 | |
| Organising body | BC Soccer Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 5, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-10-05) |
| First season | 2022 |
| Country | Canada |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Number of clubs | 9 (men's) 9 (women's) |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Canadian Championship (men) Interprovincial Championship (women) |
| Current champions | Langley United (men) Altitude FC (women) (2025) |
| CurrentJuan de Fuca Plate | Altitude FC (2025) |
| Most championships | TSS Rovers FC (2, men), Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite (3, women) |
| MostJuan de Fuca Plates | Whitecaps FC Academy (3) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Telus TV |
| Website | league1bc |
| Current:2025 League1 BC season | |
League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is asemi-professional men's and women'ssoccer league inBritish Columbia, Canada. The league is sanctioned by theCanadian Soccer Association and theBC Soccer Association as a Division III Pro-Am league in theCanadian soccer league system.
In the Canadian soccer league system, the men's division is behind theCanadian Premier League (CPL). It is part ofLeague1 Canada, the national third tier with regional division, with L1BC equaivalent toLigue1 Québec (L1QC),League1 Ontario (L1ON), andLeague1 Alberta (L1AB). The men's league champion qualifies for theCanadian Championship, the domestic cup championship, for the following season.
The semi-professional league was created to fill in the gap between the top amateur leagues in the province, such as thePacific Coast Soccer League, Fraser Valley Soccer League, Vancouver Island Soccer League andVancouver Metro Soccer League, with the professional top tierCanadian Premier League.[1][2]
BC Soccer originally looked into the possibility of starting a "Regional Tier 3" league in their 2016 Strategic Plan,[3] with the goal of beginning in 2018 with eight teams.[4] However, nothing came to fruition due to insufficient interest from clubs.[5][6] In June 2019, they announced their intention to begin play in 2021 with at least six clubs.[7] Teams would need to commit for three years minimum and field teams in both the male and female divisions.[5] The proposed league would be open to professional clubs fielding reserve sides, provided they are not branded with "Reserves" or "U-23" in their team name.[8][9]
In January 2021, the league was rumoured to be launching later that year with six or eight teams, including a development team from theMajor League Soccer clubVancouver Whitecaps FC.[10] On October 5, 2021, the league was officially announced by BC Soccer to begin play in May 2022.[11][12] The inaugural league began on May 22, with the Championship Final occurring on August 1 (British Columbia Day), with seven clubs participating in the first season.[13][14] It was announced that with the creation of the league, theJuan de Fuca Plate, which was previously awarded to the top BC-basedPremier Development League team in head-to-head matches, would now be awarded to the League1 BC club that accrued the greatest number of points across both the men's and women's divisions in an aggregate table.[15][16] In addition, a cedar trophy was created to be awarded to both the men's and women's division champions.[17] In November 2022, it was confirmed that the league winner would qualify for the following season'sCanadian Championship, the national cup tournament.[18] For the 2023 season, the league announced its first expansion club (Harbourside FC) bringing the league up to eight clubs.[19]
On December 1, 2023, Canadian Soccer Business acquired L1BC from BC Soccer. CSB have owned League1 Ontario since 2018 and now oversee the day-to-day operations of both leagues.[20] For the 2024 season, another expansion club joined, however, two original clubs withdrew from the league, bringing the total back to seven. For 2025, two additional clubs joined, bringing the league to nine clubs.[21]
The L1BC regular season lasts approximately four months, from early April to late July. Teams play each other team home and away for a total of 16 matches in 2025. The regular season champion and runner-up advance to a single match final where the winner is crowned finals champion.
| Season | Teams | Men's division | Women's division | Juan de Fuca Plate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League champions | Regular season winner | League champions | Regular season winner | |||
| 2022 | 7 | TSS Rovers FC | Varsity FC | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Varsity FC | Varsity FC |
| 2023 | 8 | Whitecaps FC Academy | Victoria Highlanders FC | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Whitecaps FC Academy | |
| 2024 | 7 | TSS Rovers FC | Whitecaps FC Girls Elite | Whitecaps FC Academy | ||
| 2025 | 9 | Langley United | Altitude FC | Altitude FC | ||
| Club | Combined | Men | Women | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LC | RS | IP | Total | LC | RS | Total | LC | RS | IP | Total | |
| Whitecaps FC Academy | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Varsity FC | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| TSS Rovers FC | 2 | 1 | – | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| Victoria Highlanders FC | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
Note: This table only includes titles within the League1 Canada system.
Nine teams are members of the league, of which seven are based inGreater Vancouver, one onVancouver Island, and one inthe province's interior. All teams compete in both the men's and women's divisions of the league.[22]
| Team | City | Stadium | First season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altitude FC | North Vancouver | Kinsmen Field South | 2022 |
| Burnaby FC | Burnaby | Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West | 2024 |
| Evolution FC | Coquitlam | Percy Perry Stadium | 2025 |
| Langley United | Langley | Willoughby Community Park | 2025 |
| Kamloops United FC[a] | Kamloops | Hillside Stadium | 2022 |
| Nanaimo United FC[b] | Nanaimo | Q'unq'inuqwstuxw Stadium | 2023 |
| TSS Rovers FC | Burnaby | Swangard Stadium | 2022 |
| Unity FC | Surrey | Cloverdale Athletic Park | 2022 |
| Whitecaps FC Academy | Vancouver (UBC Campus)[c] | Thunderbird Stadium | 2022 |
Current teams
See Metro Vancouver inset Current team
| Team | City | Stadium | First season | Last season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nautsa’mawt FC[a] | UBC Campus[b] | Thunderbird Stadium | 2022 | 2023 |
| Victoria Highlanders FC | Saanich | Centennial Stadium | 2022 | 2023 |
Men[edit]
| Women[edit]
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