Brampton United

Brampton United

Full name	Brampton United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Lions, United
Founded	2002 (as Metro Lions)
Ground	Victoria Park Stadium Brampton, Ontario (Capacity: 2,000)
Chairman	Jose Leal, Mike Dimatteo
Manager	Armando Costa
League	Canadian Soccer League
2010	10th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Brampton City United FC are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 2002. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, the third tier of competition in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the largest domestic pro league in Canada. The club plays out of Victoria Park Stadium in the community of Brampton, Ontario.

History

The team first entered the league as the Metro Lions in 2002, playing at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough for three years. On March 30, 2005 it was announced the Metro lions were purchased by Oakville Soccer Club, and Oakville Premier Soccer Academy relocated to Oakville for the 2005 CPSL season, and the franchise was renamed to the Oakville Blue Devils.^[1] Former Toronto Lynx head coach, and president of the Premier Soccer Academy Duncan Wilde was appointed manager. Wilde brought in the likes of former USL players which included Darren Baxter, Aaron Steele, Shawn Faria, Igor Prostan, and CSL veterans Phil Ionadi, Sa Brahima Traore, and Marko Bedenikovic. He was able to led the Blue Devils in capturing their first Rogers Cup victory.

After the 2005 season Wilde resigned from his head coaching position, in order to manage to the Toronto Lynx again. During the 2006 season former team captain Phil Ionadi was appointed the new manager. He led them in clinching the National Conference, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, losing 2–1 to the Windsor Border Stars.

In 2007 because of the Club's administration was totally committed to the development of soccer, the Blue Devils relocated back to Scarborough and were renamed the Canadian Lions.

On March 13, 2008 the Lions were relocated to Brampton for the 2008 season, prompting another name change to Brampton Lions but still maintaining the team's name, logo, history and statistics. The Lions announced their coaching staff on March 30, signing Armando Costa as manager.^[2] On April 10 the team held a press conference announcing their management team, hiring the likes of former Hitmen captain Phil Ionadi as the Director of Business Operations, Barry Goldlist as the Vice President, Bill Dixon as the CFO, and Costa as the Director of Soccer Operations and Manager.^[3] On March 29, 2009 the Brampton Lions announced the affiliation with Dixie Soccer Club where Dixie SC will serve as the reserve side for the Lions while playing in the CSL Reserve Division.^[4]

On January 16, 2011 Brampton announced another re-branding. This time Brampton United will be the team's name.^[5] The new crest bears a strong resemblance to the English Premier League's Manchester United, with a majestic lion in place of Manchester's traditional red devil.

Current squad

As of August 15, 2011. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Roy Blanche[6] 2 DF Denny Velasteguis 3 DF Tarik Robertson 4 DF Alex Kawalit 5 DF Giovanni Annisi 6 DF Nicholas-Kofi Poku 7 MF Cameron Medwin 8 MF Oswald Adu 9 FW Richard West 10 FW Judah Hernandez

No. Position Player 11 FW Jeremy Shepherd 13 GK Jacob Matthews 14 MF Nikola Miodrag 17 DF Kevin McIntosh 18 MF Andy Garcia 20 MF Daniel Cameira 21 DF Blazej Skoczlyas 23 MF Andrew DaSilva GK Kodzo Awitor David Velastegui (Sheridan Bruins[7])

Crest

As the Lions, the team maintained a similar logo for most of their history, aside from the 2005 and 2006 seasons when they were purchased by the Oakville Soccer Club and renamed the Oakville Blue Devils. The modified version of the Lions logo returned when the team was relocated to Scarborough, and once again when the team was moved to Brampton. For the 2011 season the club underwent a complete rebranding and received a new crest similar in style to Manchester United. The new crest pays homage to the club's history with a heraldic lion featured in the center.

• 

  Metro Lions crest
  (2002–04)

• 

  Oakville Blue Devils crest
  (2005–06)

• 

  Canadian Lions crest
  (2007)

• 

  Brampton Lions crest
  (2008–2010)

• 

  Brampton United crest
  (2011–Present)

Honours

Brampton United captured their first CSL Championship [known at the time as the Rogers Cup for sponsorship reasons] on October 10, 2005 in a 2-1 match against the Vaughan Shooters at Esther Shiner Stadium. The winning goal was scored during extra time in the 100' minute by Ryan Gamble. At the time, the club was still known as the Oakville Blue Devils.

• Rogers Cup: 1

2005

• National Conference: 1

2006

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs
2002	"1"	CPSL	2nd, Eastern	Semi Final
2003	"1"	CPSL	5th, Eastern	Did not qualify
2004	"1"	CPSL	2nd, Eastern	Quarter Final
2005	"1"	CPSL	2nd, Western	Champions
2006	"1"	CSL	1st, National	Quarter Final
2007	"1"	CSL	4th, National	Quarter Final
2008	"1"	CSL	3rd, National	Quarter Final
2009	"1"	CSL	3rd, National	Quarter Final
2010	"1"	CSL	10th	Did not qualify

Notable players

Martin Artale Marko Bedenikovic Shawn Faria Phil Ionadi Marko Janjicek Michael Marchese Liam Martin Daniel Nascimento Kevin Omokhu Peter Petropanagos Igor Prostan

Darren Baxter Aaron Steele Jay Wright Nordo Gooden Daryl Gomez Brahima Sa Traoré Mohammed Kanu Hayden Fitzwilliams Ryan Reece

Reserve Squad

as of 10 July 2011 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player DF Armen Grewal DF David Ferreira DF Michael Odhomer DF Mohamed Diaby DF Devon Bowye MF Donavon Wilson

No. Position Player MF Yousif Walied MF Jonathan Singh FW Avian Singh FW Peter Niles FW Saul Varela[8]

References

1. ^ Oakville Blue Devils Enter CPSL
2. ^ BRAMPTON LIONS FC SIGN TOP COACH
3. ^ City welcomes the Lions
4. ^ March 2009 CSL Brampton Lions FC affiliate with Dixie Soccer Club
5. ^ "BRAMPTON IS UNITED....promises strong player development in competitive environment". 16 January 2011. Canadian Soccer League. http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/news_archive.php?news_id=363169. Retrieved 17 January 2011. 
6. ^ "Canada Futsal Profile". http://www.canadasoccer.com/players/profile.asp?playerid=1502. Retrieved 16 August 2011. 
7. ^ "Soccer Bruins come out kicking". Brampton Guardian. 28 September 2011. http://www.bramptonguardian.com/sports/article/1111554--soccer-bruins-come-out-kicking. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
8. ^ "SAUL VARELA INTERVIEW WITH SPORTS ASTROS MAGAZINE". http://canadiansoccerleague.com/newsnet/templates/?a=304&z=20. Retrieved 11 July 2011. 

External links

• Brampton City United Home Page
• Canadian Soccer League
• YouTube coverage of Brampton Lions press conference