It was Sept. 24, 2025, at an event that brought together the entire Quebec soccer community, as well as the who’s who of the Canadian Premier League, with OneSoccer cameras and local media also in attendance.
FC Supra was born in a festive and hopeful atmosphere for many players and coaches who had been lacking professional opportunities for far too long.
One year later, president Rocco Placentino, who has been at the heart of efforts to find investors willing to join the project, is proud of how far the club has come, even though there is still plenty of work to be done.
“We work every minute, every hour, every day. There is no 9-to-5, there is no Monday to Friday, it’s 24/7,” he explains. “Everything has gone by really quickly. I haven’t had time to step back, because we’re running every day. There has never really been a moment to say, ‘Wow, what have we created?’ We’re proud of what we’ve done so far, and to be honest, it was really ambitious.”
Ambitious, because even today, the challenges remain numerous, despite the team doing relatively well. A Canadian Championship semifinalist, Supra is still in the race for a playoff spot, which remains an achievement for an expansion team. Rocco Placentino, however, is not really satisfied.
He is “proud to put a Quebec team on the field,” but the club executive regrets the late goals conceded and the team’s inability to preserve clean sheets.
“If the games lasted 80 minutes, we would be in the Canadian Championship final and second or third in the CPL standings. That’s why we’re not satisfied.”
There are still “six finals” remaining to secure a playoff spot and tip the balance in the right direction.
Despite the demands of results and the ups and downs of sport, several signs point to the relevance and success of the project.
Supra’s objective when it was created was to provide a platform for Quebec players and, in that regard, the club has delivered during its first year of existence.
Loïc Kwemi is the league’s leading scorer, Joakim Milli has been decisive on numerous occasions this season, Matisse Chrétien has established himself as a reliable centre-back in the CPL and, more broadly, Supra has never strayed from its commitment to fielding Quebecers, whether native-born or adopted.
“We did what we said we would do, and at Supra, our word means a lot. Jolan Faury was called up to the U16 national team, Alex Makarova is currently in Switzerland with Canada’s U17 team, and we’re in the process of giving Éliakim Owonongbadje an ‘Exceptional Young Talent’ contract,” Rocco Placentino points out.
Being known and building a community
Over the past 12 months, the club has made a concerted effort to raise its profile, promote its 100% local project and build ties with the community. Visits to amateur clubs have increased significantly.
Rocco Placentino also appreciates the media exposure the club has received, with its matches broadcast on TVA Sports and RDS Direct in addition to OneSoccer, while the team has also become a topic of discussion on several podcasts.
He “really sees support” for FC Supra across the province. The work, however, is still ongoing.
“People need to know what Supra is and what the CPL is. We have to go into the clubs, into the schools, and show them what this community team is all about,” explains Rocco Placentino.
The example to follow when it comes to building a soccer community, Rocco Placentino says without hesitation, “is Halifax.” Wanderers Grounds is often sold out or nearly so, and the community is deeply involved.
At Supra, ticket sales remain an important objective. During the club’s first games at CEPSUM, crowds were strong and the atmosphere was there, but the distance to Laval and Stade Boréale is now an issue that needs to be addressed.
Rocco Placentino’s solution? “Work hard!”
The recent response from the public, with attendance improving at the club’s latest matches, is an encouraging sign.
Does the club’s medium-term future lie at the stadium in Laval? The president is cautious in his answer. He first points out that there were no other options available when the project was launched, “because there are no facilities,” and insists that the Supra’s current home is where it is.
Could a move to Centre Claude-Robillard, where Rocco Placentino himself played and where CS Saint-Laurent hosted Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship, be possible after renovations? Or somewhere else?
It is still too early to say, but it is clear that discussions and reflection are underway.
Supra still has to build and strengthen its network and fully establish itself after an already encouraging first 12 months in terms of name recognition.
The relationship with institutions is also being built. “It takes time to have friends everywhere,” Rocco Placentino says with a smile.
There were numerous discussions with the City of Laval when the team arrived and, as a sign of the smooth relationship, the club did not hesitate to offer its support to Mayor Stéphane Boyer when he announced his serious health issue.
With the City of Montreal, a meeting has yet to take place, but one is expected soon.
With CF Montréal, whose academy is an important talent pool, Rocco Placentino says he is “very happy with the discussions currently taking place.”
“We’re building a relationship and I have to say that, on our side, we’re really proud to have a relationship with CF Montréal. We talk a lot.”
Projects to build
The immediate, and indeed constant, objective “is to win.” However, victories are built patiently, and the introduction of a youth program in the form of a hybrid academy has already been announced.
The idea is to allow targeted players to remain with their local clubs while also benefiting from additional programming provided by Supra. The program is expected to officially launch in 2027.
“It’s something we need. The pride of this year is that we managed to put a lot of things in place in a very short period of time,” says Rocco Placentino.
The relationship with the other clubs owned by Supra’s investors is another area under development.
Recently, businessmen Stéphane Tétrault and Jean-François Chenail acquired French fourth-tier club FC Chambly Oise. Matt Rizzetta and Angelo Pasto are also involved with Campobasso, in Italy’s Serie C.
“They are good partners, because if there aren’t enough spots here at Supra for certain talents, we can send them elsewhere,” explains Rocco Placentino.
Matthew Catavolo, who previously spent time with Valour and played for CS Saint-Laurent in recent months, has made the move to France.
Rocco Placentino, FC Supra’s one-man orchestra
For the president, this year has also been a learning experience, as he takes his first steps as an executive at a professional club.
He acknowledges that it represents “a lot of pressure.” He has to run the team, manage the club’s finances, meet the mandates set by the ownership group and sometimes make difficult decisions. Parting ways with sporting director Mateo Cabanettes during the season was one of them.
“On the sporting side, the administrative side, the business side, I have my hands in everything and I have no choice. I can’t focus on just one thing,” he explains. “The professional environment is not the same as amateur soccer. I have to be a ‘real boss.’ That’s not really my style, because I’m a family guy. Mateo is someone I started this project with more than a year ago, but today, he is no longer with us. These are difficult decisions. It’s not in my DNA to make those kinds of decisions, but that’s life, that’s the business side. I made a decision for the club, for the future.”
For “the past few months, my bosses have been teaching me how to be a boss,” he admits.
“I talk to one of my bosses every day, and that’s a positive thing because it shows that they care about the project. We have a lot of work ahead of us to improve the business and administrative sides. They give me a lot of advice, but also a lot of pressure. That’s normal, and it’s something I need because my job can’t be easy,” he says.
Even though the management team remains small, there is no immediate urgency to expand the administrative side. The president’s days are long, starting at 4:30 or 5 a.m., with only a few windows set aside for family, but there are currently no plans to significantly expand the management team.
That may become a topic of discussion with the owners in the coming weeks or months, but the president insists that he is “happy” for now to work with Nick de Santis, his advisor, and Shady Saleh, the director of operations.
When it comes to transfers, they work together, with the support of the coaching staff. Experienced players have already been identified for next season.
The success of some members of the current squad has also attracted attention. There is therefore a possibility that some players could move on to new challenges elsewhere, which would validate the club’s ambition to serve as a stepping stone for them.
There are now six games left to turn this first year into a major sporting success, before building even further on the club’s progress in other areas over the coming months.