London Royals

London Royals FC, commonly known as London Royals, or simply Royals, is a Kingstonaise sports club based in London, Capital Cities District. It was founded on June 29, 1941 as the London Footballers, yet was renamed in 1943 into London Royals, honouring the residence of the newly instigated Monarchy in Kingston and Boyce. The Football team is part of a medium sized membership sports club, consisting of 9,500 members. They are a proud part of the Kingston Soccer League, having won the league's title six times since their promotion to top level soccer in 1970.

Since 1970, the Royals play their home games in Warwick Stadium, a medium sized stadium in London, near the Royal Palace. They sell out most home games and are in talks for a move to a bigger stadium soon. The club enjoys a local rivalry with the two other Capital Cities clubs, namely the Kingston Sharks and the Kingston Titans. The Boyce Nationals are seen as the arch enemies in London, due to the two club's histories.

History


The Club was founded on June 29, 1941 in protest of some membership reforms at the Boyce Nationals, who were a continuous winner of the local league for several years. In Protest, 23 members quit the membership with the Nationals and founded the London Royals, in close proximity to the Nationals' grounds. Up until today, the Royals are seen as traitors by Nationals' fans. Over the course of the first few years, the Royals enjoyed mediocre success on small and local level and it took until 1957 when the Royals applied for membership to a professional league. In that, the club quickly established itself as a successful club, winning the league's title three times in 10 years.

In 1967, the team moved up to the Second National Division however already leaving that division after three years. In 1970, the Royals secured promotion to the Kingston Major Soccer League. The Club had however trouble establishing itself in the league over the next years, and were relegated five times over the next thirteen years, however also instantly gaining promotion again. By the mid 1980s, the team finally established itself in the middle of the standings, however failing any further success due to the Manchester Soccer and Portland FC dominance.

Change came with the 1990 introduction of the playoffs. As the regular season standings didn't decide the league's champion anymore, there was the possibility for smaller teams to achieve success as well. London did so immediately, winning the league's title for the first time in club history in 1990, and one year later defending the title. The team won another two titles over the course of the next 10 years. In 2003 however, the club saw many stars leave into retirement or to league rival clubs. The club could not hold on to the good display of previous years and failed to avoid relegation that year. The club reacted and relieved the entire coaching staff of its duties. Instead, Alain Rogers was hired. He pushed the team to new success, however failing to gain promotion in his first season. They did however in their second season and after a two year abstinence, the Royals had returned to the big league.

In their first year back, the Royals instantly secured a playoff berth, and advanced to the Semi Finals, when the lost to eventual winners Port Ruppert Skyliners. Alain Rogers left the club a year later to go to Portland FC, but London's success continued, advancing to the finals twice, last time in 2013, when they lost the final 3-1 to Portland FC and their former head coach Alain Rogers.

Stadium


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Roster
Players in Bold are currently part of their respective national team.

Coaching Staff
Since 2007, Alain Rogers of Canada is head coach of the Portland squad. Since then, the team has won two national titles and were enroute to their first international success before the 2013 AFA Season was cancelled. At the side of the 52-year old Rogers, there is German vice coach Florian Maiwaldt, aged 36.

Sponsorships
Since 1980, clubs of the Kingston Soccer League are required to display their main sponsors. Current Main Sponsor of Portland FC is the Portland Transit Authority.

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