Full name | London City Soccer Club |
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Nickname(s) | City |
Founded | 14 February 1973; 42 years ago |
Ground | Hellenic Stadium London, Ontario |
Capacity | 5,000 |
Owner | Jasmin Halkic |
Coach | Jasmin Halkic |
League | Canadian Soccer League |
2016 | Regular season: 5th Playoffs: Quarterfinals |
Website | Club home page |
London City is a Canadian soccer team founded in 1973. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League in their Second Division. The team plays their home games at the Hellenic Centre Stadium in the city of London, Ontario. The team's colours are red, black and white. Formed on Valentine's Day of 1973 by Markus Gauss in order to field a London entry for the National Soccer League after the departure of German Canadian FC. The Gauss family ran and provided the city of London a professional team for 38 years. Under their tutelage the club was most notable for providing an opportunity for young players to develop in an professional environment.
.In 1998, London became a charter member for the Canadian Professional Soccer League. In the initial stages of the new league City managed to compete several times for a postseason berth. Shortly after the club went through a difficult rebuilding stage as a result missed the playoffs for twelve consecutive seasons. Their biggest success came in 2003 when they captured the Open Canada Cup. After the loss of Harry Gauss to cancer and the higher playing standards placed by the league the Gauss family decided to sell the club. The new ownership of Andrew Crowe and Zoran Kliseric brought an end to London's postseason drought and qualified for the playoffs in 2013. After four years of ownership both Crowe and Kliseric sold their shares ultimately to former general manager Jasmin Halkic who relegated the club to the Second Division in 2016 in order to serve as a reserve team for Milton SC.
On February 14, 1973, former German Canadian FC vice-president Markus Gauss purchased the club's franchise rights to form London City SC in order to compete in the National Soccer League. Gauss would serve as the club's president, while his son Harry Gauss managed the day-to-day operations. Cove Road Stadium would serve as the club's original home venue. In their debut season in the NSL the team finished seventh out of sixteen teams in the standings. During their first NSL run the Middlesex County team was a regular playoff contender with their best league performance occurring in the 1980 season with a fifth-place finishing.