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The 2024 Forge FC season is the sixth season in the history of Forge FC and the club's sixth season in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top flight in Canadian soccer. Forge is the defending CPL champions, having defeated Cavalry FC in the 2023 final for their fourth championship. The club is managed by Bobby Smyrniotis in his sixth season as head coach. In addition to the CPL, Forge is competing in the
Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...
where it defeated MLS opposition for the first time by prevailing against
CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...
over
two legs In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...
in the quarter-final, advancing the club to the semi-final for the second consecutive year. Forge began its season in February with continental play when it faced C.D. Guadalajara in round one of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.


Review


Background

Forge FC entered the season as the reigning Canadian Premier League champions after winning the
2023 Canadian Premier League final The 2023 Canadian Premier League final was the soccer match to determine the winner of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season. It was played October 28, 2023, in Hamilton, Ontario, between Forge FC and Cavalry FC. The match was the fifth edit ...
against Cavalry FC. This was the club's fourth CPL title and fifth finals appearance in five years, continuing their dynasty. They are also competing in the
Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...
, a
domestic cup A domestic cup (also known as association cup or national cup) is a type of sports tournament, particularly common in association football. This tournament type is notable for its participation by professional and amateur teams from many levels of ...
organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. In the 2023 edition, Forge reached the semi-final where they were knocked out by
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS) club
CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...
for the third consecutive year. Forge qualified for the
2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup The 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup will be the 59th edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The tournament ...
on October21, 2023, returning the club to international competition after a one-year absence. Their last appearance was in the
2022 CONCACAF Champions League The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2022 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League) was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 57th edition of the premier football club competition org ...
, where they faced
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
side Cruz Azul in the round of16. Head coach and sporting director Bobby Smyrniotis returned for his sixth season after signing a contract extension in 2023.


Preseason

On December22, 2023, Forge announced that fifteen players from the previous season would be returning with guaranteed contracts while other players could possibly return pending negotiations for new contracts or the club activating contract extensions before December31. This changed a week later when defender
Manjrekar James Manjrekar James (born August 5, 1993) is a professional association football, soccer player who plays as a centre-back for Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League. Born in Dominica, he has represented the Canada men's national soccer team, Canad ...
, who was originally listed to return, was sold to Costa Rican side Alajuelense for an undisclosed fee. The club later announced that it had picked up the contract options of midfielder Sebastian Castello, defender Malcolm Duncan, and goalkeeper Christopher Kalongo. On January29, Forge re-signed Swedish midfielder and club original Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson to a multi-year deal. Over the following days, the club announced the return of versatile Senegalese midfielder Elimane Cissé, who was a member of Forge's
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
and
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
championship teams, and signed Ghanaian international forward Nana Ampomah, both to multi-year deals. They also signed several players to short-term and development contracts for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Striker Woobens Pacius announced on December17 that he was departing Forge, with the club confirming that he was out of contract; he later signed with MLS side Nashville SC. On January17, full-back
Rezart Rama Rezart Rama (born 4 December 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Kategoria Superiore club Egnatia. Born in Greece, he has represented Albania at youth international levels. Early life Rama was born in Athens, Greec ...
left the club, signing with KF Egnatia in the
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
top flight. Midfielder
Aboubacar Sissoko Aboubacar Sissoko (born 9 October 1995) is a Malian professional footballer who plays for Atlético Ottawa in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Sissoko was born in Bamako, Mali and moved to Montreal, Quebec in 2006 when his father, a dipl ...
left Forge to join fellow Ontario side Atlético Ottawa.


CONCACAF Champions Cup

Forge began its season in CONCACAF Champions Cup action against
Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
giants C.D. Guadalajara. The Hammers hosted Chivas on February7 at Tim Hortons Field where they fell 3–1. Chivas were led by United States international
Cade Cowell Cade Dylan Cowell (born October 14, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes and the United States national team. Club career Cowell began his academy career at B ...
who scored two goals and assisted on a third.
Terran Campbell Terran Campbell (born October 10, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays for Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Campbell began playing soccer at age five with South Burnaby Metro Club. In 2010, he join ...
scored the lone goal for Forge off of a cross by
Tristan Borges Tristan Daniel Borges (born 26 August 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Canadian club Forge FC. Early life Borges began playing youth soccer with Vaughan SC, later moving on to Kleinburg-Nobleton SC fo ...
. Facing an uphill battle in the second leg at the Estadio Akron, Forge lost 2–1 to Chivas to be defeated 5–2 on
aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...
, knocking them out of the Champions Cup. Kevaughn Tavernier scored Forge's lone goal in the 93rd minute. Forge was notably without Golden Glove winning goalkeeper
Triston Henry Triston Javon Henry (born September 8, 1993) is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who plays for Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Early life In 2013, he played ...
for both matches; according to the club, he was away dealing with a personal matter. Christopher Kalongo started in his absence. Forge was also without Elimane Cissé and Nana Ampomah as they awaited their international transfer permits.


Canadian Premier League season

Prior to the start of the 2024 Canadian Premier League season, Forge brought in defender Daniel Parra on loan from
Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
and midfielder Matteo Schiavoni on loan from CF Montréal. The club also signed goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat to a multi-year deal.


April

Forge opened its CPL campaign at home with a rematch of the 2023 CPL final against rival side Cavalry FC on April13. Henry, Cissé, and Ampomah continued to be unavailable for the Hammers, while defender Garven Metusala missed the match due to injury. After falling behind 1–0, Forge came back on the strength of a goal and an assist from Tristan Borges and a 76th minute winning goal from Béni Badibanga to defeat Cavalry 2–1. This was Forge's first ever opening day win in its history. The club followed-up their opening day win with victories away at
905 derby The 905 Derby is a list of association football rivalries, soccer rivalry between Canadian Premier League clubs, Forge FC and York United FC, both based in Southern Ontario. The rivalry gets the "905" nickname from the 905 area code, which encomp ...
rival York United FC and back at home against Valour FC. After three matches, Tristan Borges had scored two goals and picked up three assists for five goal contributions, more than any CPLer had ever earned in the league's first three matchweeks. For his efforts, Borges was named the CPL's player of the month while Christopher Kalongo and Bobby Smyrniotis earned goalkeeper and manager of the month honours, respectively.


May

Forge's
2024 Canadian Championship The 2024 Canadian Championship () will be the seventeenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 23rd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup. It wi ...
run began on May1 with a rematch against York United FC, this time at Tim Hortons Field. Jordan Hamilton scored a
brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cur ...
as part of a three goal first half en route to a convincing 3–1 win, advancing Forge to the quarter-finals. This set up a Canadian Championship rematch against CF Montréal for a fourth year in a row. Forge hosted the first leg on May7 in the club's " School Day Match" before an announced crowd of 14,923 fans, the club's second most attended home match.
David Choinière David Choinière (born February 7, 1997) is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Canadian Premier League side Forge FC. Early life Choinière began playing soccer at age five with Celtix du Haut-Richelieu. In 2011, he joined the Montreal Impa ...
scored in the 31st minute to give Forge a 1–0 first half lead before Montréal responded in the second half to secure a 1–1 draw, leaving the teams tied on aggregate before the return leg later in the month. Returning to CPL play, Forge FC traveled out west to face Pacific FC, battling them to a scoreless draw. Jassem Koleilat made his first appearance for the Hammers, keeping a clean sheet. The Hammers next returned home where they faced Vancouver FC, losing 2–1 for their first ever home defeat against the Eagles. Forge next traveled to Montreal for the second leg of its Canadian Championship quarter-final match. Tied 1–1 on aggregate and needing to score to overcome an away goals deficit, Forge jumped out to a 2–0 first half lead thanks to goals from Daniel Parra and
Kwasi Poku Kwasi Poku (born February 6, 2003) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for Forge FC. Early life Poku began playing youth soccer at age six with Brampton East SC. He later played youth soccer with the Woodbridge Strikers, with whom ...
. Following a two hour halftime delay due to lightning, Montréal came out and dominated the second half. However, they only managed to score one goal against the Hammers, resulting in a "historic" 2–1 Forge win and advancing them to the semi-finals 3–2 on aggregate. This was the first time the club had defeated an MLS opponent. Following the win, Forge travelled to Ottawa where, tired from their Canadian Championship match, they fell 3–0 to Atlético Ottawa. It was the club's first ever defeat in Ottawa.


June

Forge FC returned home to face York United FC, securing a 3–0 victory for their third win of the season against the Nine Stripes in all competitions. Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges, and Daniel Parra scored for Forge while Kwasi Poku contributed with two assists and a crucial goal-line clearance to help Jassem Koleilat keep the clean sheet. Forge followed this up with a trip to Calgary where a "poor" outing resulted in a 1–0 loss to Cavalry. This was Forge's third loss in their last four league matches and the third time the team had been shutout in a road match this season. Forge next traveled to Halifax to face HFX Wanderers where Béni Badibanga opened scored in the the 49th minute and Kwasi Poku scored a stoppage time equalizer to help secure a 2–2 draw. After a delay in getting his work permit approved, Nana Ampomah made his long-awaited debut for Forge, appearing as a second-half substitute and assisting on Poku's late equalizer. Returning home, Forge welcomed Valour back to Tim Hortons Field on June 23 where Kwasi Poku scored a first-half brace to propel Forge to a 2–1 win. The Hammers then returned to Ottawa on June 28 for their second away match against league-leaders Atlético Ottawa. In a "chaotic" and "thrilling" contest, Atlético scored a winning goal at the end of stoppage time to emerge as 4–3 winners after the sides traded leads in the second half. This was Forge's first ever CPL loss in a match in which the team had led in their history. Forge ended the month with two wins, a draw, and two losses in league play. For scoring four goals and two assists in June, Kwasi Poku was named the CPL's player of the month.


Current squad


Transfers


In


Transferred in


Loaned in


Draft picks

Forge FC made two selections in the 2024 CPL–U Sports Draft. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster; only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.


Out


Loans out

Forge FC is affiliated with Sigma FC of League1 Ontario as part of the CPL's Downward Player Movement Pilot Project. The following Forge FC players featured for Sigma FC during the
2024 League1 Ontario season The 2024 Men's League1 Ontario season is the tenth of League1 Ontario, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario. Starting from this season, the le ...
.


Club


Staff


Club partnerships

On May23, Forge announced a new partnership with CS Mont-Royal Outremont. On June25, the club announced a new partnership with the Burlington Soccer Club.


Community initiatives


School Day Match

On January25, Forge announced a "School Day Match" as part of its CPL schedule to be played against HFX Wanderers FC on Tuesday, May7 at 11:00am when students in grades 6 to 12 would be able to attend. The announcement generated mixed reactions; while some fans saw this as a way to grow local interest and support, others considered the timing to be unfair to existing supporters. After Forge advanced to the Canadian Championship quarter-finals, its home quarter-final match against CF Montréal took over the "School Day Match" slot and the CPL match against HFX Wanderers was rescheduled to later in the season. More than 10,000 students attended the match as part of the announced attendance of 14,923 fans.


Kits

Forge unveiled its 2024
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...
and alternate kits at a supporters event on March28 hosted at Tim Hortons Field. The kits continue to be produced by Macron and sponsored by Tim Hortons for a sixth consecutive season with sponsorship from CIBC on the left sleeve for a second consecutive season. The club continued to use its 2023 home and away kits for matches in the Champions Cup. Supplier: Macron / Sponsor: Tim Hortons / Sleeve sponsor: CIBC


Preseason and friendlies

Forge announced in a release that players reported to Hamilton for preseason on January4, with medicals taking place on January5 and training beginning at
Redeemer University Redeemer University is a private Christian liberal arts and science university located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in the community of Ancaster. Founded in 1982, Redeemer stands in the Reformed Tradition and offers Bachelor of Arts, Ba ...
on January6. The team traveled to Querétaro, Mexico on January16 where they trained for two weeks before returning to Hamilton on January31 in advance of their opening match in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on February7 at Tim Hortons Field against C.D. Guadalajara. While in Mexico, they defeated Liga Premier side
C.D. Irapuato Club Deportivo Irapuato is a professional football club, based in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. They are currently playing in the Serie A in the Liga Premier. Irapuato has mostly played in the Promotion League of Mexico (formerly Primera Divisi ...
3–2 in a
friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...
with goals from Terran Campbell, Dominic Samuel, and Kevaughn Tavernier. Forge was also reported to have friendlies scheduled against other Mexican clubs, including a
Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
opponent. On March13, Forge announced that the team had begun its training camp in advance of the Canadian Premier League season on March11. They faced York United FC in a friendly on March16, playing them to a 1–1 draw. They then played a friendly against HFX Wanderers FC on March23.


Competitions

Matches are listed in Hamilton local time: Eastern Daylight Time ( UTC−4) from March10 until November3, and Eastern Standard Time ( UTC−5) otherwise.


Overview


Canadian Premier League


Table


Results by match

1 Matchday 4 (vs
HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer le ...
) was postponed to August 14 due to Forge's participation in the Canadian Championship quarter-finals.


Matches

The Canadian Premier League announced each team's home openers on January18. The full regular season schedule was released on January23.


Canadian Championship

Canada Soccer The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...
announced the format and draw procedure for the
Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...
on February22. The draw for the preliminary round and the quarter-finals was held on February23. The draw for the semi-finals and hosting rights for the single-leg final was held on May29.


Preliminary round

The preliminary round schedule was announced on March11.


Quarter-finals

Forge announced the schedule of its quarter-final matches against CF Montréal on May2; Canada Soccer confirmed this the next day.


Semi-finals

Canada Soccer announced the semi-final match schedule on June10.


CONCACAF Champions Cup

The CONCACAF Champions Cup draw was held on December13, 2023. Having qualified as CPL champions, Forge entered the competition in round one and began play in February 2024.


Round one

The round one schedule was announced on December18, 2023.


Statistics


Squad and statistics

, - , -


Goal scorers


Clean sheets


Disciplinary record


Honours


Canadian Premier League Awards


Monthly Awards


Player of the Week


Team of the Week

The Team of the Week is usually selected by the CPL's Kristian Jack and OneSoccer's Oliver Platt.


Notes


References


Sources

*


Further reading

* * *


External links


Official siteHamilton Forge FC
at CONCACAF Champions Cup {{DEFAULTSORT:Forge FC season 2024
2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...
2024 Canadian Premier League by team Canadian soccer clubs 2024 season 2024 in sports in Ontario 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup participants seasons