CF Montréal U23, formerly Montreal Impact U23, is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada that plays in 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 ...

. They are the reserve club of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...

and represent the highest team of the

CF Montréal Academy CF Montréal Academy (french: L’Académie du CF Montréal, formerly Montreal Impact Academy) is a association football, soccer academy based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are the academy of Major League Soccer club CF Montréal. Founded in ...

. Previously known as Montreal Impact U23, in 2014, they played in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

, the fourth tier. The team was replaced the following year with

FC Montreal FC Montreal was a Canadian professional soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that played in the USL Championship, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. The team served as a reserve team of Major League Soccer (MLS) cl ...

in the professional second-tier

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. In 2020, it was announced that the U23 team would be re-started for the 2021 season.

History

From 2010 to 2012, the

Montreal Impact Academy Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

fielded their U21 team in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

, which was recognized as a tier 3 league in the

Canadian soccer league system 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 ...

. However, the team withdrew from the league prior to the 2013 season, as the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

de-sanctioned the league following a match-fixing scandal. In 2014, the club decided to re-brand the team as a U23 team and entered the team into the

, in the fourth tier of the

United States soccer league system The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

. They played their first match on 17 May against the

Westchester Flames Westchester Flames is an American soccer team based in New Rochelle, New York, United States. Founded in 1999, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games at City Park Stadium, w ...

, which they won by a score of 4–0. They finished the season in fourth place in the ''Northeast Division''. In 2015, the Impact decided to form a reserve professional team in the second tier

called

. As a result, the PDL team was disbanded with most of the players moving to the new pro reserve team. The club announced that they would reform a U23 team for the 2021 season. with

Patrice Bernier Patrice Bernier (born September 23, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player. A long-time mainstay of the Canada national team, the midfielder played the majority of his career with Montreal Impact in addition to playing in Denm ...

serving as post-formation supervisor, where he will work primarily with the first team players in the U23 team. Throughout the 2021 season, the U23s played friendlies against the teams in the

. They joined the PLSQ as formal members in 2022.

Players

Current squad

Record

Year by year

Notable former players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the CF Montreal U23 team:

References

{{Première ligue de soccer du Québec – Men's Division Montreal U23 CF Montréal Association football clubs established in 2014 2014 establishments in Quebec Canadian reserve soccer teams Defunct Premier Development League teams