The 2020 Men's League1 Ontario season would have been the seventh season of play for

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian so ...

(L1O), a Division 3 men's soccer league in the

Canadian soccer pyramid The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), w ...

and the highest level of soccer based in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. For the first time this year, the league's entry in the 2021 Canadian Championship, the top national tournament for men's soccer teams, was to be determined by a "Champions Final", to be played between the regular season champions and the playoff champions. On March 20, 2020, L1O postponed the start of the season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On June 6, 2020, the league announced the cancellation of the "summer season" while also mentioning the possibility of returning in September 2020 for a shortened "fall season", though this was later ruled out.

Format

For the regular season, each team would have played every other team once for a total of 16 matches. The playoffs would have included the top eight teams, facing each other in a three-round, single leg tournament. The winner of the playoffs would face the winner of the regular season, in a single match named the "Champions Final", that was to determine League1 Ontario's entry in the 2021 Canadian Championship. Due to the cancellation of the season, the 2021 Canadian Championship spot was given to the 2019 league champion, as the 2020 edition was modified to exclude the L1O participant. The season would have been shorter in duration than previous seasons. It was scheduled to start on April 24, a few weeks earlier than usual, and end with the Playoffs Final on September 5 and the Champions Final on September 12, to allow for University players to take part in the playoffs.

Clubs

The men's division consisted of 17 teams, an increase from 16 teams in 2019.

North Toronto Nitros North Toronto Nitros is a Canadian semi-professional association football, soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario, Toronto, Ontario. The club was founded in 1980 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario ...

returned from hiatus, joining Hamilton United as the new entries, while

Ottawa South United Ottawa South United is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Manotick, Ontario, a community in the rural south part of Ottawa that plays in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. The club previously competed in League1 Ontario. ...

moved to the

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is pa ...

. Durham United FA re-branded as

Pickering FC Pickering Football Club, commonly known as Pickering FC, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Pickering, Ontario. The club was founded in 1984 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 20 ...

. The following clubs were set to participate in the league prior to the season's cancellation.

Reserve Division

After introducing the Reserve Division during the 2019 season, it was set to be expanded for the 2020 season. All of the clubs in L1O would be required to field a club in the division, while some other Ontario soccer clubs who did not have a team in the league were invited to field teams in the U21 Reserve division.

References

External links

* {{2020 in Canadian soccer League1 League1 Ontario seasons League1