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Simcoe County Rovers reserve players celebrate winning the Men's U21 Reserve Division

L1O opens 2024 expansion application process

By League1 Ontario staff, 10/07/22, 8:30AM EDT

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Formal expressions of interest to join the new third tier of L1O are now being accepted.

Simcoe County Rovers reserve players celebrate winning the Men's U21 Reserve Division

Simcoe County Rovers' U21 won the title in their inaugural Men's Reserve Division season

League1 Ontario has begun the process for accepting expansion applications from organizations aiming to join League2, the new third tier league that is set to debut in the spring of 2024.

Formal expressions of interest are now being accepted for review by the L1O executive team.

As announced earlier this year, League1 Ontario will be divided into three tiers of competition ahead of the 2024 season.  Each level of play will be linked by a newly established promotion and relegation system, a first of its kind in North America for this level of competition.

L1O’s existing 22 men’s teams and 20 women’s teams will be placed into either the Premier or Championship divisions, determined by their results during the 2022 and 2023 season. The new League2 will be launched featuring the official reserve teams of all the Premier Division and Championship Division clubs as well as the new teams that are accepted as part of this new round of expansion.

The deadline to submit a formal expression of interest, and the accompanying non-disclosure agreement, is November 11, 2022.

Please click here to access the required forms.

2024 plan diagram

Following receipt of the form and NDA, a member of the L1O executive team will be in contact with each interested party to arrange an initial consultation session – the next stage of the application process.

The entire process will take approximately 10 months, with successful clubs set to be announced in August 2023.

Matthew Braithwaite, League1 Ontario’s Managing Director, said: "This is a very exciting time for soccer in Ontario. We look forward to beginning this process, which we expect will ultimately see us welcome a number of new organizations into our league.

"Since the announcement of our 2024 Plan in January of this year, there has been tremendous interest across the province from organizations seeking to join League2 in its inaugural year. Our leadership team has engaged with many people over the past nine months regarding expansion opportunities, and we look forward to working with everyone who comes forward in this process."