Major League Soccer (MLS) revealed the identity of the 21 clubs that will be in the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro campaign in 2022 on Monday, but FC Montreal is not affiliated with any of them.
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The Montreal organization is also not in the plans for expansion scheduled for the following season, in 2023.
This new league will be the second division of North America, just like the American League of the National League, in hockey. Thus it will allow the hopes of the organization, as well as its veterans, to prove their worth in hopes of being called back to the MLS.
“CF Montreal will closely monitor MLS NEXT Pro activities, to determine if a solution aligns with our training strategy and philosophy,” the Montreal organization said, through a press release. In order to provide a competitive environment for our U-23 group for the 2022 season, we are currently in advanced discussions with PLSQ, and hope to be able to announce an agreement very soon. “
Last season, CF Montreal players young and old who were not with the big club either played in the Canadian Premier League or trained at the academy.
Of the 21 teams that will start the MLS NEXT Pro 2022 campaign, 20 will join Garber Circuit, including teams from the two other Canadian MLS organizations, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps. Eight more clubs linked to a professional organization will enter in 2023.
The only independent team in this new league will be Rochester NY FC. England star who belongs to Leicester City, in the Premier League, Jamie Vardy, is co-owner of the new club, along with David and Wendy Dworkin.
“We look forward to promoting Rochester as a premium professional club and are excited to start that by helping kick-start the inaugural MLS NEXT Pro season in 2022,” the multi-award winning player said in a statement. Including the Premier League Golden Boot in 2019-20, an honor given annually to the top scorer at the top English circuit. Joining this league, full of opportunity for our community, fans, players and staff, on and off the field, is a source of pride for our organization.”
Each MLS NEXT Pro team will play 24 games each season and eight of them will go into the playoffs.