Laval Dynamites (french: Dynamites de Laval) 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, founded in 1997. The men's team (founded in 2001) was a member of the Canadian Professional Soccer League/Canadian Soccer League, the highest professional soccer league in Canada, and played in the National Division. The team played as the Montreal Dynamites in 2001 and 2002. The team essentially moved to

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

and became the

Trois-Rivières Attak Trois-Rivières Attak was a Canadian soccer team that played three seasons in the Canadian Soccer League. They formally served as a reserve and academy team for the USL First Division side Montreal Impact. The club was an instant success withi ...

for the 2007 season. The Dynamites played their home games at

Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne The Centre sportif Bois-de-Boulogne is a soccer centre situated in the city of Laval, a suburb of Montreal, in the province of Quebec in Canada. Outdoor soccer fields The centre has six outdoor grounds (in the official dimensions of FIFA), among ...

in the city of

Laval, Quebec Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in C ...

. The team's colors were red and white. The men's team was a sister organization of the women's Laval Dynamites team, which played in the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

W-League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The women's team played 1997 to 2001.

History

Montreal Dynamites joined the CPSL in 2001 as an expansion franchise along with

Ottawa Wizards Ottawa Wizards were a Canadian soccer club which operated in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL), from 2001 to 2003. The team's home stadium was the OZ Optics Stadium. Though the team had a relatively short tenure with the CPSL, the cl ...

Brampton Hitmen Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it the ...

, and the

Toronto Supra SC Toronto was a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its incep ...

. The club was formed by a collective effort by majority shareholder Pierre Marchand, and a new group of investors which consisted of Tony Incollingo, Pietro Petruccelli and Franco Morina, a group of Montreal businessmen active in the ranks of the Quebec amateur soccer. Marchand served as the president, while Incollingo operated as the general manager. The organization hired the services of former Montreal Impact head coach Zoran Jankovic. He brought in many of his former Montreal Impact players like Nicolas Pinto, Kyriakos Selaidopolous, Leo Incollingo,

Jocelyn Roy Jocelyn Roy (born July 15, 1973) is a Canadian former soccer player who played in the National Professional Soccer League, USL A-League, and the Canadian Professional Soccer League. Playing career Roy began his professional career in 1998, w ...

Abraham Francois Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

, David Fronimadis, Chris Stathopoulos, and

USL 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, p ...

veterans

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, Roldege Arius, and Jose Guerra. Kyt Selaidopoulos-2

The franchise debut on May 26, 2001 in a home match against league giants

Toronto Olympians 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 ...

, witch concluded in a 3–0 loss. The Dynamites recovered from their loss with a seven league game undefeated streak to help sustain a postseason berth. As their season progressed, the team ran into financial difficulties resulting in a decrease in player salaries, and the release of Jocelyn Roy, and Chris Stathopoulos the top two paid players. Despite the cutbacks Montreal managed to finish fourth in the overall standings, thus qualifying for the playoffs along with two of the other expansion clubs. In the playoffs the Dynamites faced

St. Catharines Wolves St. Catharines Roma Wolves (also known as St. Catharines Wolves or simply Roma Wolves), are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1967. The team currently plays in the semi-professional League1 Ontario in both the men's and women's divisions. The ...

, but were defeated by a score of 2–1 with the lone goal coming from Selaidopolous. At the CPSL Awards banquet Jankovic received the CPSL Coach of the Year award. For the 2002 season Jankovic resigned from his position to coach ARS Laurentides, and Mohamed Hilen was appointed his successor. Hillen retained the majority of the original roster, but added Vladimir Edouard, and Paul Daccobert. Near the conclusion of the season Hilen announced his resignation as head coach to accept a technical director position for ARS Laval for a three-year term. He was replaced by general manager Victor Petkov, who previously coached the

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. Montreal would finish second in the Eastern Conference and secure a postseason berth. The club was eliminated early on in a wildcard match against the

Metro Lions Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

in a 3–1 defeat. In 2003, the organization moved to

a suburb of Montreal and had a change of name to Laval Dynamites. The franchise brought in former Moroccan international

Jawad El Andaloussi Abbad Jawad El Andaloussi ( ar, جواد الأندلسي) is a Moroccan footballer who played for Morocco in the 1976 and 1978 African Cup of Nations. At club level he played for Wydad, Raja Casablanca, Saudi Arabia's Al-Shabab and Hong Kong' ...

. Overall the season was a disappointment for Laval as they failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time in the club's history; missing the final playoff spot by one point. Laval took a one-year hiatus for the 2004 season as they awaited the completion of their home venue the

. On March 8, 2005 the CPSL announced the return of Laval Dynamites for the 2005 season. The team brought in Jean-Robert Toussaint as head coach, and signed Moroccan import Mohamed Ridouani and

Nicolas Lesage Nicolas Lesage (born January 3, 1980) is a Gabonese retired footballer who played as a striker. He played at international level with the Quebec national soccer team. Club career Early career Lesage played college soccer with the UQTR Patr ...

. Toussaint led Laval to a playoff berth by finishing third in the Eastern Conference. Their opponents would end up being

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 ...

, where they were defeated by a score of 1–0. The following season the Dynamites announced the return of Jawad EL Andaloussi as head coach, and formed an affiliation agreement with Monteuil Soccer Club in order to develop players. He brought in Arturo Cisneros Salas,

Andrew Olivieri Andrew Olivieri (born March 27, 1981) is a Canadian professional football manager and former soccer player who is currently the head coach of the Canadian men's under-20 team. He played as a goalkeeper for several clubs in the United States and ...

Hicham Aâboubou Hicham Aâboubou ( ar, هشام عبوبو; born 19 May 1978) is a Moroccan professional footballer who last played as a defender for FC Lanaudière in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. Career Africa Aâboubou started his soccer caree ...

Rachid Madkour Rachid Madkour' (born April 1, 1977) is a former Moroccan footballer who had stints in the Canadian Soccer League, and the USL First Division. Playing career Madkour began his professional in North America in the Canadian Professional Soccer Le ...

, and brought back Abraham Francois. Jawad had a tremendous season finishing third in the National Division and making the postseason for the second year in a row. Unfortunately Laval would face Toronto Croatia once more in the quarterfinals and were defeated by a score of 1–0. On November 26, 2006 Tony Ianitto announced a partnership with the Montreal Impact where Laval would serve as a farm team for the Impact, and resulted in the folding of the franchise and relocation to

and the formation of the

Final roster

Head coaches

Year-by-year

References

{{Canadian Soccer League Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) teams Defunct soccer clubs in Canada Soccer clubs in Quebec Women's soccer clubs in Canada Defunct USL W-League (1995–2015) teams United Soccer League teams based in Canada Sport in Laval, Quebec 1997 establishments in Quebec 2007 disestablishments in Quebec Association football clubs established in 1997