CF Montréal

**History** edit **Founding and pre-MLS era** edit Montreal Impact were founded in December 1992 when the Saputo family acquired a new franchise in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL), at the time the top flight of professional U.S. and Canadian soccer, which was set to begin competition for the 1993 season. According to club owner Joey Saputo, the franchise was branded Impact because he wanted the team to make an impact on the sport in Montréal, in Québec and in Canada at large; the word is also identical in English and French, which eased marketing in the city's bilingual environment. In 1994, the Impact defeated the Colorado Foxes 1–0 at Centre Claude Robillard in Montréal, in front of a crowd of 8,169. The victory was the first championship for a professional soccer club from the city of Montréal. The Impact were regular season champions for three consecutive seasons; from 1995 to 1996 in the APSL (rebranded as the A-League), and in 1997 as part of the post-merger USISL A-League. In 2004, the Impact won the A-League championship by defeating the Seattle Sounders 2–0 at Centre Claude Robillard in Montréal, in front of a crowd of 13,648—a new attendance record for the club at the time. The A-League was renamed the USL First Division in November 2004. The Impact started the 2005 season with a 15-game undefeated streak and finished 10 points clear of second place to win the Commissioner's Cup. They were knocked out in the playoffs semi-finals by the Seattle Sounders. That same year, the club announced the construction of Saputo Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium and the club's current home, which opened on May 19, 2008. The Impact repeated as Commissioner's Cup winners in 2006 and won their first USL playoff championship in 2009 after they defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 6–3 on aggregate in the two-legged final. The second leg was played at Saputo Stadium in front of a crowd of 13,034. The Impact won the first seven editions of the Voyageurs Cup, the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada awarded to the best Canadian team in the USL First Division, from 2002 to 2007. Since 2008, the trophy has been awarded to the winner of the Canadian Championship. The Impact won the first edition of the competition in 2008 which qualified the club for the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, their first continental tournament. The club advanced through the preliminary and group stages to the Champions League quarterfinals, where the Impact were defeated 5–4 on aggregate by Mexican club Santos Laguna. In 2009, the Impact announced plans to join the breakaway North American Soccer League (NASL), a new second division league, but due to legal disputes with the USL, they instead joined the temporary USSF Division 2 Professional League for one season in 2010. The Impact finished third in the league's NASL Conference and lost in the semifinals to Carolina RailHawks FC. The team also lead the league in average attendance with 12,608 spectators per match. Montréal ultimately played in the NASL for one season, failing to qualify for the playoffs, before being replaced by their MLS incarnation. **MLS franchise bid and transition** edit Montreal Impact pre-game lineup photo, 2013 Toward the end of 2007, much speculation had been made about a possible franchise move for the lower division Impact to Major League Soccer (MLS). The construction of the expandable Saputo Stadium further suggested an interest on the part of the group to move up to the top-level North American league. Although Toronto FC held a three-year Canadian exclusivity deal that did not expire until 2009, they stated in March 2008 that they would gladly welcome the Impact into MLS. Chairman Joey Saputo held talks with George Gillett (former co-owner of Liverpool F.C. and former owner of the Montreal Canadiens) regarding possible joint ownership of a franchise. On July 24, 2008, MLS announced they were seeking to add two expansion teams for the 2011 season, of which Montreal was listed as a potential candidate. On November 22, 2008, the group's bid for an MLS franchise was not retained by commissioner Don Garber. In response to Vancouver's successful bid in March 2009, Impact GM Nick De Santis commented that he expected chairman Saputo to pursue and realize his vision of Montreal as an MLS franchise someday. By May 16, 2009, the Montreal Gazette reported Garber and Saputo had resumed talks for an expansion team to begin play in 2011. On May 7, 2010, Garber and Saputo announced Montreal as the nineteenth club in Major League Soccer, set to begin play for the 2012 season. The MLS franchise is privately owned by the Saputo family. On June 14, 2011, the Montreal Impact announced a five-year agreement with the Bank of Montreal to become their lead sponsor and jersey sponsor in MLS. In August 2011, Jesse Marsch became the Impact's new head coach. The club began building their roster for their inaugural MLS season in October 2011 with the signing of defenseman Nelson Rivas, previously of Inter Milan. From their NASL roster, the Impact re-signed defender Hassoun Camara, goalkeeper Evan Bush and midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic to new MLS contracts. Through the MLS expansion draft, the Impact were able to select in November 2011 ten more players, most notably midfielder and American international Justin Mapp. The Impact also traded for Davy Arnaud from Sporting Kansas City who would eventually become the team's first MLS captain. In December 2011, the club signed long-time Impact goalkeeper and Canadian international Greg Sutton, midfielder, Canadian international, future team captain and future Canada Soccer hall of famer Patrice Bernier, and Brazilian midfielder Felipe Martins. Veteran forward and long-time Impact player Eduardo Sebrango was invited to training camp and in February 2012 was awarded an MLS contract. **Beginnings in MLS and Champions League Final** edit 2012 season On March 10, 2012, the Impact played their inaugural MLS game, a 2–0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC. A week later, the club made its home debut at the Olympic Stadium against the Chicago Fire, the game ending in a 1–1 draw. The match attracted 58,912 spectators, surpassing the previous record for professional soccer in Montréal established in a 1981 Montreal Manic home game against the Chicago Sting (58,542). On May 12, 2012, the Impact set a new attendance record for a professional soccer match in Canada with a crowd of 60,860 spectators during a game against the Los Angeles Galaxy which ended in 1–1 draw. On May 24, 2012, the club announced the signing of their first ever MLS Designated Player in Marco Di Vaio, previously of Bologna F.C. 1909. Di Vaio signed with the Impact after 14 seasons in Serie A and went on to score 34 goals in 76 appearances from 2012 to 2014 with the club. The Impact finished the 2012 regular season in seventh place in the Eastern conference with a record of 12 wins, 16 losses, and 6 ties. On November 3, 2012, head coach Jesse Marsch stepped down due to a difference of opinion with club management over how the team should move forward. 2013 season On January 7, 2013, the Impact named Marco Schällibaum as head coach. Schällibaum had previously coached nearly 10 years in the Swiss Super League. On February 23, the Impact won the 2013 Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, beating Columbus Crew 1–0 in the final during their pre-season campaign. On May 29, the club won the 2013 Canadian Championship by defeating Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the final, the Impact's first major trophy since joining MLS and their eighth Voyageurs Cup. As Canadian Champions, the Impact earned a spot in the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, their second ever berth and first berth since joining MLS as an expansion team.[citation needed] The club finished the 2013 MLS regular season with a record of 14 wins, 13 losses, and 7 ties which earned them their first-ever MLS playoff berth, finishing in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Impact were eliminated by the Houston Dynamo in the knockout round. The club announced on December 18 that Marco Schällibaum would not return and former Chicago Fire coach Frank Klopas would replace him as the Impact's new head coach. 2014 season The Impact became repeat Voyageurs Cup champions by defeating Toronto FC in the 2014 Canadian Championship final on June 4, 2014. Despite their success in the domestic cup, the Impact struggled in league play. The Impact finished the 2014 MLS season with a record of 6–18–10 (W-L-D), finishing last in the league. In the 2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League, Montreal Impact won a group against the New York Red Bulls and FAS of El Salvador. They then won on the away goals rule against Pachuca of Mexico in the quarter-finals, and Alajuelense of Costa Rica in the semi-finals. In the final against Club América, the team lost 5–3 on aggregate despite drawing the first game 1–1 in Mexico City. **2015–present** edit On August 29, 2015, head coach Frank Klopas was fired and replaced on an interim basis by former Impact player Mauro Biello. After qualifying for the playoffs and defeating Toronto FC in the first round before being eliminated in the Conference semi-finals by the Columbus Crew, Biello was hired permanently. The team was also boosted mid-season by the arrival of Ivory Coast forward Didier Drogba, formerly of Chelsea. The Impact played the 2015 CONCACAF Champions League final before of a record 61,004 Biello was dismissed by the club in October 2017 after failing to qualify for the playoffs and was succeeded by Rémi Garde, formerly of Aston Villa. Garde was himself dismissed in August 2019 and replaced by former Colombian football defender Wilmer Cabrera on an interim basis. During Cabrera's time at the helm of the team, the Impact won the 2019 Canadian Championship defeating Toronto FC in the finals. Despite his success in the Canadian Championship, Cabrera failed to lead the team to the MLS playoffs and his contract was not renewed for the following season. In November 2019, former France international Thierry Henry signed a two-year deal to coach the Impact. In his first season, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but were eliminated 2–1 by the New England Revolution in the first round. That same year, the Impact's first Champions League campaign since the 2015 final ended in the quarter-finals, with away goals elimination by Hondurian club C.D. Olimpia. Henry resigned in February 2021 stating family reasons for his decision to step down as head coach. In a press release, he said: "The last year has been an extremely difficult one for me personally. Due to the worldwide pandemic, I was unable to see my children. Unfortunately due to the ongoing restrictions and the fact that we will have to relocate to the U.S. again for several months will be no different. The separation is too much of a strain for me and my kids. Therefore, it is with much sadness that I must take the decision to return to London and leave CF Montreal." Following Henry's abrupt departure, assistant coach Wilfried Nancy was named interim head coach and following an impressive start to his first season, Nancy was made permanent and his contract renewed in May 2021 as head coach for 2022. CF Montréal finished the 2022 MLS season in second place in the Eastern Conference and third place overall, the club's highest finish since their inaugural 2012 season in MLS. The club set a total of 8 new club records including for the number of wins in a season (20) and points in a regular season (65). They also set 2 new all-time MLS records for most road wins in a single season (11) and most consecutive road wins (7). CF Montréal were knocked out of the 2022 MLS playoffs in the Eastern Conference Semifinals by New York City FC by a score of 3–1, at Saputo Stadium. CF Montréal also set new club records for income earned from the sale of players with the sale of Djordje Mihailovic to AZ Alkmaar, Alistair Johnston to Celtic FC and Ismaël Koné to Watford FC. MLS 2022 Coach of the Year candidate, Wilfried Nancy left the club and signed with Columbus Crew in December 2022 and was replaced with former D.C. United head coach Hernán Losada. It was reported that Nancy had agreed with management to finish the season with CF Montréal following a verbal conflict with club owner, Joey Saputo, after a 3–0 loss to Sporting Kansas City in July but that he would be leaving the club after the end of the season. On June 27, 2023, CF Montréal manager Losada gave six Québecois players a start in a 1–0 league win over the New England Revolution: it was the highest number of locally-based players ever featured in the starting XI since the team had first joined MLS. CF Montréal parted ways with Losada after the 2023 regular season. - ^ a b c d e f g "History". CF Montréal. Archived from the original on April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023. - ^ Boehm, Charles (January 14, 2021). "CF Montréal explain rebrand: "To make an impact, we need to retire the Impact"". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved July 29, 2025. - ^ "Montreal Impact's reported name change drawing mixed reactions". Sportsnet. December 7, 2020. 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