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 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 ...

. The league is part of

League1 Canada League1 Canada (L1C; french: Ligue1 Canada) is a national soccer competition in Canada which acts as the third tier in the Canadian soccer league system below the Canadian Premier League, consisting of the highest level sanctioned provincial l ...

, the national third tier divided into regional divisions, with the PLSQ equivalent to

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's 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 in the Canadian so ...

and

League1 British Columbia League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's association football, soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the British ...

. The men's league winner qualifies for the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

, the national cup championship, for the following season.

History

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 The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

(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 United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

( Montreal Impact) and the semi-professional

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 ...

(

Laval Dynamites Laval Dynamites (french: Dynamites de Laval) were a Canadian soccer 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 i ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

). In 2011, the PLSQ 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 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 ( ...

as a level 3 league, below

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 ...

(level 1) and the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and

(level 2), which were American-based fully professional leagues featuring some Canadian teams, including the Montreal Impact of the MLS. The PLSQ had its debut season in 2012 with a male division featuring 5 teams – A.S. Blainville,

FC Brossard FC Brossard was a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Brossard, Quebec that played for two seasons in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. History The club was originally formed in 1978 as a youth soccer club. In 2012, the s ...

FC Boisbriand FC Boisbriand was a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Boisbriand, Quebec that played in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. History The club was originally formed in 1977. In 2012, the semi-professional club was establish ...

FC L'Assomption FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

, 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,

, and the

Inter-Provincial Cup The Inter-Provincial Cup is a limited-overs cricket tournament in Ireland between the four leading cricketing provinces of Ireland. The tournament was held for the first time in 2013 across venues in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ir ...

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 Ottawa Fury FC Academy was the youth academy and development system of Canadian soccer club Ottawa Fury FC. In 2015 and 2016, they played in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. History The Fury Academy was launched in 2006, under the um ...

joining the league. Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the

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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams did opt out of playing for the season. However, the remainder of the male 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). 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 Club Soccer Mont-Royal Outremont is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in the Montreal boroughs of Mount Royal and Outremont. Since 2013, the club has competed in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec. Their women's team has compet ...

has been second-most successful with four league championships and one league cup title.

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. At the end of the year, there is a League Cup, called 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 nine teams, where three groups of three teams were formed. The winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals. Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.

Men's Division

Current clubs

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

Former clubs

Timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:20 top:20 Period = from:2012 till:2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy AlignBars = justify Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Active value:blue id:Former value:gray(0.3) id:Hiatus value:rgb(0.897,0.698,0.698) PlotData= 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 Réserve ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2012 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

Women's Division

Current clubs

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

Former clubs

Timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:20 top:20 Period = from:2018 till:2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy AlignBars = justify Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Active value:blue id:Former value:gray(0.3) id:Hiatus value:rgb(0.897,0.698,0.698) PlotData= width:20 textcolor:white shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m bar:1 color:Active from:01/01/2018 till:end text:A.S. Blainville 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:CSA PEF Quebec ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2018 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

Players who earned national team caps while in the PLSQ

The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in the PLSQ (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in the PLSQ are not included.

Men

Women

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Premiere Ligue de soccer du Quebec Soccer leagues in Canada Soccer leagues in Quebec

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Sports leagues established in 2012 2012 establishments in Quebec Professional sports leagues in Canada League1 Canada

History

Format

Men's Division

Current clubs

Former clubs

Timeline

Women's Division

Current clubs

Former clubs

Timeline

Players who earned national team caps while in the PLSQ

Men

Women

See also

Notes

References

External links