Simcoe County Rovers Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Barrie, Ontario, that plays in the League1 Ontario Premier men's and women's divisions. The Rovers won the 2023 League1 Ontario championship and qualified for the 2024 Canadian Championship. The Rovers played their first season in League1 Ontario in 2022.
History
The club was founded in 2021, by former Canadian national team playerJulian de Guzman, Peter Raco, and the Barrie Soccer Club under the name FC Barrie, who had initially been part of the group forming 1812 FC Barrie, before departing to form their own team.[1][2]
On July 6, 2021, the club was officially unveiled under the name Simcoe County Rovers FC as a joint partnership between Raco and de Guzman.[3] In August 2021, it was announced that Canadian national team player Cyle Larin was joining the club as a co-owner;[4][5][6] in December 2021, fellow Canadian national team player Doneil Henry was announced as another co-owner.[7] In January 2022, Canadian women's team player Janine Beckie also joined the ownership group.[8][9] In April 2022, Atiba Hutchinson also joined the ownership group.[10] Since its formation, the team has been affiliated with youth clubs Barrie SC and Aurora FC (who previously operated a team in League1 Ontario until 2020), and Orangeville-based school Athlete Institute.[3][11]
On October 21, 2021, it was announced that the club was officially joining both the male and female divisions of League1 Ontario for 2022, acquiring the license of Aurora FC, who did not play in 2021 and joined the Rovers as an affiliate club.[12][13] Both teams played their debut matches on April 24 against Blue Devils FC, with the women winning 3–0 and the men drawing 1–1.[14][15] In 2022, the men's reserve team won the League1 Ontario U21 Reserve Division.[16]
Rovers celebrate 2023 League1 Ontario title
In 2023, the men finished the regular season in second place, earning their first home playoff game,[17] where they defeated Vaughan Azzurri in the semi-finals, in front of over 1,200 fans.[18] In the championship final, they defeated Scrosoppi FC to win the League1 Ontario title, thereby qualifying for the 2024 Canadian Championship.[19][20][21] Over 600 travelling supporters attended the League1 Ontario final, marking a League1 Canada traveling supporters record.
Rovers Sports and Entertainment Group (RSEG) owns the Simcoe County Rovers Football Club. RSEG is made up of current and former Canadian National team players, as well as others. The ownership group includes Julian de Guzman, Peter Raco, Kosi Stobbs, Will Devellis, Jason Melbourne, David Zbar, Steve Mantzouranis, as well as Canadian national team players Atiba Hutchinson, Janine Beckie, Cyle Larin, and Doneil Henry.[26]
