Founded | 1992 |
---|---|
Dissolved | 2011 (MLS 2012) |
Stadium |
Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard Saputo Stadium Montreal, Quebec |
Stadium capacity |
13,034 |
Owner | Joey Saputo |
Head Coach | Nick DeSantis |
League | North American Soccer League |
2011 (NASL) | Regular Season: 7th, Playoffs: DNQ |
Website | Club website |
The Montreal Impact (French: Impact de Montréal) was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1992, the team played in the United Soccer League. Later, the Impact played in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid until the 2011 season. The owner Joey Saputo now operates the MLS team Montreal Impact.
The team played its home games at Complexe Sportif Claude-Robillard until 2008 when it moved to the new Saputo Stadium where it played until its move to MLS. The team's colours were blue and white. The Impact had 11 different head coaches during these years.
The Impact also operated a reserve team, the Trois-Rivières Attak, from 2006 until 2010 which played in the Canadian Soccer League until 2010 when the Impact created their own Montreal Impact Academy. They also used to operate an indoor team (of the same name) in the NPSL (at the Bell Centre, then at Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard) with many of the same players, from 1997–1998 to 1999–2000.
On May 7, 2010, Impact owner Joey Saputo was granted a Major League Soccer expansion franchise set to begin play in Saputo Stadium in 2012. Although, in a legal sense, the Montreal MLS expansion team is an entirely separate legal entity, the new team carries the Impact name and maintains the team's legacy in the MLS.