Haralambos "Bobby" Smyrniotis (born April 24, 1979) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach and former player who works as head coach of

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

. Smyrniotis is the co-founder of the

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma player ...

soccer academy based in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Playing career

Smyrniotis played for the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

and

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Coaching career

Early career

In 2003 and 2004, Smyrniotis was a coach in the academy system of

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. He co-founded

, and was the team's head coach from 2005 to 2018.

Forge FC

2019 season

On October 1, 2018, Smyrniotis was announced as the first head coach and technical director of

club

. During the 2019 season, Forge finished in second place during the Spring and Fall Seasons, both times behind

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ...

. He became the first coach to win the Canadian Premier League when Forge defeated Cavalry FC in the

2019 Canadian Premier League Finals The 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals determined the winner of the Canadian Premier League's inaugural 2019 season. It featured Cavalry FC of Calgary, Alberta, and Forge FC of Hamilton, Ontario, and was the culmination of a rivalry that had de ...

. Also during the 2019 season, Forge were knocked out in the second qualifying round of 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 ...

. They also played in the

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two leg ...

where they were knocked out in the Round of 16.

2020 season

Smyrniotis returned to coach Forge FC for the 2020 season. The 2020 Canadian Premier League season was played in three rounds. Forge qualified for the next round after finishing the first round in third place then qualified for the championship match after finishing in first place in the second round. Forge repeated as league champions after a 2–0 win in the Championship final against

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 ...

2021 season

In the

, Smyrniotis guided Forge FC to the semi-finals, qualifying the club for the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

for the first time in its history.

Coaching record

Personal life

Smyrniotis received a Specialized Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology & Health Science from

and a Master of Science degree in Sports Management from the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

Honours

Coach

Forge FC *

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 ...

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- ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

*Canadian Premier League regular season:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyrniotis, Bobby 1979 births Living people Canadian soccer coaches Canadian soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto Canadian people of Greek descent Forge FC non-playing staff College of Charleston Cougars men's soccer players York Lions soccer players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Olympiacos F.C. non-playing staff Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Association football midfielders Canadian Premier League coaches