League2 Ontario Gets Dutch Touch With New Club

League2 Ontario announced yesterday that their newest expansion side will see football connect the cities of Scarborough and Amsterdam.

Dutch Connections FC, an academy founded in 2011 by former footballers Jorg van Nieuwenhuijzen and Andrew Ornoch, boasts over 900 players and seeks to unite Toronto’s east-end behind their community-focused club.

“We are very excited to have created another opportunity for our DCFC players, and players throughout Scarborough, to continue on their careers after youth soccer to compete against the best in Ontario without leaving their community,” said Ornoch, who is also the club owner. He added that ‘there are so many talented players in Scarborough that just need an opportunity… we hope this provides them with that opportunity.’

DCFC plans to run a men’s squad in League2 as well as a reserve side in L1O’s revamped reserve division. Unfortunately, much like the Sudbury Cyclones, the club will hold back on fielding a women’s team for the foreseeable future, stating simply that they have ‘a longer-term ambition of creating an L1O women’s team.’

Joining the club for 2024 and beyond is the former Manager of Football Operations with Cavalry FC and President of Electric City FC, Rob Jenkins, as Project Lead, bringing his experience in professional and semi-pro soccer operations to DCFC.

This announcement comes a year after Jenkins’ quiet yet seemingly less-than-mutual termination from his previous club, Electric City, as reported on by Northern Tribune back in 2022.

Speaking on the expansion, Matthew Braithwaite, Managing Director of League1 Ontario, said that the league was impressed by the club’s vision.

“Dutch Connections came to us with lots of ambition and enthusiasm to own an L1O team, as well as solid groundwork on which to build a new club for the community.”

The club also announced that in its bid to be a piece of the Scarborough community fabric, Jenkins, Ornoch, and other community owners will be using their license to form a new club with its own identity. Whether this new identity will maintain the famous Dutch ‘oranje’ is still unknown.

A launch event will be held in Scarborough in late November to unveil said identity, crest, colours, and more details regarding the club’s 2024 plans, with information to be posted to DCFC’s website and social media channels.