Première Ligue de soccer du Québec


The Première Ligue de soccer du Québec is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012 and organized by the Quebec Soccer Federation, the third tier of the Canadian soccer pyramid. The Canadian Soccer Association relies on provincial soccer organizations to sanction regional leagues at the tier 3 level. The men's division is below the Canadian Premier League , and equal to League1 Ontario . The PLSQ women's division is behind the U.S.-based National Women's Soccer League . The league's commissioner is Kambiz Ebadi.

History

Before the Second World War, soccer was more of a fringe activity than today; however, the best clubs in Quebec were determined in a provincial championship with the winner facing his Ontario counterpart for the title of the "National League". All the players were not amateurs; in 1934, for example, 27 professionals were identified in Quebec. The war brought a halt to Quebec's semi-professional soccer league development.
Mass immigration of quality players and ambitious leaders in the 1950s allowed Quebec to have many semi-professional teams, and even some professional clubs until the early 1960s. Organizational and competitive disagreements including unhealthy rivalries coupled with slowing immigration reduced the number of skilled young local players taking over from their predecessors. The player pool shrank.
Beginning in 1986, the semi-professional LNSQ, stirred passions by creating very good memories. However, at that time the pool of players was not large enough to allow the LNSQ to survive alongside a professional team. The arrival of the Montreal Supra, with all the best players and a much greater media profile was fatal to the fledgling league which lost its splendour before giving way to today’s LSEQ.
In 2011 there are 200,000 players, 300 clubs, 25,000 coaches, 7,000 officials and 50,000 volunteers: soccer is by far the most practised sport in Quebec and is experiencing unparalleled popularity throughout the province. The organization of soccer in Quebec has changed dramatically with the recent competitions reform conducted by the Federation helping to modernize and stabilize the soccer pyramid, but also to considerably raise standards.
For several years, the senior level teams of the LSEQ inquired about a semi-professional competition.
The amount of coaches’ development in recent years has led to a major breakthrough in the availability of quality training offered to young participants.
Thanks to the structure of the club set up, the National Centre for High-Performance, and the Academy youth teams of the Montreal Impact, the number of top players developed in Quebec has increased sharply.
Challenges of the past are no longer as applicable, and it is hoped the PLSQ will facilitate transitioning between the club set up and amateur LSEQ to Impact de Montreal. Also, the profile of the Montreal Impact will grow with its 2012 entrance to Major League Soccer. As a result of its promotion, it is much more important for the Impact to develop its own young talent and offer attractive opportunities to players that previously would have moved to Europe.
SeasonTeamsPLSQ Champions
League winners		PLSQ Cup
Cup winners
20125Not held
20137Not held
20146
20157
20167
20177
20188
20199

Format

Depending on the number of teams in the league, teams will play every other team between 2-4 times per season, for a length of usually between 15-20 games. The winner gets the regular season championship. At the end of the year, there is a League Cup. Th format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league. The most recent Cup competition featured nine teams, where three groups of three teams were formed. The winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals.
Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.

Men's Division

Current clubs

The following nine teams are members of the league for the 2020 season. Only six of the teams will participate in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former clubs

Timeline


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bar:1 color:Active from:01/01/2012 till:end text:AS Blainville
bar:2 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2013 text:FC Boisbriand
bar:3 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2013 text:FC Brossard
bar:4 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2013 text:FC St-Léonard
bar:5 color:Former from:01/01/2012 till:12/31/2015 text:FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière
bar:6 color:Active from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Mont-Royal Outremont
bar:6 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP
bar:7 color:Former from:01/01/2013 till:12/31/2019 text:FC Gatineau
bar:8 color:Former from:01/01/2014 till:12/31/2014 text:ACP Montréal-Nord
bar:9 color:Active from:01/01/2014 till:end text:CS Longueuil
bar:10 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Lakeshore SC
bar:11 color:Former from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2016 text:Ottawa Fury FC Academy
bar:12 color:Active from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2019 text:FC Lanaudière
bar:12 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP
bar:13 color:Active from:01/01/2017 till:end text:CS St-Hubert
bar:14 color:Former from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2019 text:Dynamo de Quebec
bar:15 color:Active from:01/01/2018 till:end text:CS Fabrose
bar:16 color:Active from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Monteuil
bar:16 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP
bar:17 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Celtix du Haut-Richelieu
bar:18 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Ottawa South United
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Women's Division

Current clubs

The following nine teams are members of the league for the 2020 season. Only four of the teams will participate in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former clubs

Timeline


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bar:2 color:Active from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Monteuil
bar:2 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP
bar:3 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:Dynamo de Quebec
bar:4 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:FC Sélect Rive-Sud
bar:5 color:Former from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2018 text:Lakers du Lac Saint-Louis
bar:6 color:Active from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:CS Mont-Royal Outremont
bar:6 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:DNP
bar:7 color:Active from:01/01/2019 till:end text:CS Fabrose
bar:8 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:CS St-Hubert - DNP
bar:9 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:CS Longueuil
bar:10 color:Hiatus from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text:Pierrefonds - DNP
bar:11 color:Active from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Ottawa South United
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Notable players

Players in Bold are currently playing for PLSQ clubs.