The Simcoe County Rovers are honoured to announce Canadian soccer star Janine Beckie has acquired interested in Rovers Sports and Entertainment Group. Beckie, a forward with renowned Manchester City FC in England, has rewritten history with the Canadian women’s national team winning a bronze medial in 2016 Rio Olympics and a gold medal in 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As per club policy, financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.
The Rovers are a newly formed, Barrie based, professional football club playing in the third division of Canada’s football pyramid, League1 Ontario. The club operates a men’s and women’s first team and the season runs from April to September. A limited number of season tickets are available now at www.roversfc.ca.
Janine told the Toronto Star, "It’s a very exciting project to be a part of, whether that’s as an owner, as player as a fan. This is the beginning of a very exciting time for domestic soccer in Canada and who better to have at the top than Julian de Guzman, one of the most beloved and cherished players that
the national team has ever seen. If you’re going to buy into anything, buy into the fact that there’s someone like that at the top and that’s he’s putting in the money and the investment to get the right people on board. When you can get the group of owners that he’s got to buy into a project, it’s well worth paying attention to."
Janine Beckie joins fellow active national team members, Cyle Larin and Doniel Henry, as co owners of the Rovers. The group is led by Canadian soccer icon Julian de Guzman, along with Peter Raco, Kosi Stobbs and Will Devellis.
The world champion, Beckie, believes now is the time to invest in Canadian club football, “It’s a smart time to do something like this. I was just impressed by the professionalism around (the Rovers). We have the right people in place and they’re doing things the right way. It was something that I didn’t want to, nor felt like I could, say no to.”
Rovers’ President, Julian de Guzman continues to build the organization out from top to bottom. Julian adds, “Janine is a trendsetter and the perfect role model for the future of women’s soccer in Canada. Having her as co-owner will heighten and expand the growth of the game not only in the Huronia Region, but the entire Nation.”
On Monday, the club recently announced the club’s inaugural signing - League1 Ontario 4x All Star, Leaford Allen. Player signing will continue weekly leading up to pre-season in March. A final ownership announcement will take place in February.
The Club has formalized youth affiliation agreements with top youth programs representing over 6,500 youth members: Aurora FC, Barrie Soccer, and Athlete Institute FC. Corporate partnerships are now available, info@roversfc.ca
About Janine Beckie
Janine Elizabeth Beckie is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Manchester City in the FA Women's Super League and the Canada national team. She previously played for Sky Blue FC and the Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
Janine is one of the most decorated Canadian soccer players, winning both a gold medal (Tokyo 2021) and a bronze medal (Rio 2016) at the Olympics Games, represented Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019, won three Concacaf medals with Canada (2016 silver, 2018 silver, 2020 silver), and a two-time FA Cup winner with Manchester City FC (2019, 2020).
