 | |
| Full name | Pickering Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 / 2014 |
| Stadium | Kinsmen Park |
| Head Coach | Eric Polo Soldevila (men) Peter Hogg (women) |
| League | League1 Ontario Championship |
| 2024 | L1O-C, 10th - relegated (men) L1O-C, 5th (women) |
| Website | https://www.pickeringfc.ca/league1ontario |
 Current season | |
Pickering Football Club, commonly known asPickering FC, is a Canadian semi-professionalsoccer club based inPickering, Ontario that plays inLeague1 Ontario. The club was founded in 1984 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club inLeague1 Ontario in 2014.[1] The team plays home games at Kinsmen Park.[2]
The club was one of the ten original founding men's teams inLeague1 Ontario, which was established in 2014, as well as one of eight original founding women's teams of theLeague1 Ontario women's division which was established in 2015. The semi-professional team was originally known asDurham United FC from 2014 until 2015, and thenDurham United FA from 2016 until 2019, when they re-branded as Pickering FC. Also until 2019, their youth OPDL teams were known simply asUnited FA.[3]
In 2014, the semi-professional club was established by Pickering Soccer Club to play in the newly formedLeague1 Ontario as one of the founding members, with a placeholder name ofDurham Power FC,[4][5] referencing their youth competitive teams which went by the namePickering Power,[6] whose nickname references thePickering Power Plant in the city. However, in an effort to be inclusive of the larger region beyond Pickering, the club was ultimately named Durham United FC. This inclusivity allowed the club to form working relationships with other local clubs - Oshawa Kicks SC and West Rouge SC - to participate in the club,[7][8] although Oshawa Kicks later formedtheir own club in 2019.[9] To recognize this partnership, in 2016, the club changed theFC toFA to be known asDurham United Football Alliance.[10] Durham United played their first home match againstInternacional de Toronto at Kinsmen Park inPickering, Ontario on June 8, 2014, defeating the visitors 2–0.[11]
In 2015, they added a women's club to participate in the inauguralseason of theLeague1 Ontario women's division.[12] The women's team won the inaugural 2015 league championship.[13] After playing in the league's first four seasons, the men's team went on hiatus for the 2018 season (while the women's club remained active in their division),[14] before returning to the league in 2019.[15] In 2018, the women's team once again won the league championship, after winning the league playoffs.[16]
For the 2020 season, the club re-branded asPickering Football Club, matching the name of the youth club, who changed their name from Pickering Soccer Club.[17]
After opting out of the 2021 seasons, following theCOVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the club would return to both the male and female divisions, under a new ownership group, Evolution Sports & Entertainment, led by led by principal investors Ritchie Jeune and Chris Rivett, who co-ownUSL League Two sideSouth Bend Lions FC (Jeune also owns English sixth tier sideKettering Town F.C. and Chinese clubShantou Lions).[18] In 2023, the club withdrew from the Premier Division in both the men's and women's divisions in League1 Ontario, after being unable to find a club partner to operate the team, although they continued to field teams in the reserve division for each gender, with the hope of returning to the top division in 2024.[19] Nevertheless, in July 2023, the league chose to terminate their licence held by Evolution Sports & Entertainment, for the top two tiers for 2024 for both the male and female divisions.[20]
However, in January 2024, the youth club (separate from the Evolution Sports & Entertainment group) purchased the licences ofElectric City FC, to re-join the league, entering in the new second tier Championship division (after the top tier division split) for the 2024 season.[21][22] They finished in last place in the division in 2024, initially set to be relegated to the third tier League2 Ontario for 2025, however, they were re-instated in the Championship, followingScrosoppi FC B declining their promotion spot.[23]
| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | League1 Ontario | 9 | 2–4–10 | 8th | – | Semi-finals | [24] |
| 2015 | 12 | 11–3–8 | 7th | – | Semi-finals | [24] | |
| 2016 | 16 | 11–3–8 | 4th, Eastern (8th overall) | did not qualify | Quarter-finals | [24] | |
| 2017 | 16 | 11–3–8 | 3rd, Eastern (7th overall) | did not qualify | Semi-finals | [24] | |
| 2018 | on hiatus | ||||||
| 2019 | League1 Ontario | 16 | 2–2–11 | 14th | did not qualify | – | [24] |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic[25] | ||||||
| 2021 | on hiatus | ||||||
| 2022 | League1 Ontario | 22 | 7–2–12 | 14th | Did not qualify | – | |
| 2023 | on hiatus | ||||||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Championship | 10 | 4–3–11 | 10th ↓ | – | Round of 32 | |
| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | League1 Ontario | 7 | 14–2–2 | Champions | – | Semi-finals | [26] |
| 2016 | 9 | 9–3–4 | 3rd | – | Quarter-finals | [26] | |
| 2017 | 11 | 9–4–7 | 5th | – | Quarter-finals | [26] | |
| 2018 | 13 | 7–2–3 | 4th | Champions | Round of 16 | [26] | |
| 2019 | 14 | 4–5–4 | 10th | Did not qualify | – | [26] | |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic[25] | ||||||
| 2021 | Did not enter due toCOVID-19 pandemic (entered Reserve division) | ||||||
| 2022 | League1 Ontario | 20 | 3–3–13 | 17th | Did not qualify | – | |
| 2023 | on hiatus | ||||||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Championship | 10 | 6–6–6 | 5th | – | Round of 16 | |
The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:
