St. Catharines Wolves

Formation and National Soccer League days (1978–92)

The club was formed in 1967, and went under the name of Club Roma Soccer Association and began operations in the Niagara Peninsula Soccer League. During their tenure in the Niagara League, the club achieved two regular season championships and two playoff championships. In 1972, the organization transferred to the Inter-City League where Roma quickly established itself as a powerhouse claiming a double in 1973, two consecutive playoff championships in 1974, and 1975. Their crowning achievement came in 1976 winning the Triple Crown – the league, cup and play-off championships.

The following year the club was granted a franchise in the National Soccer League (NSL), later renamed the CNSL with the addition of the Winnipeg Fury in 1993, and changed their name to St. Catharines Roma. The club's president Armand Di Fruscio would also serve as the president of the NSL from 1986 to 1995. St. Catharines would experience their first taste of success in the NSL during the early 1990s.

The golden era and CPSL founding member (1993–01)

The club's golden era began in 1993 winning the NSL championship, and finishing runners-up in 1994 along with an Umbro Cup. Prominent players during that time period were future Canadian internationals Tomasz Radzinski, Davide Xausa, Martin Dugas, and Paul Fenwick.

In the 1995 CNSL season Mark Kormet served as the head coach, and assembled a roster which would in later years play a dominant role within the CNSL, and its successor leagues. The roster consisted of Canadian international Lucio Ianiero, Dino Perri, Carlo Arghittu, Shayne Campbell, Paul Moore, Chris Handsor, and Gary McGuchan. The season marked the organization's first treble, winning the Umbro cup by defeating the Scarborough Astros on a penalty shootout. In the playoff finals the Wolves defeated the Toronto Jets, by a score of 2–1 with goals coming from Cameron Walker and Moore. At the conclusion of the season at the CNSL Awards banquet Kormet was named the CNSL Coach of the Year, while Chris Handsor received the MVP award.

Their success would continue through the following season as Dino Perri was given the dual role of coaching and playing for the team. The team roster was reinforced with the signings of Rick Titus, Peyvand Mossavat, Jerry Cipriani, Peter Sarantopoulos, and Peter Gastis. Perri managed to defend St. Cathraine's Umbro Cup by finishing first in the cup standings. In the regular season the Wolves finished second in the overall standings, and clinched a postseason berth, as well as posting the best defensive record throughout the season. Their opponents in the first round of the playoffs were the Toronto Supra, where St. Catharines advanced to the finals by winning the series on 2–1 on goals on aggregate. In the finals the Wolves faced the regular season champions Toronto Italia, but failed to capture the championship after losing by a score of 11–0 on goals on aggregate.

St. Catharines built on their 1996 season, and added reinforcements to the roster with the signings of Salvatore Borgh, and Gary Hughes. The Wolves continued their dynasty with another double victory for the club, going undefeated the entire league season and posting the best offensive record. In the first round of the postseason the Wolves faced Kosova Albanians, and advanced to the championship finals by winning the series 5–4 on goals on aggregate. St. Catharines faced Toronto Supra in the finals and claimed the championship by a score of 4–3 on goals on aggregate with goals coming from Cipriani, McGuchan, and Arghittu. In 1998, the CNSL merged with the stillborn Ontario Professional Soccer League and formed the Canadian Professional Soccer League. St. Catharines was a founding member along with three other CNSL clubs and four new expansion franchises.

In their debut season in the CPSL, St. Catharines would continue to flourish, and add prestige to its ranks. Where they secured a postseason berth by finishing second in the overall standings, and reached the finals of the Open Canada Cup tournament. In the finals they faced the league powerhouse Toronto Olympians, but lost to a score of 3–0. While in the postseason the Roma Wolves faced Glen Shields Sun Devils in the semi-finals which concluded in a 5–2 victory on goals on aggregate for the Wolves. The finals consisted of a revenge match between the Open Canada Cup finalists St. Catharines and Toronto – the match finished as a 2–2 draw which led to penalties where the Wolves denied the Olympians the chance of a treble by winning the game 4–2 in a penalty shootout, and reached a milestone by capturing the first CPSL Championship. The victory marked the sixth straight year that the club reached the league final and claimed their sixth league title in their 22-year-history. At the CPSL awards banquet Dino Perri received the CPSL Goalkeeper of the Year.

In 1999, St. Catharines experienced several bumps in the road throughout the season as losing their top striker Carlo Arghittu to the Toronto Lynx of the USL A-League. Lucio Ianiero took over the mantle of head coach, and failed to defend their championship title by failing to secure a postseason berth by finishing sixth in the overall standings. Though the team played poorly during the season they still managed to reach the semi-finals of the Open Canada Cup tournament where they faced the Olympians their rivals the previous season. The Wolves fell short in reaching the finals by losing the series to a score of 6–2 on goals on aggregate.