adds to the continued excitement that is occurring at the third tier level in Canada.