2024 Forge FC Season

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 where it defeated MLS opposition for the first time by prevailing against CF Montréal over two legs 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 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, a domestic cup organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. In the 2023 edition, Forge reached the semi-final where they were knocked out by Major League Soccer (MLS) club CF Montréal for the third consecutive year.

Forge qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup on October21, 2023, returning the club to international competition after a one-year absence. Their last appearance was in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, where they faced Mexican 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, 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 and 2020 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 left the club, signing with KF Egnatia in the Albanian top flight. Midfielder Aboubacar Sissoko left Forge to join fellow Ontario side Atlético Ottawa.

CONCACAF Champions Cup

Forge began its season in CONCACAF Champions Cup action against Liga MX 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 who scored two goals and assisted on a third. Terran Campbell scored the lone goal for Forge off of a cross by Tristan Borges.

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, 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 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 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 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 run began on May1 with a rematch against York United FC, this time at Tim Hortons Field. Jordan Hamilton scored a brace 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 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. 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.

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 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 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 3–2 in a friendly 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 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) 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 announced the format and draw procedure for the Canadian Championship 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

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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

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Further reading

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External links

Official siteHamilton Forge FC
at CONCACAF Champions Cup

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forge FC season 2024
2024
2024 Canadian Premier League by team
Canadian soccer clubs 2024 season
2024 in sports in Ontario
2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup participants seasons