The Simcoe County Rovers are delighted to announce Canadian international star Cyle Larin has joined the club as a co-owner. Larin, a prolific attacking player for the Canadian national soccer team and Beşiktaş (Turkish Super League), has acquired a minority stake in Rovers Sports and Entertainment Group. As per club policy, financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.
Larin joins fellow Canadian soccer icon Julian de Guzman as co-owners in the Rovers group, along with several other individuals. De Guzman is Canada’s most capped senior men’s player and the first Canadian to play in Spain’s La Liga.
Julian adds, “We are hyper-focused on attracting a number of high preforming individuals to the club to promote our female and male programs. Cyle is playing at the highest level internationally with Canada and at club level with Beşiktaş. He is known through the international soccer world and will bring tremendous amounts of knowledge and experiences to our players, and a vast network for our club. Bringing in Cyle is a massive coup for Simcoe County, the Rovers, and Ontario’s youth soccer community.”
Earlier in the summer the Simcoe County Rovers FC were accepted in the Huronia District Soccer Association. The Club has formalized youth affiliation agreements with top youth programs representing over 6,000 youth members: Aurora FC, Barrie Soccer, and Athlete Institute FC. The Club will launch senior high-performance male and female programs in 2022.
The Rovers will announce additional owners and the complete technical and management team over the next three months. The club intends on announcing league status in the near future.
About Cyle Larin:
Cyle has scored a record 10 goals for the Canadian national team in 2021 with a total of 18 goals and over 40 caps total. He has scored 32 goals for Beşiktaş in the Turkish Super League since joining in 2017.
After playing college soccer for the Connecticut Huskies, Larin was the first pick of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, joining Orlando City. In his first MLS season, he broke the record for most goals by a rookie, scoring 17 in 27 games and earning the MLS Rookie of the Year Award. He totaled 89 games and 44 goals for Orlando before moving to Beşiktaş for an undisclosed fee in January 2018.
A full international for Canada since 2014, Larin represented the nation at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021.
About Julian de Guzman:
Julian De Guzman is Canada’s most capped senior men’s player and the first Canadian to play in Spain’s La Liga. The 2007 Gold Cup Most Valuable Player, De Guzman, also served as the Captain of the Canadian Men’s National Soccer team.
In addition to a 15-year professional playing career with spells in The Bundesliga (Hannover 96, Germany), La Liga (Deportivo La Coruña, Spain) and Major League Soccer (Toronto FC, FC Dallas), De Guzman served as Head Coach and General Manager of the Ottawa Fury before the Clubs’s sale to Miami FC in 2019.
