Welcome to the September update. If you aren’t one of our Patreons, there’s been a little bit of up and down in August. I know August isn’t technically over, but I like to keep the weekends grouped together as there’s usually a lot of action. Additionally, it’s a long weekend and I have company coming over, so this would just end up getting further delayed. This past month, the PDL & PCSL playoffs became distant memories, as did the Canadian Championship finals. The remaining clubs are now approaching the ends of their seasons, with several still fighting for playoff spots. Let’s have a look at how this shook out.
In the 2018-only ranking, things remain relatively unchanged in the Top-8. At one point in the month, Toronto FC II had dipped below Calgary Foothills FC, but their surprise victory this past week was enough for them to retake the position. A little further down the table, AS Blainville has continued to find success, and have overtaken PDL’s Victoria Highlanders to take 9th place.
Additionally, CS Mont-Royal Outremont has overtaken the top clubs from League1 Ontario in order to secure (temporarily at least) 11th place, followed by Sigma FC, Vaughan Azzurri, and Toronto FC III. Woodbridge Strikers suffered a little, dropping them back below WSA Winnipeg. Oakville Blue Devils continued their recovery over the course of the month and now sit in 25th place, as opposed to August’s 33rd.
Toward the bottom of the 3rd Divisions, Ottawa South United has dropped to 31st, followed by ProStars and Windsor TFC. Much like the top-2 3rd Division spots, the bottom-2 belong to PLSQ, with CS Fabrose having dropped from 30th to 34th, and FC Lanaudiere falling one spot to 35th. Between the remaining regular season matches and the yet-to-start PLSQ Cup competition, I expect FC Lanaudiere to drop below some of the PCSL clubs before we wrap up for 2018.
In the cumulative ratings, TFC continues to reign supreme, with Vancouver and Montreal holding onto 2nd & 3rd place. There are no changes in the order of clubs until we reach 11th place, where some poor performances from Woodbridge Strikers have pushed them back below Victoria Highlanders FC. Sigma FC has taken 13th from Toronto FC III, and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has jumped up to 15th.
Oakville Blue Devils remain mired at 18th, but have closed the gap with both FC London (16) and Dynamo de Quebec (17). I would expect Oakville to jump one or both of these clubs between now and the end of September.
As we look to the bottom, Windsor TFC has managed to jump over PCSL’s Khalsa Sporting Club, even as FC Lanaudiere has dropped below them. Aurora United, Toronto Skillz, and ProStars FC round out the bottom of the 3rd Divisions. ProStars may drop beneath Vancouver United if they aren’t able to manage a couple wins or draws this month to keep them buoyed.
Looking again to preparation for 2019, with the CPL training camps announced an eight club was confirmed, however, the latest semi-reliable rumours out of Ottawa are indicating that they will not be a part of the league this upcoming year. This changes things as it now looks like there will be:
- 8 new teams in CPL
- 1 new PLSQ side
- TFC II moving from USL to USL D3
- 1 less L1O team
In American Soccer, we may be looking at the addition of USL D3, as well as NPSL Pro and NISA. No word on how those new leagues will affect the Open Cup. We also don’t know how the CPL will fully affect the Canadian Championship, though we’re now expecting 14 teams will compete. No matter what happens, there’s a lot of shifting that will have to happen on the back end in order to have everything to seamlessly roll out next season.
With September kicking off tomorrow, there’s still plenty of soccer to watch. If you want to keep on top of the elo rankings throughout the month, a $1/month donation through Patreon will give you Friday updates. Additionally, we still have some of our limited edition “Drinking with Supporters” packs and are now able to take one-time donations in our shop. All proceeds go toward keeping the site running.