CF Montreal

Founding and pre-MLS era

Montreal Impact were founded in December 1992 when the Saputo family acquired a new franchise in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL), at the time the top flight of professional U.S. and Canadian soccer, which was set to begin competition for the 1993 season. According to club owner Joey Saputo, the franchise was branded Impact because he wanted the team to make an impact on the sport in Montréal, in Québec and in Canada at large; the word is also identical in English and French, which eased marketing in the city's bilingual environment.

In 1994, the Impact defeated the Colorado Foxes 1–0 at Centre Claude Robillard in Montréal, in front of a crowd of 8,169. The victory was the first championship for a professional soccer club from the city of Montréal. The Impact were regular season champions for three consecutive seasons; from 1995 to 1996 in the APSL (rebranded as the A-League), and in 1997 as part of the post-merger USISL A-League. In 2004, the Impact won the A-League championship by defeating the Seattle Sounders 2–0 at Centre Claude Robillard in Montréal, in front of a crowd of 13,648—a new attendance record for the club at the time.

The A-League was renamed the USL First Division in November 2004. The Impact started the 2005 season with a 15-game undefeated streak and finished 10 points clear of second place to win the Commissioner's Cup. They were knocked out in the playoffs semi-finals by the Seattle Sounders. That same year, the club announced the construction of Saputo Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium and the club's current home, which opened on May 19, 2008. The Impact repeated as Commissioner's Cup winners in 2006 and won their first USL playoff championship in 2009 after they defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 6–3 on aggregate in the two-legged final. The second leg was played at Saputo Stadium in front of a crowd of 13,034.

The Impact won the first seven editions of the Voyageurs Cup, the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada awarded to the best Canadian team in the USL First Division, from 2002 to 2007. Since 2008, the trophy has been awarded to the winner of the Canadian Championship. The Impact won the first edition of the competition in 2008 which qualified the club for the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, their first continental tournament. The club advanced through the preliminary and group stages to the Champions League quarterfinals, where the Impact were defeated 5–4 on aggregate by Mexican club Santos Laguna. In 2009, the Impact announced plans to join the breakaway North American Soccer League (NASL), a new second division league, but due to legal disputes with the USL, they instead joined the temporary USSF Division 2 Professional League for one season in 2010. The Impact finished third in the league's NASL Conference and lost in the semifinals to Carolina RailHawks FC. The team also lead the league in average attendance with 12,608 spectators per match. Montréal ultimately played in the NASL for one season, failing to qualify for the playoffs, before being replaced by their MLS incarnation.

MLS franchise bid and transition

Toward the end of 2007, much speculation had been made about a possible franchise move for the lower division Impact to Major League Soccer (MLS). The construction of the expandable Saputo Stadium further suggested an interest on the part of the group to move up to the top-level North American league. Although Toronto FC held a three-year Canadian exclusivity deal that did not expire until 2009, they stated in March 2008 that they would gladly welcome the Impact into MLS.

Chairman Joey Saputo held talks with George Gillett (former co-owner of Liverpool F.C. and former owner of the Montreal Canadiens) regarding possible joint ownership of a franchise. On July 24, 2008, MLS announced they were seeking to add two expansion teams for the 2011 season, of which Montreal was listed as a potential candidate.

On November 22, 2008, the group's bid for an MLS franchise was not retained by commissioner Don Garber. In response to Vancouver's successful bid in March 2009, Impact GM Nick De Santis commented that he expected chairman Saputo to pursue and realize his vision of Montreal as an MLS franchise someday. By May 16, 2009, the Montreal Gazette reported Garber and Saputo had resumed talks for an expansion team to begin play in 2011.

On May 7, 2010, Garber and Saputo announced Montreal as the nineteenth club in Major League Soccer, set to begin play for the 2012 season. The MLS franchise is privately owned by the Saputo family.

On June 14, 2011, the Montreal Impact announced a five-year agreement with the Bank of Montreal to become their lead sponsor and jersey sponsor in MLS.