![]() | |||
Full name | Blue Devils Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Founded | 2015 | ||
Stadium | Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium | ||
President | Steven Caldwell[1] | ||
Head coach | Duncan Wilde (men) Carli Tingstad (women) | ||
League | League1 Ontario | ||
2023 | League, 4th; Playoffs, SF (men) League, 11th; Playoffs, DNQ (women) | ||
Website | Club website | ||
| |||
Blue Devils Football Club (formerly known as Oakville Blue Devils FC) is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakville, Ontario. The senior men's and women's teams currently compete in League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions.[2][3]
History
[edit]Past teams of same name
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Oakville_BD_original.gif)
The original Oakville Blue Devils was a member team of the Oakville Soccer Club. The team was built, coached and developed by Phil Iafrati (1947–2013),[4] where they won the U19 provincial and national championships in 1998.[5] As the Devils reached the end of the youth soccer circuit that season, Iafrati restarted the program with the a U9 program Oakville Blue Stars in 1999.[6]
In 2005, the second edition of the Blue Devils were formed when the Scarborough-based Metro Lions of the Canadian Professional Soccer League relocated to Oakville and adopted the Blue Devils name,[5] coached by Duncan Wilde.[7] They won the 2005 season defeating Vaughan Shooters in the final.[8] In 2006, Wilde left to manage the Toronto Lynx, which resulted in a mass exodus of players not returning. [9] The club was relocated in 2007 and became Brampton United, bringing to an end the period of the Oakville Blue Devils history.[4]
Revival
[edit]In 2015, the club was founded to play in the semi-professional League1 Ontario, named after the original team from prior years.[4] The Toronto Lynx men's senior team was incorporated into the Oakville team[10] and in late 2017, the teams merged completely under Oakville's umbrella.[11] In their inaugural L1O season, they were crowned league champions and qualified for the Inter-Provincial Cup against the champion of the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec to determine the Canadian Division III champion, where they defeated CS Mont-Royal Outremont to win the title.[12] In 2017, they won their second title, defeating Woodbridge Strikers in the Championship final on penalty kicks.[13]
In 2018, the team played in the Canadian Championship for the first time where they lost in the first qualifying round against 2017 PLSQ champion AS Blainville.[14][15][16][17] Later, during the 2018 season, they played a friendly against Italian professional Serie A club Frosinone Calcio, losing by a score of 2–0.[18][19][20]
Also in 2018, the club added a team in the women's division of League1 Ontario, beginning in the 2018 season.[21][22] In their second season, the women advanced to the Championship Final, where they were defeated by FC London.[23] In 2021, the women once again finished as runner-ups after being defeated in the finals by the Woodbridge Strikers.[23]
In 2020, the club merged with GPS Academy and was renamed to Blue Devils FC.[24] The men finished as runner-ups in both 2021 and 2022, being defeated in the Championship Finals by Guelph United FC and Vaughan Azzurri, respectively.[23]
Front office and technical Staff
[edit]- As of July 18, 2018[25]
Name | Position |
---|---|
![]() |
League1 head coach |
![]() |
U21 head coach and senior assistant coach |
![]() |
Goalkeeper coach |
![]() |
President |
![]() |
Technical staff |
![]() |
Operations manager |
Squad
[edit]- As of 16 April 2023[26]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Seasons
[edit]Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Canadian Championship | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | League1 Ontario | 12 | 17–2–3 | Champions | – | Group stage | – | [27] |
2016 | 16 | 8–4–10 | 6th, Western (10th overall) | did not qualify | First round | – | [27] | |
2017 | 16 | 18–2–2 | 1st, Western (1st overall) | Champions | First round | – | [27] | |
2018 | 17 | 10–5–1 | 3rd | Group stage | Semifinals | First qualifying round | [27] | |
2019 | 16 | 12–2–1 | 1st | Semifinals | – | Did not qualify | [27] | |
2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[28] | |||||||
2021 | 15 | 9–2–1 | 2nd, West (3rd overall) | Finalists | – | Did not qualify | [27] | |
2022 | 22 | 14–5–2 | 2nd | Finalists | – | Did not qualify | ||
2023 | 21 | 12–3–5 | 4th | Semi-finals | – | Did not qualify |
Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | League1 Ontario | 13 | 7–1–4 | 5th | did not qualify | Round of 16 | [29] |
2019 | 14 | 11–0–2 | 1st | Finalists | – | [29] | |
2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[28] | ||||||
2021 | 7 | 6–1–5 | 4th | Finalists | – | ||
2022 | 20 | 5–4–10 | 15th | Did not qualify | – | ||
2023 | 19 | 7–3–8 | 11th | Did not qualify | – | ||
2024 | League1 Ontario Premier | 10 | 0–1–17 | 10th | – | Round of 16 |
Honours
[edit]- League1 Ontario Championship: 2015, 2017
- Inter-Provincial Cup: 2015
Notable players
[edit]The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:
Men
[edit]Women
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Steven Caldwell Joins Oakville Blue Devils FC To Help Guide Club into the Future". Oakville Blue Devils FC. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
- ^ "Oakville Blue Devils's official website". Oakville Blue Devils. Oakville Blue Devils. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ "Oakville Blue Devils's page in". League1 Ontario. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ a b c "About". Oakville Blue Devils. Oakville Blue Devils. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Kuiperij, Jon (January 30, 2015). "League1 Ontario men's soccer loop welcomes Oakville Blue Devils". Oakville Beaver.
- ^ Kuiperij, Jon (September 19, 2013). "Iafrati, Phil (Died)". Oakville Beaver. Oakville Images.
- ^ "Canadian Professional Soccer League - Clubs". December 25, 2005. Archived from the original on December 25, 2005. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ^ Kuiperij, Jon (October 12, 2005). "Blue Devils' Gamble pays off in CPSL final" (PDF). Oakville Beaver.
- ^ "Different cast of Blue Devils seeks repeat". Burlington Post. May 26, 2006.
- ^ Crawford, Colin (February 29, 2016). "Toronto's Soccer History: 1987 - Present". Toronto FC. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ "Toronto Lynx Soccer Club". Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ^ Kuiperij, Jon (November 17, 2015). "Goal by defensive sub lifts Oakville Blue Devils to victory in Inter-Provincial Cup". Oakville Beaver.
- ^ Chenoix, Éric (May 30, 2018). "À la Découverte du Oakville Blue Devils FC" [Discovering Oakville Blue Devils FC]. PLSQ (in French).
- ^ "Oakville Blue Devils qualifies for Canadian Championship – Canada Soccer". Canadian Soccer Association. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ "AS Blainville qualifies for Canadian Championship – Canada Soccer". Canadian Soccer Association. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ "About the Canadian Championship". Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
- ^ Garbutt, Herb (October 22, 2017). "Oakville Blue Devils reclaim League1 title with dramatic penalty-kick victory". Oakville Beaver. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Frosinone Calcio is Here in Canada". Molisana Imports. July 18, 2018.
- ^ "Frosinone - Oakville Blue Devils 2-0". Frosinone Calcio (in Italian). July 26, 2018.
- ^ "Tournée Canada/USA, il programma delle Amichevolu" [Tournée Canada/USA, the friends' program]. Frosinone Calcio (in Italian). July 17, 2018.
- ^ "Significant Expansion planned for League1 Ontario". Ontario Soccer Association. December 20, 2017.
- ^ Baldwin, Dan (April 27, 2018). "League 1 Ontario 2018 Preview". Northern Starting XI.
- ^ a b c "A Bluffer's Guide to Blue Devils". League1 Ontario. September 22, 2022.
- ^ "GPS Academy to Merge with Blue Devils FC". Blue Devils FC. October 1, 2020.
- ^ "About Us". Oakville Blue Devils. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ "Blue Devils FC". League 1 Ontario.
- ^ a b c d e f "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
- ^ a b "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
- ^ a b "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.