Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

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 C ...

, who play in

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

, a third tier league of the

United States soccer league system The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of pro ...

. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

as well as in partnership with Toronto FC Academy.

History

Pre-history

Upon their entrance into

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 Cana ...

fielded their reserves in the MLS Reserve League from 2007 to 2013. In 2014, Toronto FC entered into a one-year partnership with the

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. Histo ...

of the USL to serve as their affiliate, with whom they would loan players to.

Formation

On November 20, 2014, Toronto FC announced the creation of a reserve team that would play in the third-tier

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

under the name Toronto FC II. The team began play in March 2015, playing at the then-newly constructed 3,500-seat stadium at the Ontario Soccer Centre in

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

, just north-northwest of Toronto. They played their first match on June 27, 2015, against

. From 2017, the USL was sanctioned as a second-tier league. On July 2, 2018, the team announced they would move down from the United Soccer League to

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...

for the league's first season in 2019. TFC II played in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

for the first SK Summer Soccer Series, which is hosted by the Saskatchewan Selects. The Selects defeated TFC II 2–0. In July 2020, the team withdrew from the

2020 USL League One season The 2020 USL League One season was the second season of USL League One. The regular season was scheduled to begin on March 27 and end on October 3. On March 13, it was announced the regular season start would be delayed to April 11 due to the CO ...

, due to travel restrictions caused by 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 identified ...

. They returned to the league in

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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, beginning the season at the Grande Sports World training facility in

Casa Grande, Arizona , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

, due to continued travel restrictions caused by the continuing pandemic. After playing their first three home games there, following three home games were played at Osceola Heritage Park in

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

. Toronto FC II ultimately resumed playing their home games in Toronto on July 30, 2021, when they hosted Greenville Triumph SC at the BMO Training Ground.

MLS Next Pro

The club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the 21-team

for the inaugural 2022 season. In their debut season, they qualified for their first-ever playoff birth, after winning the Northeast Division. After defeating

Philadelphia Union 2 Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. ...

in the Conference semi-finals, they were defeated by Columbus Crew 2 in extra time in the Conference finals.

Players and staff

Roster

Technical staff

Record

Coaches since 2015

* Jason Bent (2015–2017) *

Laurent Guyot Laurent Guyot (born 17 December 1969) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Annecy. He played as a defender mostly for Nantes, winning Division 1 in 1995, and also represented Toulouse and ...

(2018) * Michael Rabasca (2018–2019) * Mike Muñoz (2020–2021) *

Gianni Cimini Gianni Cimini (born July 13, 1983) is a Canadian soccer coach, who currently serves as head coach of Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro. Playing career He played youth soccer with the Woodbridge Strikers and also played for the Team Ontario provi ...

(2022–present)

Stadium

The expansion Toronto FC II hosted their games at a new stadium constructed at the Ontario Soccer Centre beginning with the first season in 2015. However, after the planned expansion of the OSC to 5,000 seats, which is a minimum requirement set by the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

for the USL to be sanctioned as a division 2 league, did not materialize, the club announced that it would move its home games to

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

and Lamport Stadium beginning with the 2018 season. In 2018, the team used Monarch Park Stadium for one game in May, relocated one game to Charlotte, and relocated another four games to Rochester's Marina Auto Stadium, while waiting on availability at Lamport Stadium. With their drop to the division 3

for the 2019 season, the team moved their home games to BMO Training Ground. On April 4, 2022, after the team left USL League One to join the newly formed

, Toronto FC II announced that York Lions Stadium would serve as their new home stadium, while also playing 2 home games at

as a second match of a double header with their parent club,

References

External links

*
Official website
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