York United FC

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"York United" redirects here. For the United Methodist congregation in Medina County, Ohio, see York United Methodist Church.

York United FC
York United FC logo.svg
Full nameYork United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Nine Stripes
FoundedMay 5, 2018; 3 years ago (2018-05-05) as York 9 Football Club
StadiumYork Lions Stadium
Toronto, Ontario
Capacity8,000
OwnerGreenpark Group
ChairmanMike Baldassarra
PresidentAngus McNab
CoachJimmy Brennan
LeagueCanadian Premier League
2020Canadian Premier League, 5th
WebsiteClub website
Away colours
Current season

York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario.[1][2] The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium.

History[]

Diyaeddine Abzi with York9, during their final home game of the inaugural CPL season

In December 2017, former Canadian international Jimmy Brennan stepped down as executive director of Aurora FC and announced his intentions to take a role within the Canadian Premier League.[3] In March 2018, it was revealed that Brennan had been named executive vice-president of York Sports & Entertainment back in January.[4] The following day, it was revealed that the company's president Preben Ganzhorn also named himself as president of an unknown entity called York9 FC, believed to be a Canadian Premier League franchise.[5]

On May 5, 2018, York Region was one of four groups accepted by the Canadian Soccer Association for professional club membership.[6] Greenpark Group, headed by Carlo Baldassarra, was revealed as the owner of York9, with his son Mike as the chairman.[1][7][8] Both Brennan and Ganzhorn were pictured at the Annual Meeting of the Members when the group was announced.[9]

York9 FC was officially unveiled on May 10, 2018, as the first team to join the Canadian Premier League.[10] As well as confirming their place in the league for the 2019 launch season, the club also revealed their crest, colours and branding.[11] The club adopted the name York9 FC to represent the nine municipalities that make up York Region – Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, King, Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, and Whitchurch-Stouffville.[12] On July 27, 2018, York9 announced executive vice president of soccer operations Jimmy Brennan as the club's first head coach.[13]

In August, York9 fielded a York Region Soccer Association Selects team to compete in the U17 International Soccer Cup held at York Lions Stadium. The team beat Juventus F.C. before losing to Toronto FC in the final.[14]

The team has been called "Y9" and "The Nine Stripes" by the media and the league.[15][16][17] York9's inaugural match was a 905 Derby away to Forge FC on April 27, 2019;[18] the match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Ryan Telfer scoring the first goal in Canadian Premier League history.[19]

To determine the Canadian Soccer Association's representative in the CONCACAF Champions League, York9 played in the 2019 Canadian Championship competing for the Voyageurs Cup. The team lost the quarterfinal to Montreal Impact after a 2–2 draw at home and a 1–0 loss at Montreal.[20]

York9 was expected to begin their second season in the Canadian Premier League in April 2020 but the season was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[21] During the postponement, the club sold young midfielder Emilio Estevez to Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag, the first CPL player to be sold to a European top flight.[22]

On December 11, 2020, the club was rebranded to York United FC, adopting a new crest and colour scheme along with the name change. While the original club name exclusively targeted York Region, the new branding also represents the City of Toronto.[23]

Stadium[]

York plays its home matches at York Lions Stadium located in York University's Keele Campus in North York, Toronto.[24] Initially, the club had planned to use Alumni Field, on the same campus, while York Lions Stadium was being renovated for use at the end of the season.[25] Before the start of the 2021 season, the stadium will be renovated with a larger, artificial turf pitch and the removal of the athletic track which surrounded the playing surface.[26]

In 2018, the club announced plans to build a modular, wooden, 15,000-seat stadium within the next three years.[27] As of August 2021, financing and location of the new stadium is yet to be determined.[28]

Crest and colours[]

The crest's shape is derived from that of The Queen's York Rangers, an army regiment based in Toronto and York Region, with a blue element on top symbolizing Lake Ontario. The shield features a YU monogram and nine vertical stripes, a nod to the club's nickname "The Nine Stripes". A crown at the top features a trillium and a maple leaf, representing Ontario and Toronto respectively.[29]

The club's colours are dark green, dark blue, white, and gold, taken from the coat of arms of York, a predecessor to the City of Toronto. Unlike the majority of clubs in the CPL, York typically uses home kits that are primarily white.[30]

Former crest and colours[]

The inaugural "York9 FC" logo used during the club's first two seasons

The club used its original branding while it was known as York9 FC, between 2018 and 2020. The main feature of the crest's design was nine beams at the top of the crest, one for each municipality in York Region. The upward angle of the bars is a nod to the region's motto "Ontario's Rising Star". A white trillium at the base of the crest recognized Ontario, the province's floral emblem since 1937.[31]

The official club colours were light green, grey, and black (branded by the club as "electric green", "charcoal grey", and "black on black"). These colours symbolized the region's nature (in tandem with the club's environmental focus) and Black Creek.[11][31]

Club culture[]

Supporters[]

A supporters group called Generation IX was present at the club's launch event.[32][33] Prior to the team's second season in 2020, two new supporters groups formed: A student supporters group based out of York University called The Green Lions and a female-led supporters group called Dames of York.[34][35]

Rivalries[]

Main article: 905 Derby

York United has a rivalry with Forge FC, the only other Ontario-based team during the CPL's inaugural season. On January 29, 2019, the Canadian Premier League announced that the inaugural match of the league was going to be a 905 Derby on April 27, 2019, in Hamilton.[18] The match ended in a 1–1 draw.[19]

Players and staff[]

Roster[]

As of August 30, 2021[36][37][38]
No. Position Player Nation
1 GK Niko Giantsopoulos  Canada
3 DF Matteo Campagna (on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps FC)  Canada
4 MF Jordan Wilson  Canada
5 DF Dominick Zator  Canada
6 DF Roger Thompson  Canada
7 FW Álvaro Rivero  Spain
8 MF Sebastián Gutiérrez  Colombia
11 FW Nicholas Hamilton  Jamaica
13 FW Osvaldo Ramírez  United States
14 MF Ijah Halley  Canada
16 MF Max Ferrari  Canada
17 FW Julian Ulbricht  Germany
19 MF Noah Verhoeven  Canada
20 DF Diyaeddine Abzi  Canada
21 MF Michael Petrasso  Canada
23 MF Gerard Lavergne  Dominican Republic
28 MF Cédric Toussaint  Canada
29 GK Nathan Ingham  Canada
36 DF Felix N'sa  Canada
42 DF Ryan Lindsay  Canada
44 MF Isaiah Johnston  Canada
57 DF Terique Mohammed (on loan from Dundalk)  Canada
66 DF Chrisnovic N'sa  Canada
70 MF Jordan Faria  Canada
80 FW Lowell Wright  Canada

Out on loan[]

No. Position Player Nation
9 FW Lisandro Cabrera (at Guadalupe)  Argentina
10 MF Mateo Hernández (at Guadalupe)  Argentina
99 MF William Wallace (at Floresta)  Brazil

Staff[]

As of June 26, 2021[39]

Executive
Owner Mike Baldassarra
President, CEO and GM Angus McNab
Coaching staff
Head coach and technical director Jimmy Brennan
First assistant coach Paul Stalteri
Assistant coach, goalkeeping coach Camilo Benzi
Operations staff
Football operations and scouting manager Alex Bizzarri

Head coaches[]

As of August 28, 2021
Coach Nation Tenure Record
G W D L Win %
Jimmy Brennan  Canada July 27, 2018 – present 56 18 18 20 32.14

Statistics include regular season and Canadian Championship matches.

Club captains[]

Years Name Nation
2019–2020 Manny Aparicio[40][41]  Canada
2021–present Roger Thompson[42]  Canada


Records[]

Year-by-year[]

Season League Playoffs CC Continental / other Average
attendance 		Top goalscorer(s)
Div League Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG Pos. Name Goals
2019[a] 1 CPL 28 9 7 12 39 37 +2 34 1.21 3rd DNQ R3 Ineligible 2,668 Chile Rodrigo Gattas[43][44] 11
2020[b] 7 2 4 1 8 7 +1 10 1.43 5th DNQ DNQ N/A Canada Joseph Di Chiara 3
2021 14 4 5 5 14 20 -6 17 1.21 5th DNQ Canada Diyaeddine Abzi 3

1. Average attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in league season, league playoffs, Canadian Championship, CONCACAF League, and other competitive continental matches.

  1. ^ Split season format was used with 10 games in spring season and 18 games in fall season
  2. ^ Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the season was held exclusively in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, without fans formatted as a two stage round-robin season with a single match final[45]

All-time top scorers[]

As of Aug 28, 2021[citation needed]
# Name Nation Career at club Goals Scored
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Rodrigo Gattas  Chile 2019 9 2 0 11
2 Ryan Telfer  Trinidad and Tobago 2019–2020 8 2 0 10
3 Simon Adjei  Sweden 2019 7 1 0 8
4 Joseph Di Chiara  Canada 2019–2020 5 0 0 5
5 Diyaeddine Abzi  Canada 2019– 4 0 0 4
Manny Aparicio  Canada 2019–2020 4 0 0 4
7 Wataru Murofushi  Japan 2019–2020 3 0 0 3
Kyle Porter  Canada 2019–2020 3 0 0 3
Álvaro Rivero  Spain 2020– 3 0 0 3
Lowell Wright  Canada 2020– 3 0 0 3

Note: Bold indicates active player

All-time top assists[]

As of Aug 28, 2021[citation needed]
# Name Nation Career at club Games Played
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Kyle Porter  Canada 2019–2020 5 2 0 7
2 Diyaeddine Abzi  Canada 2019– 5 0 0 5
3 Morey Doner  Canada 2019–2020 4 0 0 4
4 Max Ferrari  Canada 2020– 3 0 0 3
Michael Petrasso  Canada 2020– 1 2 0 3
6 Manny Aparicio  Canada 2019–2020 2 0 0 2
Simon Adjei  Sweden 2019 2 0 0 2
Steven Furlano  Canada 2019 2 0 0 2
Ryan Telfer  Trinidad and Tobago 2019–2020 1 1 0 2

Note: Bold indicates active player

All-time most appearances[]

As of Aug 28, 2021[citation needed]
# Name Nation Career at club Games Played
CPL Cup Int'l Total
1 Diyaeddine Abzi  Canada 2019– 42 7 0 49
2 Nathan Ingham  Canada 2019– 40 7 0 47
3 Luca Gasparotto  Canada 2019–2020 35 6 0 41
4 Ryan Telfer  Trinidad and Tobago 2019–2020 33 6 0 39
5 Manny Aparicio  Canada 2019–2020 31 6 0 37
Kyle Porter  Canada 2019–2020 31 6 0 37
7 Morey Doner  Canada 2019–2020 32 4 0 36
Wataru Murofushi  Japan 2019–2020 30 6 0 36
9 Joseph Di Chiara  Canada 2019–2020 30 4 0 34
Rodrigo Gattas  Chile 2019 28 6 0 34

Note: Bold indicates active player

Single-season records[]

As of August 28, 2021

Record Name Statistic Season
Goals (all competitions) Rodrigo Gattas 11 2019
Goals (league matches) Rodrigo Gattas 9 2019
Assists (all competitions) Kyle Porter 6 2019
Assists (league matches) Diyaeddine Abzi
Morey Doner
Kyle Porter 		4 2019
2019
2019
Clean sheets (all competitions) Nathan Ingham 8 2019
Clean sheets (league matches) Nathan Ingham 6 2019

Note: Bold indicates active player

Awards[]

Canadian Premier League Awards[]

Year Name Award Status
2019[46] Nathan Ingham Golden Glove Nominated
Diyaeddine Abzi Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year Nominated
Jimmy Brennan Coach of the Year Nominated

York United FC Fan Voted Awards[]

Year Name Award
2019[47] Morey Doner Fan Voted Player of the Year

Canadian Premier League Fan Awards[]

Year Name Award
2019[48] Morey Doner Team of the Year

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "York 9 Football Club Joins Canadian Premier League". canpl.ca. May 5, 2018.
  2. ^ Bedakian, Armen. "Kyle Porter yearns to 'be remembered' with historic York9 FC signing". York9 FC.
  3. ^ Cudmore, John (December 30, 2017). "Former TFC captain Jimmy Brennan steps down as Aurora FC executive director". YorkRegion.com. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  4. ^ Brennan, Jim. "Jim Brennan on LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "The CanPL Hub on Twitter". Twitter. March 4, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "4 clubs get membership from Soccer Canada; expected to join CPL". Sportsnet. May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "Owners profile". york9fc.canpl.ca. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  8. ^ "Front Office Directory". york9fc.canpl.ca. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  9. ^ "Canada Soccer on Twitter". Twitter. May 5, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  10. ^ McIsaac, Greg (May 10, 2018). "York 9 Football Club Joins Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Larson, Kurtis (May 5, 2018). "Canadian Premier League unveils York 9 FC in 'soccer hotbed' York Region". Toronto Sun. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  12. ^ "York Region Cities & Towns". York Link. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  13. ^ Benedetti, Micki (July 27, 2018). "Jimmy Brennan Announced as Head Coach of York 9 FC". york9fc.canpl.ca.
  14. ^ "York Region Selects named runners-up of U17 International Soccer Cup". The CanPL Hub. August 21, 2018. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  15. ^ "HFX Wanderers, Cavalry FC both victorious in home openers". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. May 4, 2019.
  16. ^ "HFX edge Vaughan in 1st leg of Canadian championship qualifier". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. May 16, 2019.
  17. ^ "CUP PREVIEW: Nine Stripes off to Quebec". york9fc.canpl.ca. May 15, 2019.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Bedakian, Armen. "CPL inaugural match: Forge FC hosts York9 FC". canpl.ca. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b "Canadian Premier League kicks off, marking new era for soccer in Canada". sportsnet.ca. April 27, 2019.
  20. ^ "York9 FC and AS Blainville battle to a scoreless draw". canadasoccer.com. May 16, 2019.
  21. ^ "Canadian Premier League Commissioner Statement: Start of season postponed". Canadian Premier League. March 20, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  22. ^ "York9 FC's Emilio Estevez sold to Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag". Canadian Premier League. May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  23. ^ Davidson, Neil. "Canadian Premier League's York 9 FC rebrands as York United FC with new logo, colours". TSN. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  24. ^ "York9 FC to play 2019 inaugural Canadian Premier League season at York Lions Stadium". york9fc.canpl.ca. March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  25. ^ "York 9 FC unveils stadiums plans for 2019 and beyond". canpl.ca. October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  26. ^ "Coming Soon: York University's State-of-the-Art Seasonal Sports Dome, One of the Largest in Ontario". York University Athletics. August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  27. ^ "Stadium Profile". york9fc.canpl.ca. May 10, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  28. ^ Armstrong, Laura (May 10, 2018). "Soccer's fledgling Canadian Premier League unveils its first team, the York9 Football Club". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  29. ^ Thompson, Marty (December 11, 2020). "York United rebrand Q&A with Angus McNab". York United FC. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  30. ^ Thompson, Marty (December 11, 2020). "4 things you may have missed from York United iconography". York United FC. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  31. ^ Jump up to: a b "Emblem Inspiration". york9fc.canpl.ca. York 9 FC. May 10, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  32. ^ "Canadian Premier League officially launches York 9 FC in Vaughan". Waking The Red. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  33. ^ "Canadian Premier League". canpl.ca. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  34. ^ "The Green Lions bridge student gap as Y9's youthful supporters group". York9 FC. January 9, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  35. ^ "'Dames of York' help themselves as York9's 1st female supporters group". Canadian Premier League. March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  36. ^ "Roster". Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  37. ^ @yorkutdfc (December 18, 2020). "The squad so far. From now until Christmas, you can get player customization added to your jersey order FOR FREE!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  38. ^ "YORK UNITED SIGNS DEFENDER MATTEO CAMPAGNA ON LOAN FROM VANCOUVER WHITECAPS". Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  39. ^ "Club Directory". York9 FC. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  40. ^ "York9 appoints Aparicio captain, names five vice-captains". Canadian Premier League. April 26, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  41. ^ "Free agent Manny Aparicio departs York9 to sign with Pacific FC". Canadian Premier League. November 6, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  42. ^ "https://twitter.com/yorkutdfc/status/1409215558516629509". Twitter. Retrieved June 28, 2021. External link in |title= (help)
  43. ^ "CPL - 2019 Spring Season Table". Soccerway. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  44. ^ "CPL - 2019 Fall Season Table". Soccerway. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  45. ^ "Canadian Premier League". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  46. ^ "RUNDOWN: Analyzing & comparing the 2019 CPL Awards nominees". Canadian Premier League. November 12, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  47. ^ FC, York9 (November 12, 2019). "Congratulations @moreydoner3! Thank you to all our fans who voted! #York9FCpic.twitter.com/FXL4HOuNFs". @York9FC. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  48. ^ "Canadian Premier League Announces Fan Awards Winners". Canadian Premier League. December 16, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.

External links[]

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