Blue Devils FC

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Blue Devils FC
Full nameBlue Devils Football Club
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
StadiumSheridan Trafalgar Stadium
PresidentSteven Caldwell[1]
Head coachDuncan Wilde (men)
Carli Tingstad (women)
LeagueLeague1 Ontario
2022League, 2nd; Playoffs, Finalists (men)
League, 15th; Playoffs, DNQ (women)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Blue Devils Football Club (formerly known as Oakville Blue Devils FC) is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakville, Ontario. The senior men's and women's teams currently compete in League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions.[2][3]

History

Past teams of same name

logo of the original Oakville Blue Devils

The original Oakville Blue Devils was a member team of the Oakville Soccer Club. The team was built, coached and developed by Phil Iafrati (1947–2013),[4] where they won the U19 provincial and national championships in 1998.[5] As the Devils reached the end of the youth soccer circuit that season, Iafrati restarted the program with the a U9 program Oakville Blue Stars in 1999.[6]

In 2005, the second edition of the Blue Devils were formed when the Scarborough-based

Brampton United, bringing to an end the period of the Oakville Blue Devils history.[4]

Revival

Club logo from 2015 to 2020

In 2015, the club was founded to play in the semi-professional

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec to determine the Canadian Division III champion, where they defeated CS Mont-Royal Outremont to win the title.[12] In 2017, they won their second title, defeating Woodbridge Strikers in the Championship final on penalty kicks.[13]

In 2018, the team played in the

AS Blainville.[14][15][16][17] Later, during the 2018 season, they played a friendly against Italian professional Serie A club Frosinone Calcio, losing by a score of 2–0.[18][19][20]

Also in 2018, the club added a team in the women's division of League1 Ontario, beginning in the 2018 season.[21][22] In their second season, the women advanced to the Championship Final, where they were defeated by FC London.[23] In 2021, the women once again finished as runner-ups after being defeated in the finals by the Woodbridge Strikers.[23]

In 2020, the club merged with GPS Academy and was renamed to Blue Devils FC.

Guelph United FC and Vaughan Azzurri, respectively.[23]

Front office and technical Staff

As of July 18, 2018[25]
Name Position
England Duncan Wilde League1 head coach
England Billy Steele U21 head coach and senior assistant coach
Canada Glenn McNamara Goalkeeper coach
Scotland Steven Caldwell President
England Brett Mosen Technical staff
Canada Kim Ashton Operations manager

Squad

As of 16 April 2023[26]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Canada CAN Lucas Birnstingl
GK Canada CAN Samuel Diltz
DF Canada CAN Adam Czerkawski
DF Canada CAN Matthew Laic
DF Canada CAN Andra Neptune
DF Canada CAN David Newman
MF Canada CAN Riel Edwards-Carol
MF Canada CAN Gianluca Del Priore
MF Canada CAN Brandon Duarte
MF England ENG Keani Fairbanks
MF Canada CAN Samer Hamade
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Canada CAN Abraham Jones
MF Canada CAN Noah MacIntyre
MF Canada CAN Mathew Santos
MF Canada CAN Antonio Sereno
MF Canada CAN Gianluca Spadafora
MF Canada CAN Kion Stewart
MF Canada CAN David Velastegui
FW Canada CAN Prince David-Amanda
FW Canada CAN Matthew McGrouther
Canada CAN Kevin Sinclair

Seasons

Men
Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Canadian Championship Ref
2015 League1 Ontario 12 17–2–3 Champions Group stage [27]
2016 16 8–4–10 6th, Western (10th overall) did not qualify First round [27]
2017 16 18–2–2 1st, Western (1st overall) Champions First round [27]
2018 17 10–5–1 3rd Group stage Semifinals First qualifying round [27]
2019 16 12–2–1 1st Semifinals Did not qualify [27]
2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[28]
2021 15 9–2–1 2nd, West (3rd overall) Finalists Did not qualify [27]
2022 22 14–5–2 2nd Finalists Did not qualify
2023 21 12–3–5 4th Semi-finals Did not qualify
Women
Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Ref
2018
League1 Ontario 13 7–1–4 5th did not qualify Round of 16 [29]
2019
14 11–0–2 1st Finalists [29]
2020
Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[28]
2021
7 6–1–5 4th Finalists
2022
20 5–4–10 15th Did not qualify
2023
19 7–3–8 11th Did not qualify

Honours

Notable players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:

Men

Women

References

  1. ^ "Steven Caldwell Joins Oakville Blue Devils FC To Help Guide Club into the Future". Oakville Blue Devils FC. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  2. ^ "Oakville Blue Devils's official website". Oakville Blue Devils. Oakville Blue Devils. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Oakville Blue Devils's page in". League1 Ontario. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "About". Oakville Blue Devils. Oakville Blue Devils. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Kuiperij, Jon (January 30, 2015). "League1 Ontario men's soccer loop welcomes Oakville Blue Devils". Oakville Beaver.
  6. ^ Kuiperij, Jon (September 19, 2013). "Iafrati, Phil (Died)". Oakville Beaver. Oakville Images.
  7. ^ "Canadian Professional Soccer League - Clubs". December 25, 2005. Archived from the original on December 25, 2005. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  8. ^ Kuiperij, Jon (October 12, 2005). "Blue Devils' Gamble pays off in CPSL final" (PDF). Oakville Beaver.
  9. ^ "Different cast of Blue Devils seeks repeat". Burlington Post. May 26, 2006.
  10. ^ Crawford, Colin (February 29, 2016). "Toronto's Soccer History: 1987 - Present". Toronto FC. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  11. ^ "Toronto Lynx Soccer Club". Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  12. ^ Kuiperij, Jon (November 17, 2015). "Goal by defensive sub lifts Oakville Blue Devils to victory in Inter-Provincial Cup". Oakville Beaver.
  13. PLSQ
    (in French).
  14. ^ "Oakville Blue Devils qualifies for Canadian Championship – Canada Soccer". Canadian Soccer Association. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  15. ^ "AS Blainville qualifies for Canadian Championship – Canada Soccer". Canadian Soccer Association. Archived from the original on October 27, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  16. ^ "About the Canadian Championship". Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  17. ^ Garbutt, Herb (October 22, 2017). "Oakville Blue Devils reclaim League1 title with dramatic penalty-kick victory". Oakville Beaver. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  18. ^ "Frosinone Calcio is Here in Canada". Molisana Imports. July 18, 2018.
  19. ^ "Frosinone - Oakville Blue Devils 2-0". Frosinone Calcio (in Italian). July 26, 2018.
  20. ^ "Tournée Canada/USA, il programma delle Amichevolu" [Tournée Canada/USA, the friends' program]. Frosinone Calcio (in Italian). July 17, 2018.
  21. ^ "Significant Expansion planned for League1 Ontario". Ontario Soccer Association. December 20, 2017.
  22. ^ Baldwin, Dan (April 27, 2018). "League 1 Ontario 2018 Preview". Northern Starting XI.
  23. ^ a b c "A Bluffer's Guide to Blue Devils". League1 Ontario. September 22, 2022.
  24. ^ "GPS Academy to Merge with Blue Devils FC". Blue Devils FC. October 1, 2020.
  25. ^ "About Us". Oakville Blue Devils. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  26. ^ "Blue Devils FC". League 1 Ontario.
  27. ^ a b c d e f "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
  28. ^ a b "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
  29. ^ a b "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.

External links