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Alberta Premier League

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Alberta Premier League
Organising body
Founded2023 (2023)
First season2024
CountryCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of clubs
  • 8 (men's)
  • 8 (women's)
Level on pyramid3
Domestic cups
Current champions
(2025)
Most championships
Broadcaster(s)Alberta's Own
Websiteaplsoccer.ca Edit this at Wikidata
Current: 2026 Alberta Premier League season

The Alberta Premier League (formerly League1 Alberta) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in Alberta, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Alberta Soccer Association as a third division pro–am league in the Canadian soccer league system.

In the Canadian soccer league system, the men's division is below the Canadian Premier League (CPL). It is part of Premier Soccer Leagues Canada, the national third tier with regional divisions, with Alberta Premier League equivalent to Ligue1 Québec (L1Q), Ontario Premier League, and British Columbia Premier League. The men's league champion qualifies for the Canadian Championship, the domestic cup championship, while the women's league champion qualifies for the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada Women's Inter-Provincial Championship.[1]

History

[edit]

In 2021, a group of clubs from British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba organized the 2021 Summer Series, a series of friendly soccer matches played between Western Canadian soccer clubs to showcase a potential national second division.[2] In 2022, another exhibition showcase was organized by four clubs – three from Alberta (Calgary Foothills FC, Edmonton Scottish, BTB Soccer Academy) and one from Manitoba (FC Manitoba) – as an entity known as Central League1.[3]

In March 2023, League1 Alberta was announced with an exhibition series being organized, with six clubs participating (five in each gendered division) – the Calgary Foothills, Edmonton Scottish, St. Albert Impact, and BTB Soccer Academy fielded teams of both genders, while Cavalry FC fielded a team in the men's series and the Calgary Blizzard in the women's division.[4][5] The first matches were played on May 12, 2023,[6] with an official league season planned to be launch for the following season.[7][8]

In December 2023, it was announced that the league would officially be sanctioned for official competition under the League1 Canada umbrella for the 2024 season, with seven clubs participating in each division.[9][10]

In January 2026, the league re-branded as the Alberta Premier League, in line with a move across all the leagues in Canada.[11]

Clubs

[edit]

Eight men's teams and eight women's teams are participating in the 2026 season, of which six are based in Greater Calgary and two are based in Greater Edmonton.

Edmonton
Alberta Premier League

Alberta Premier League

[edit]
As of May 8, 2026
Current teams
Team City Stadium Capacity Founded Debut Male Female
Callies United Calgary Calgary West Soccer Centre 300 2024 2024 Yes Yes
Calgary Blizzard SC Calgary Broadview Park 1000 1967 2024 Yes Yes
Calgary Foothills FC Calgary Macron Performance Centre 2000 1972 2023 Yes Yes
Calgary Rangers SC Calgary Webber Athletic Park 320 2001 2025 Yes Yes
Calgary Wild FC U23 Calgary Macron Performance Centre 2000 2024 2024 No Yes
Calgary Villains FC Calgary Villains Dome 1981 2025 Yes Yes
Cavalry FC II Calgary Shouldice Athletic Park 2000 2023 2023 Yes No
Edmonton BTB SC Edmonton Clarke Stadium 5130 2013 2023 Yes Yes
St. Albert Impact St. Albert Riel Recreation Park 1999 2023 Yes Yes

Former clubs

[edit]
Former clubs
Team City Stadium First season Last season
Edmonton Scottish Edmonton Hamish Black Field 2023 2025[12]

Seasons

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Champions
Season Men's champion Women's champion
2023[a] Calgary Foothills FC Calgary Blizzard SC
2024 Edmonton Scottish (1) Calgary Blizzard SC (1)
2025 Calgary Blizzard SC (1) Calgary Blizzard SC (2)
  1. ^ Exhibition series

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "About". league1alberta.com/. League1 Alberta. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "Press Release: Central League 1 2022 Exhibition Series". Calgary Foothills FC. May 5, 2022.
  3. ^ Parkes, David (May 6, 2022). "Is A League1 Prairies In The Pipeline?". Northern Tribune.
  4. ^ "League1 Alberta Exhibition Series confirms participating clubs for 2023". OneSoccer. March 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "League1 Alberta Exhibition Series Clubs Confirmed" (PDF). Alberta Soccer Association. March 10, 2023.
  6. ^ @league1alberta (April 17, 2023). "Opening day announced" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "League1 Alberta In The Works". Northern Tribune. January 19, 2023.
  8. ^ Parkes, David (March 10, 2023). "Official:League1 Alberta Exhibition Series Confirmed". Northern Tribune.
  9. ^ "League1 Canada announces expansion to Alberta". Canadian Premier League. December 7, 2023.
  10. ^ Mahmoudi, Nelson (December 8, 2023). "League1 Alberta Joins League1 Canada Alliance". Northern Tribune.
  11. ^ "Premier Soccer Leagues Canada Unveils New Identity Reflecting the Heart of Canada's Domestic Pathway". Canadian Premier League. January 27, 2026. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  12. ^ Jacques, John (March 21, 2026). "Edmonton Scottish To Pause Alberta Premier League Team". Northern Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2026.