Première Ligue de soccer du Québec

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec
Country Canada
Confederation CONCACAF
Founded 2012
Divisions 1
Number of teams 7
Level on pyramid 3
Promotion to None
Relegation to None
League cup(s) Coupe de la Ligue
Current champions Mont-Royal Outremont
(2015)
Current Cup champions Lakeshore
(2015)
TV partners RDS.ca (Webdiffusion)
Website Première Ligue de soccer du Québec website
2016 PLSQ season

The Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a professional soccer league created in 2012 and organized by the Quebec Soccer Federation, the third tier of the Canadian soccer pyramid. The Canadian Soccer Association relies on provincial soccer organizations to sanction regional leagues at the tier 3 level behind NASL and MLS and stands alongside League1 Ontario and United Soccer League. The league commissioner is Kambiz Ebadi.

History

Before the Second World War, soccer was more of a fringe activity than today; however, the best clubs in Quebec were determined in a provincial championship with the winner facing his Ontario counterpart for the title of the "National League". All the players were not amateurs; in 1934, for example, 27 professionals were identified in Quebec. The war brought a halt to Quebec's semi-professional soccer league development.

Mass immigration of quality players and ambitious leaders in the 1950s allowed Quebec to have many semi-professional teams, and even some professional clubs until the early 1960s. Organizational and competitive disagreements including unhealthy rivalries coupled with slowing immigration reduced the number of skilled young local players taking over from their predecessors. The player pool shrank.

Beginning in 1986, the semi-professional LNSQ (National Soccer League Quebec), stirred passions by creating very good memories. However, at that time the pool of players was not large enough to allow the LNSQ to survive alongside a professional team. The arrival of the Montreal Supra, with all the best players and a much greater media profile was fatal to the fledgling league which lost its splendour before giving way to today’s LSEQ .

In 2011 there are 200,000 players, 300 clubs, 25,000 coaches, 7,000 officials, 50,000 volunteers: soccer is by far the most practised sport in Quebec, and is experiencing unparalleled popularity throughout the province.

The organization of soccer in Quebec has changed dramatically with the recent competitions reform conducted by the Federation helping to modernize and stabilize the soccer pyramid, but also to considerably raise standards.

For several years, the senior level teams of the LSEQ (Quebec Elite Soccer League) inquired about a semi-professional competition.

The amount of coaches’ development in recent years has led to a major breakthrough in the availability of quality training offered to young participants.

Thanks to the structure of the club set up, the National Centre for High-Performance (NTC), and the academy youth teams of Montreal Impact, the number of top players developed in Quebec has increased sharply.

Challenges of the past are no longer as applicable, and it is hoped the PLSQ will facilitate transitioning between the club set up and amateur LSEQ to Impact de Montreal. Also the profile of Montreal Impact will grow with its 2012 entrance to Division 1 Major League Soccer (MLS). As a result of its promotion, it is much more important for Montreal Impact to develop its own young talent and offer attractive opportunities to players that previously would have moved to Europe.[1]

Format

Seven teams play an 18-game season. The winner gets the regular season championship. At the end of the year, there is a League Cup where the top six teams participate by separating the teams in two groups of three, with the top team in each group making it to the final. The final is played at a neutral venue.[2]

Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.

Teams

Current clubs

The following seven teams will take part in the 2016 season:

Blainville
Celtix
Gatineau
Lakeshore
Lanaudière
Longueuil
Mont-Royal
Fury Acad.
Dynamo
Locations of current (red) and future (green) clubs.

Future clubs

The following teams are expected to join the league:

Former clubs

Notable players

Players in Bold are currently playing for PLSQ clubs.

Season standings

2012 season - Le classement général

Overall
Pos Team GP W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 FC St-Léonard 16 8 4 4 34 25 +9 28
2 FC L'Assomption 16 7 4 5 34 26 +8 25
3 AS Blainville 16 6 2 8 26 35 -9 20
4 FC Brossard 16 5 4 7 26 28 - 2 19
5 FC Boisbriand 16 4 6 6 22 28 -6 18

Last updated: October 14, 2013 [5]

2013 season - Le classement général

The 2013 season of 63 fixtures started April 28 and ended on September 29.

All games were to be streamed online.[6][7]

Overall
Pos Team GP W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 CS Mont-Royal Outremont 18 11 4 3 3813 +2537
2 FC St-Léonard 18 113 4 32 11+2136
3 FC Brossard 18 10 1 7 32 31 +1 31
4 FC Gatineau 18 82 8 28 25+326
5 FC L'Assomption 1872 9 25 24+1 23
6 AS Blainville 185 5 8 24 28-4 20
7 FC Boisbriand 18 21 15 15 62-47 5

Last updated: October 14, 2013 [8]

2014 season

Main article :2014 Première Ligue de soccer du Québec season
The 2014 season will see the addition of a Cup competition.

2014 League Standings
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1 CS Longueuil (C) 20 10 9 1 49 23 +26 39
2 FC Gatineau 20 8 9 3 34 23 +11 33
3 CS Mont-Royal Outremont 20 9 5 6 48 34 +14 32
4 FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière 20 8 3 9 35 42 7 27
5 AS Blainville 20 4 3 13 37 51 14 15
6 ACP Montréal-Nord 20 4 5 11 26 56 30 17

Updated to games played on 12-Oct-2014.
Source: http://www.tsisports.ca/soccer/ligueElite/l_classam.aspx
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Exhibition games

2015 season

2015 League Standings
Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1 CS Mont-Royal Outremont (C) 18 11 3 4 44 24 +20 36
2 Lakeshore SC 18 10 5 3 36 21 +15 35
3 AS Blainville 18 8 6 4 32 26 +6 30
4 CS Longueuil 18 7 5 6 27 28 1 26
5 Ottawa Fury Academy FC 18 6 0 12 23 32 9 18
6 FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière 18 5 2 11 32 41 9 17
7 FC Gatineau 18 4 3 11 24 46 22 15

Updated to games played on 18-Oct-2015.
Source: http://www.plsq.ca/fr/publication/nouvelle/sept_equipes_amorceront_la_saison_2015_en_premiere_ligue_de_soccer_du_quebec.html
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

References

  1. La Federation De Soccer Du Quebec. "Historique". plsq.ca. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. "Le Fc Gatineau Et Le Cs Mont-Royal Outremont Joignent Les Rangs De La Première Ligue De Soccer Du Québec. - La Première Ligue De Soccer Du Québec". Premiereliguedesoccerduquebec.ca. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  3. "PLSQ on Twitter". twitter.com. PLSQ. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. "Quebec joins the PLSQ". PLSQ. PLSQ. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. La Federation De Soccer Du Quebec. "PREMIÈRE LIGUE de Soccer du Québec". Gol Network. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  6. "Tous Les Matchs De La Première Ligue De Soccer Du Québec Seront Webdiffusés En Direct - La Première Ligue De Soccer Du Québec". Premiereliguedesoccerduquebec.ca. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  7. TVA Interactif. "Deux équipes de plus - TVA Sports" (in French). Tvasports.ca. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  8. La Federation De Soccer Du Quebec. "Le classement général". plsq.ca. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
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