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Jesse Marsch called Moïse Bombito’s late discovery “unacceptable” two summers ago. The Montreal-born centre back had finally earned his place on the Canadian men’s national team, but his delayed rise highlighted a long-standing issue in Quebec soccer.
FC Supra du Quebec aims to change that.
For years, talented players like Bombito lacked a clear path to higher levels of the sport and were often overlooked in the province. “A lot of talented players fell through the cracks, and that’s because we didn’t have enough of a professional environment for these players,” said FC Supra president Rocco Placentino. “That’s exactly what Supra is going to prove. We’re going to try not to miss this hidden talent.”
The Laval-based expansion club opens its inaugural Canadian Premier League season Saturday in Victoria, facing Pacific FC with a roster composed entirely of Quebecois players.
FC Supra’s approach is inspired by Athletic Bilbao, the Spanish club known for recruiting only local talent from the Basque region. “Quebec-grown players, it’s always been something that I personally believed in,” Placentino said. He cited Bombito and Ismael Kone as prime examples of players who deserve more opportunities. “We really believe that there’s more of those types of players to come.”
Bombito, now with OGC Nice in France, only received a national team call-up at age 23 — a rarity in Canada. Marsch, head coach of Canada’s men’s team, expressed frustration at the late recognition. “It is unacceptable that a player like Moise Bombito is not discovered until he’s 23,” Marsch said after Bombito’s breakout performance at Copa America in July 2024. “We have to find a way as a Canadian soccer community, how to create better infrastructure.”
FC Supra coach Nicholas Razzaghi knows the pain of losing promising players. Having led semi-pro side CS Saint-Laurent, also run by Placentino, he saw players on the brink of giving up the sport. “Their careers were pretty much hanging on a thread. This was it for them,” Razzaghi said. “Guys were going back to school, guys were considering, can they still play at this level and commit this much to soccer?”
Razzaghi has witnessed firsthand how few athletes get a second chance. “We ‘saved’ some, but how many we couldn’t ‘save’? How many players didn’t get just that chance? At least now, the minimum is people get a chance.”
Placentino said FC Supra is forging strong ties with community clubs across Quebec, with staff regularly scouting Ligue1 Quebec games. He hopes to eventually build a reserve team and an academy to further develop local talent.
FC Supra captain David Choiniere was so drawn to the vision that he joined the new club after seven trophy-filled CPL seasons with Forge FC. Coming through CF Montreal’s academy, Choiniere had a limited MLS career hampered by injury before moving to Forge in 2019.
He believes FC Supra offers young Quebec players a more direct route to the pros without leaving the province. “Growing up there were not a lot of opportunities or pathways to go professional. In my case, I went to the Montreal academy, that was the only way really to make it,” Choiniere said. “This club will increase the chance of the Quebecois players to make the jump.”
Eligibility for FC Supra requires players to be born or raised in Quebec, recently relocated there, or have participated in its amateur system. Placentino emphasized the strict criteria: “I can tell you that we’ve refused over 300 players to come to try out with our club. From Spain, from Germany, from England, from Haiti, from everywhere.”
He added, “Even if you’re from Toronto, even if you’re from Vancouver, even if you’re from Ottawa, if you don’t have something rooted to Quebec, you can’t play for us.”
While this narrow focus limits the available talent pool, Placentino is committed to the approach for these early years to see if the model succeeds. “Just like Atletico Bilbao did a hundred years ago. They tried it and it took time, but it worked,” he said. “I really believe that we can make it work, and we’ll see in Year 1 what it brings us.”
Choiniere sees the Quebec-only roster as an advantage. “You guys are going to see that there’s a lot of talent in Quebec,” he said. “People can say the pool selection is smaller, but that’s also our strength. When you go in the locker room, everybody speaks in French.”
He added, “We have different backgrounds, but we all have something in common, and that’s our biggest strength.”