Kingston FC were 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 Kingston,

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 ...

, Canada. The team was awarded a franchise in 2011 as 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 ...

, and participated in the league for three seasons, 2012 to 2014. In February 2015, Kingston FC formally announced that it had withdrawn from the Canadian Soccer League for the 2015 season. Furthermore, the Club announced that it had made application to the new League1 Ontario for a new professional team that will play in Belleville, Ontario. Effective April 1, 2015, the Club has renamed itself the Quinte-Belleville Royals (QBR) Soccer Club, and intends to field a men's professional team in League1 Ontario in 2016 and a woman's professional team in 2017, also in League1 Ontario. During its three seasons in the CSL, the club fielded two teams, a 1st Division professional team, Kingston FC and a Reserve 2nd Division semi-professional team, Kingston FC Reserve. The club began play on May 5, 2012, in their inaugural CSL season and played their home games at the Queen's University West Campus Turf Field, located at Johnson Street and John A. Macdonald Boulevard in Kingston. On February 28, 2015, the Canadian Soccer League announced in a press release that Kingston FC would not be returning for the 2015 season.

History

The club was formed by Jimmy Hamrouni and debuted under the name Prospect FC. The club began play in the Reserve Division of the Canadian Soccer League in 2011. However, they played most of their games as double headers in Maple, Ontario, rather than in Kingston. In 2012, Prospect FC was promoted to the First Division, and changed the team name to Kingston FC. Hamrouni also held the responsibilities of head coach, and acquired the likes of Guyanese International

Julien Edwards Julien Edwards (born July 30, 1988) is a former footballer. Born in Canada, he represented the Guyana national team. Playing career Edwards began playing at the college level with Drake Bulldogs The Drake Bulldogs are the intercollegiate ...

, Vitaliy Sidorov, Mademba Ba, Ryan McCurdy, and Antonios Assaad. The club made its First Division debut on May 5, 2012, in a 2–0 victory over

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

. After coaching eight matches team majority owner and head coach Jimmy Hamrouni citing business and personal reasons announced his resignation as head coach, and sold his share to Lorne Abugov and Joe Scanlon. The new owners announced the signing of Colm Muldoon as head coach. The club finished near the bottom of the standings in both the first and second divisions. Taylor Benjamin

In preparations for the 2013 CSL season the organization first act was to extend head coach Muldoon contract. Muldoon constructed a roster with a mixture of college, and players with professional experience. Notable additions to the roster were

Jaroslav Tesař Jaroslav Tesař (born 25 May 1986) is a Czech football player who is currently playing for SK Kladno in the Czech Division B. Career Tesař was born in Kladno and played professionally in the Czech Republic for SK Kladno. In the 2005-2006 Cze ...

, Kenny Caceros, Cătălin Lichioiu,

Jason Massie Jason Massie (born 13 September 1984) is a former English footballer. Career College and amateur Massie was a member of the schoolboy academy at storied English football club Liverpool, working his way from the U12 team to play a few times wit ...

, Taylor Benjamin, Akil DeFreitas, Lukáš Bajer, and

Stephane Assengue Stephane Assengue (born May 23, 1990) is a Cameroonian footballer. Career Assengue started his career in his native Cameroon with regional team Daga Young Stars before being signed by Major League Soccer side New England Revolution The N ...

. His signings proved successful as the club enjoyed a remarkable turnaround within the CSL 1st Division, clinching the CSL regular season championship on September 29 with a 5–3 road win in Burlington. Both the First and Reserve division teams qualified for the 2013 CSL playoffs, the first post-season play ever in the history of Kingston FC. The Reserves dropped a 1–0 decision away to

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

Reserves in the CSL quarter-finals. Kingston FC's first Division team, however, won home quarter-final and semi-final encounters against

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club ( sr, Фудбалски клуб Српски бели орлови / ''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, an unsanctioned soc ...

(2–1) and London City (4–2), respectively, before losing the CSL Playoff Championship Final by a 3–1 score to SC Waterloo in Niagara Falls on November 3, 2013. At the conclusion of the season Guillaume Surot won the CSL Golden Boot Award, CSL MVP Award, and the Rookie of the Year. While Muldoon won the CSL Coach of the Year, and Mademba Ba won the CSL 2 Golden Boot award. Muldoon added international experience to the roster for the 2014 season. Acquiring Kenyan international Adam Shaban as well as

Paul Willis Paul Willis (born 1945) is a British social scientist known for his work in sociology and cultural studies. Paul Willis' work is widely read in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and education, his work emphasizing consumer culture, sociali ...

, and Stephen Hindmarch both with European soccer experience. Kingston FC opened its 2014 CSL Training Camp in Kingston on April 22, 2014, and kicked off its third and final season of operation in the CSL with a road game against

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

. At the conclusion of the 2014 season, the Kingston FC Reserves clinched first place and on the strength of an 18-game unbeaten streak clinched the CSL 2nd Division league championship, the second CSL championship for the Club in the last two seasons. The Reserves' 18 game consecutive unbeaten streak included a 12 win, 1 loss and 3 draw record for 39 points and a sweep of three CSL playoff games. The Kingston FC 1st Division team clinched home field advantage in the CSL playoffs finishing the regular season in third place, with an 8 win, 6 loss and 4 draw record, for 28 points. The 1st Division team lost a heart-breaking semi final encounter on the road to Toronto Croatia, 2-1 conceding an 89th-minute goal against the run of play to narrowly miss a second consecutive berth in the CSL Championship Final. Both the Kingston FC 1st Division and 2nd Division teams led their respective divisions in goals scored, and striker Mademba Ba led all CSL scorers with 31 2nd division goals and 7 1st Division goals to take the CSL Golden Boot award. The club also was awarded the CSL Fair Play and Respect award. After the de-sanctioning of the CSL by 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 ( ...

, Kingston withdrew from the league in hopes of securing a franchise in the newly formed

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's association football, 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 ...

Final staff

Former coaches

Honours

* CSL II Championship:

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First Division:

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Second Division:

Year-by-year

Stadium

Kingston FC played its home games on artificial turf at the Queen's University West Campus Field, located in Kingston at the corner of Johnson Street and Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, just west of the Queen's University Main Campus. With bleacher seating of 600 supporters, the West Campus turf field provided Kingston FC with a central Kingston home field accessible to young fans and families. The successor club, the Quinte-Belleville Royals Soccer Club intends to take the field in 2016 and to play its home games in League1 Ontario on the artificial turf field at M.A. Sills Park on Palmer Road in Belleville.

Old logo

References

External links

Map to the Invista CentreInformation on the Invista Centre
{{Canadian Soccer League Soccer clubs in Ontario Sport in Kingston, Ontario Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) teams Association football clubs established in 2011 2011 establishments in Ontario