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Vaughan Azzurri title winners

A Bluffer’s Guide to Vaughan Azzurri

By League1 Ontario staff, 09/15/22, 12:15PM EDT

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This year’s Premier Division pace-setters are no strangers to success on the field – here’s what you need to know about Vaughan Azzurri.

The men's side celebrate winning the league title.

Vaughan Azzurri's men’s side had an invincible season to become the first team to win three Men’s Premier Division crowns, and also added the 2022 Supporters’ Trophy to their cabinet for good measure.

The Azzurri also topped the Women’s Premier Division regular-season standings after losing just once all campaign, before falling to Alliance United in the playoff semifinals.

The club has been a leading light in Canadian semi-professional soccer over the years having been formed in 1982 and grown to run soccer programmes for age groups from U4 to adults, as well as an all abilities programme, with thousands of players under the Azzurri umbrella.

In July 2018, the Azzurri men’s senior team played a friendly game Frosinone Calcio who had just been promoted to Italy’s top division – Serie A. Dylan Sacramento scored from the spot in the 21st minute to send the Canadian club to temporary dreamland, leading against a top-flight European side.

Despite going on to lose 2-1, the confidence earned from that game helped Vaughan complete their second league and cup double – reclaiming their Men’s Premier Division and L1 Cup titles from 2016. 

The women’s team added to the silverware by claiming their own L1 Cup in 2016, taking the crown from inaugural winners North Mississauga. The winners in the first men’s competition two years earlier were, yes you guessed it… Vaughan Azzurri. 

The men’s team made waves on the national stage in 2019 by becoming the first – and only – L1O side to win a game in the Canadian Championship. A Halifax Wanderers own goal proved to be the winner for the Azzurri in their second-leg fixture, but their Canadian Premier League opponents were 3-2 victors in the first leg and went through to the next round on away goals.


Did you know? Vaughan Azzurri were founded as Concord Jets, adopting the Vaughan Soccer Club name on the field five years after the club’s formation.


The list of alumni from the men’s team is littered with stars, including 2022 MLS All-Star goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, Vancouver Whitecaps’ Ryan Raposo and Marcus Godinho, and CF Montréal’s Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller, as well as several players who have graced the CPL and USL leagues in the US.

The women’s side is no different. Defenders Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence, who ply their trade in Europe for Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, have both featured for Vaughan as well as several players who have represented the Guyana national football team.

Vaughan are the club to beat at senior level as we approach the final season before promotion and relegation to 2024. They lead both the men’s and women’s 75% points tables, and the men’s team now unbeaten in two regular seasons on the bounce. 

And they show no signs of slowing down.

Vaughan women's team smile at camera