FC Men hungry to compete, develop on the pitch

It’s a lot of new faces for FC London in 2022, including its coaching staff, but it’s a group determined to develop and improve throughout the year in League1 play.

FC London’s starting 11 for their season opener Apr. 23, 2022. (Photo: Paul Hendren / League1 Ontario).

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“I think the club has a very bright future.”

Those were the hopeful words FC London men’s head coach Ruben Quintão used to describe his team’s outlook for the 2022 season.

After posting an 8-4-0 record and narrowly missing the playoffs in 2021, this year’s team has an entirely different look. Besides having only four returning players, one of the biggest differences is the addition of Quintão himself, who was named new head coach in January.

Quintão, born and raised in Forjães, Portugal, joined the London TFC Academy three years ago and worked with players from various age groups. With the departure of Mike Marcoccia, who coached both FC London’s men’s and women’s teams last year, an opportunity presented itself.

“I took it,” said Quintão, who believes this role is his biggest test yet in a six-year coaching career that began in Norway. “I thought it was a good opportunity for me in my career to develop further and challenge myself as a coach.”

One of the biggest early challenges in the role has been managing the significant roster turnover from last year’s team to the 2022 squad, which is now three games into its League1 season. That type of whole-scale change to a roster can be difficult for a coach, who needs to get everyone on the same page.

Fortunately, he wasn’t starting entirely from scratch, as he was already familiar with several players who came up through the London TFC Academy system. But there are certainly plenty of brand new players, as well, including some from out of province – and even a couple of players from outside the country.

Offseason training, indoors at the BMO Centre, helped Quintão instill in his players his coaching style and systems – and for them to get comfortable with each other.

“We’ve been training now for awhile, so all the chemistry that you don’t have in the beginning has been built over the past couple of months,” the coach said.

Also helpful was playing several friendlies (seven, in fact) prior to the start of the 2022 League1 season the third week of April, which helped the players work on their chemistry on the pitch. Quintão, in fact, cites the team’s sense of togetherness as perhaps their biggest strength in the early days of the 2022 season.

Through three games, the FC London men are 0-2-1. They’ll seek their first win this Saturday at home when they square off against Sigma FC at Tricar Field. After opening the season with a 2-0 loss on the road to Unionville on April 23, FC London earned a draw versus St. Catharines Roma at home April 30, and then dropped a 1-0 decision to North Mississauga on Friday.

Engjell Qamili scored both FC London goals in their home draw, playing all 90 minutes in the match. Four players have logged all 270 minutes in the team’s first three matches, including Brandon Miranjie, Aidan Marr, Ryan Baker and Patrick Melo, one of the returnees. Mike Sneddon, Connor Millar and Ibrahim Khalaf are the others back from 2021, although the latter two players only saw a combined 78 minutes last season.

Besides the team’s local players, suiting up for FC London this year are Kuhle Bekwayo and goalkeeper Jaron Slopinski from Saskatchewan, Mateo Herrera from Manitoba, and Harry Carter from Newfoundland and Labrador. Aman Khanna has joined the team from India, while keeper Chanwoong Kang hails from South Korea.

Goalkeeper Chanwoong Kang warms up prior to FC London’s first game of the 2022 season. (Photo: Paul Hendren / League1 Ontario)

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“We have a very solid group,” said Quintão. “I believe there’s a few that, if they have a good season, they could go on to play at a higher level.”

And that’s a stated goal for Quintão and FC London’s program. Besides wanting to be competitive in league play, the organization says it’s focused on developing its players – both on and off the pitch – for future opportunities.

But while they’re here, they’re looking to win and get better as a team. In addition to a new head coach, FC London has a new technical director this year, Yiannis Tsalatsidis, and several other coaches who have previous involvement with teams in the Canadian Premier League (CPL). Quintão says the new coaches are raising the bar and have brought a wealth of knowledge.

“They bring in new ideas, new-age concepts, and new ways of thinking,” the coach said, adding that players and coaches alike are looking to learn and develop during the 2022 League1 campaign, which runs through mid-August before a playoff schedule commences. With 22 teams in the league, it’ll be a 21-game schedule this season. They’ll play four more times in May, five in June, six in July and three in August.

Quintão knows FC London isn’t the only team with lots of roster turnover from last year. Not to mention, the 2021 shortened season included just eight teams. That makes sizing up opponents difficult. Each week, in other words, is unique.

“I don't know much about the other teams, and looking at games from last year is a little deceiving,” said Quintão, who is more focused on his own team’s style and building confidence in his players.

One thing he knows for sure: He has a team filled with passionate footballers eager to play the game at the highest level in Ontario.

“The boys are very hungry to play competitive games and develop,” Quintão said. “Just like the rest of the coaching staff, they want to do well.”