Simcoe County Rovers FC

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Simcoe County Rovers
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Full nameSimcoe County Rovers Football Club
NicknameRovers
Founded2021
StadiumJ.C. Massie Field at Georgian College
Capacity675 seated. 1,200 including standing room
Owner(s)Rovers Sports and Entertainment Group
PresidentVacant
Head coachVacant (men)
Zack Wilson (women)
LeagueLeague1 Ontario
2025L1O-P, 4th (men)
L1O-P, 1st (women)
Websitehttps://www.roversfc.ca/
File:Soccerball current event.svg Current season

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 club debuted in League1 Ontario in 2022 in both the men's and women's divisions. The men's team won the league title in 2023 and participated in the 2024 Canadian Championship. The women's team won their League1 Ontario Premier league title, as well as the League1 Canada National title at the Women's Inter-Provincial Championship in 2025.

History

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The club was founded in 2021, by former Canadian national team player Julian de Guzman, and Peter Raco 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).[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]

File:Rovers 2023 Championship.jpg
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.

On April 24, 2024, the club made their Canadian Championship debut, where they were defeated 5-0 by Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, with over 2000 estimated Rovers fans having purchased tickets and attending the match. Rovers FC qualified to the 2024 League Cup Finals and lost to Vaughan in penalty kicks.[22][23]

In 2025, the women's team won the Premier Division title,[24] qualifying for the League1 Canada Women's Inter-Provincial Championship, where they won the title to become the national champions and the only team from Ontario to have ever won League1 Canada’s national championship.[citation needed]

Players, staff, and ownership

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Coaching staff

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Owners

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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]

Executives

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Name Position Tenure
Will Devellis Chief Operating Officer 2021–present
Andy Wilson Director of Game Day Operations 2021-present

Past Executives

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Name Position Tenure
Julian de Guzman President & Sporting Director 2021–2023
Peter Raco President 2024-2025
Peter Raco Chief Executive Officer 2021-2025
David Zbar Chief Marketing Officer 2023-2025
Jamie Massie Senior Executive Advisor 2021-2025

Seasons

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Men

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Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League cup Canadian Championship Ref
2022 League1 Ontario 22 13–5–3 5th Semi-finals – did not qualify
2023 21 15–1–4 2nd Champions – did not qualify
2024 League1 Ontario Premier 12 9–7–6 5th – Finalists Preliminary round
2025 11 8–6–6 4th – Semi-finals

Women

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Season League Teams Record Rank Playoffs League Cup Inter-Provincial Championship Ref
2022 League1 Ontario 20 12–5–2 5th Quarter-Finals – did not qualify
2023 19 8–4–6 7th did not qualify – did not qualify
2024 League1 Ontario Premier 10 5–6–7 7th – Semi-finals did not qualify
2025 10 14–3–1 Champions – Semi-finals Champions

Honours

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Senior

Reserves

Notable players

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

Men

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Women

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Club records

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Below are current record holders for the club.

Men

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Record Record holder Date Ref
Largest victory 9–1 vs. Unionville Milliken June 17, 2023 [citation needed]
Most appearances[a] Shawn-Claud Lawson (76) 2022–present [citation needed]
Most career goals[a] Jevontae Layne(30) 2023-2024 [citation needed]
Home attendance 1,180 August 27, 2023 [citation needed]
Away attendance 2,250 (BMO Field) April 24, 2024 [citation needed]

Women

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Record Record holder Date Ref
Largest victory 7–0 vs. ProStars FC July 12, 2023 [citation needed]
Most appearances[a] Adriane Devlin (65) 2022–Date [citation needed]
Most career goals[a] Ally Rowe (26) 2025 [citation needed]
  1. ^ a b c d Includes all competitions

References

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