Ligue1 Québec

Ligue1 Québec (L1QC) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2011 as the Première ligue de soccer du Québec, the league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Quebec Soccer Federation.

In the Canadian soccer league system, the men's division is behind the fully-professional Canadian Premier League. It is part of League1 Canada, the national third tier with regional division, along with three other provincial leagues. The men's league champion qualifies for the Canadian Championship, Canada's domestic cup tournament.

History

Background

The history of soccer in Quebec dates back to 1884, with the first league established in 1886. In 1911, the Province of Quebec Football Association, now known as the Quebec Soccer Federation was founded. In 1986, a semi-professional league called the Ligue nationale de soccer du Québec (LNSQ) was created, but it merged with different rival leagues to form the Ligue de soccer élite du Québec in 1992. In 1993, five of the former LNSQ clubs Corfinium St-Leonard, Cosmos de LaSalle, Luso Stars Mont-Royal, Montreal Croatia, and Montreal Ramblers joined the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL) to form the league's Eastern Division. Following this, the amateur Ligue de soccer élite du Québec served as the top level of soccer in the province, although Quebec clubs did play in the United Soccer League ( Montreal Impact) and the semi-professional Canadian Soccer League (Laval Dynamites/Trois-Rivières Attak and Montreal Impact Academy).

Foundation

In 2011, the Première ligue de soccer du Québec was established, marking the return of a semi-professional soccer league to the province for the first time in 20 years. The league was sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as a level 3 league, below Major League Soccer (level 1) and the North American Soccer League and United Soccer League (level 2), which were American-based fully professional leagues featuring some Canadian teams, including the Montreal Impact of the MLS.

The league had its debut season in 2012 with a men's division featuring five teams – A.S. Blainville, FC Brossard, FC Boisbriand, FC L'Assomption, and FC Saint-Léonard. FC Saint-Léonard won the inaugural season. The following season, the league added a league cup to its schedule, the Coupe PLSQ, which would take place annually at the conclusion of the season, unrelated to the results of the regular season. In 2014, the province of Ontario created its own semi-professional level 3 league, League1 Ontario, and the Inter-Provincial Cup was established which would be contested between the champions of each league and ran for three years until 2016. In 2015, the league added its first club from outside of the province of Quebec, with the Ottawa Fury FC Academy joining the league.

Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the Canadian Championship for the following season. In 2018, a women's division was added, starting with five teams. The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams opted out of playing for the season. However, the remainder of the men's season was cancelled about three-quarters of the way through the season, due to a resurgence of the pandemic (the female season had already concluded).

In 2022, the PLSQ joined League1 Canada along with League1 Ontario and League1 British Columbia. On April 19, 2023, the league rebranded to Ligue1 Québec to align with its partner leagues.

Competition format

Depending on the number of teams in the league, teams will play every other team between 2-4 times per season, for a length of usually between 15 and 20 games. The winner gets the regular season championship. Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.

Coupe L1QC

At the end of the year, there is a league cup, called the Coupe L1QC (formerly the Coupe PLSQ), which began in 2013. The format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league. The most recent cup competition featured the top four teams from league play in a single-knockout tournament. In the past, the cup has also used a group stage and knockout format where three groups of three teams were formed, and the winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals.

Yearly results

Men's Division

Over the course of its history, various clubs have joined and departed the league. A.S. Blainville is the only club to have participated in every season since the league's inception. Blainville has been the most successful club, winning the league championship four times and the league cup twice and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has been second-most successful with four league championships and one league cup title.

Current clubs

The following twelve teams are members of the league for the 2022 season:

Former clubs

Timeline

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width:20 textcolor:white shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:Active from:01/01/2012 till:end text:AS Blainville
bar:2 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2013 text:FC Boisbriand
bar:3 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2013 text:FC Brossard
bar:4 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2013 text:FC St-Léonard
bar:5 color:Active from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2015 text:FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière
bar:5 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:CS Lanaudière-Nord
bar:6 color:Active from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Mont-Royal Outremont
bar:6 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP(C-19)
bar:6 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:
bar:7 color:Former from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2019 text:FC Gatineau
bar:8 color:Former from:01/01/2014 till:12/31/2014 text:ACP Montréal-Nord
bar:9 color:Active from:01/01/2014 till:end text:CS Longueuil
bar:10 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Lakeshore SC
bar:11 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Ottawa Fury FC Academy
bar:12 color:Former from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2019 text:FC Lanaudière
bar:12 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP(C-19)
bar:12 color:Former from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2021 text:
bar:13 color:Active from:01/01/2017 till:end text:CS St-Hubert
bar:14 color:Former from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2019 text:Dynamo de Quebec
bar:15 color:Active from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2020 text:CS Fabrose
bar:15 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:FC Laval
bar:16 color:Active from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Monteuil
bar:16 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP(C-19)
bar:16 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2021 text:
bar:16 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:AS Laval
bar:17 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Celtix du Haut-Richelieu
bar:18 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Ottawa South United
bar:19 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Royal-Sélect Beauport
bar:20 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:CS Saint-Laurent
bar:22 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:CF Montréal U23
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Women's Division

Current clubs

The following twelve teams are members of the league for the 2022 season:

Former clubs

Timeline

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bar:2 color:Active from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Monteuil
bar:2 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP(COVID-19)
bar:2 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2021 text:
bar:2 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:AS Laval
bar:3 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:Dynamo de Quebec
bar:4 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:FC Sélect Rive-Sud
bar:5 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2018 text:Lakers du Lac Saint-Louis
bar:6 color:Active from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Mont-Royal Outremont
bar:6 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP(COVID-19)
bar:6 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:
bar:7 color:Active from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2020 text:CS Fabrose
bar:7 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:FC Laval
bar:8 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:CS St-Hubert
bar:8 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:
bar:9 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:CS Longueuil
bar:10 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:Pierrefonds FC
bar:10 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:
bar:11 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Ottawa South United
bar:12 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Celtix du Haut-Richelieu
bar:13 color:Active from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Royal-Sélect de Beauport
bar:14 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:AS Chaudière-Ouest
bar:15 color:Active from:01/01/2022 till:end text:PEF Québec

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Players who earned national team caps while in the L1QC

The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in the L1QC (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in the L1QC are not included, unless they also earned caps while in the league. This section also does not include youth caps (U23 or below).

Men

Women

L1QC clubs in other competitions

See also

* Canadian soccer league system
* League1 Canada

Notes

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligue1 Quebec

Soccer leagues in Canada
Women's soccer leagues in Canada
Soccer leagues in Quebec
Canada, Quebec
Sports leagues established in 2012
2012 establishments in Quebec
Professional sports leagues in Canada
League1 Canada