FC Continentals is a Canadian soccer club founded in 2008. The team is currently a member of 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 ...

, a non-FIFA sanctioned league. The club originally played under the name FC Vorkuta and was renamed FC Continentals in 2022. Their home venue is Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto, Ontario.

History

The club was formed by Russian immigrants Igor Demitchev and Samad Kadirov in Toronto in 2008. The club derived its name from the main financier Demitchev's hometown Vorkuta in Russia. Initially the club operated at the amateur level in the Downtown Polson Pier Soccer League. In their debut season, Vorkuta achieved instant success after clinching both the regular and postseason titles. Within a year, the club transferred to the Thornhill Soccer Club League, and continued its uphill climb to success by winning the playoff title. In 2010, the team remained in the York Region territory by joining the Richmond Hill Soccer League, and the Downsview Hangar Indoor Soccer League. In 2016, the organization decided to make the transition to the professional ranks by applying for membership in the

. After presenting a successful strategic business plan, the club received the necessary votes in order to be approved by the league ownership. In preparation for the 2017 CSL season, the team hired the services of

Serhiy Zayets Serhiy Anatoliyovych Zayets ( uk, Сергій Анатолійович Заєць; russian: Серге́й Анатольевич Заец; born 18 August 1969) is a Ukrainian professional football coach and former player. Club career He made ...

as head coach. Zayets assembled a roster with several key CSL veterans acquired primarily from FC Ukraine United. The acquisitions included

Sergiy Ivliev Serhiy Mykhailovych Ivliev ( uk, Сергій Михайлович Івлєв, translit=Serhii Mykhailovych Ivliev; born December 4, 1984) is a Ukrainian footballer who plays with Dynamo Toronto in the Canadian Soccer League. Playing career E ...

Oleg Shutov Oleg Shutov (born August 9, 1988) is a Ukrainian footballer. Playing career Shutov began his career in 2006 in the Ukrainian First League with FC Stal Kamianske, where he featured in 217 matches and recorded 13 goals In 2015, he played with NK ...

Mykhailo Bulkin Mykhailo Bulkin (born February 8, 1991) is a Ukrainian footballer. Playing career Bulkin began his football career in 2008 in the Ukrainian Second League with FC Ros Bila Tserkva, where he appeared in a total of 15 matches. During his time in t ...

, Vitaliy Dnistryan,

Danylo Lazar Danylo Lazar ( uk, Данило Ігорович Лазар; born 30 December 1989) is a professional Ukrainian football defender playing with FC Vorkuta in the Canadian Soccer League. Playing career Lazar began his career in 2009 with FC Lv ...

Vadym Gostiev Vadym Hostyev (born January 19, 1987) is a Ukrainian footballer who plays with Dynamo Toronto in the Canadian Soccer League. Club career Europe Hostyev began his career in 2005 with FC Krasyliv in the Ukrainian First League where he played ...

, and

Oleh Kerchu Oleh Kerchu ( ua, Олег Миколайович Керчу; born 6 July 1984) is a Ukrainian former football (soccer), footballer and currently the youth head coach for FSC Bukovyna Chernivtsi. Playing career Kerchu began his career in 2001 ...

was assigned the team captain. In addition to the CSL veterans, several imports were brought in from Ukraine and Russia to further strengthen the roster. Vorkuta made their professional debut on May 27, 2017 against Milton SC with a 7–0 victory with goals coming from Kerchu, Lazar, Shutov, Gostiev, and Yaroslav Svorak. In the club's inaugural season at the professional level, Vorkuta managed to produce a significant result. By clinching the regular season title, and establishing the best offensive record with the second best defensive record. In the preliminary round of the postseason, they defeated Royal Toronto FC by a score of 6–3. Their 2017 campaign came to a conclusion in the following round after a 1–0 defeat to Scarborough SC. In 2018, the club produced a notable season by securing the CSL Championship, and found further success in the Second Division as its reserve squad secured the double (division title and DII Championship). In 2022, the club was renamed FC Continentals.

Crest

The club's first crest was in the shape of a circle with a soccer ball placed in the center along with the name of the club beneath it. The colors of the crest were blue, red, and white which represented the colors of the Canadian and the city of Toronto flags. On top of the crest was a barbed wire which symbolized the owner's birthplace Vorkuta in Siberia, Russia where a former Gulag

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

was located. In 2022, the name of the club was changed to FC Continentals which also resulted in a rebranding of the club's logo.

Players

Current squad

Head coaches

(2017) * Samad Kadirov (2018) *

Denys Yanchuk Denys Yanchuk (born 14 August 1988) is a Ukrainian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Playing career Yanchuk began his career in 2006 with Iskra-Skirts in the Ukrainian Football Amateur League. In 2007, he signed with FC Podillya Khm ...

(2020) *

Andrei Malychenkov Andrey Yuryevich Malyshenkov (russian: Андрей Юрьевич Малышенков; born March 28, 1968) is a former Russian footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach for FC Continentals in the Canadian Soccer Lea ...

Viktor Raskov Viktor Raskov (born May 8, 1984) is a Ukrainian former footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the head coach for FC Continentals in the Canadian Soccer League. Career Europe Raskov began his career in 2002 in the Ukrainian Seco ...

(2021) *

(2022–)

Honours

* CSL Championship:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

* CSL II Championship:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

First Division/Regular Season:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Second Division:

*ProSound Cup:

Seasons

References

External links

FC Continentals
(Official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Continentals FC Soccer clubs in Ontario Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) teams Soccer clubs in Toronto Association football clubs established in 2008 2008 establishments in Ontario Diaspora sports clubs Russian diaspora Ukrainian diaspora in Canada