Gabe Gala (born June 29, 1989 as Gala Gabriel Gala) 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 ...

player.

Career

Youth

Gala moved from his native Nigeria to

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...

as a young child. He played club soccer for the Brampton East SC and

North Mississauga SC North Mississauga Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Mississauga, Ontario. The club was founded in 1982 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2016. The team plays ho ...

and his high school

C. W. Jefferys Charles William Jefferys (August 25, 1869 – October 8, 1951), also known as C. W. Jefferys, was a Canadian painter, illustrator, author, and teacher, best known as a historical illustrator. Biography Jefferys was born in Rochester, Engl ...

Professional

Gala joined

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

as a development player in 2007, and played extensively in the

MLS Reserve Division The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

prior to him making his professional debut on June 2, 2007, when he came on as a substitute against the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

. He scored his first goal for the Toronto FC first-team in an international friendly against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

on August 7, 2009. After making 15 appearances for Toronto in the 2010 season he was waived by the club on November 24 following the

2010 MLS Expansion Draft The 2010 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 24, 2010, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers. Format University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and played for the Varsity Blues during this time. In 2011, he signed with newly expansion

Mississauga Eagles FC Mississauga Eagles FC were a Canadian professional soccer team founded in 2010 that played in the Canadian Soccer League for two seasons. The Eagles were owned and operated by the Erin Mills Soccer Club and played at the Mississauga Hershey Fi ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. He took two years of a sabbatical from soccer, and later returned in 2014 to sign with

North York Astros The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Cana ...

. During his tenure with North York he helped the club secure a postseason berth by finishing fourth in the postseason. After the departure of North York from the CSL he signed with expansion franchise

Scarborough SC Scarborough SC is a Canadian soccer team founded in 2014. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a league that is not sanctioned by a FIFA recognized body. The team plays home games out of Birchmount Stadium in the district ...

. In 2016, he joined

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian so ...

club

International

Gala made his debut for the Canada's U-20 team on May 19, 2006 against Brazil, and made his first start against the United States on July 9, 2006. He was also a member of Canada's U20 side for the 2007 U20 World Cup.

Club statistics

Honours

Toronto FC

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 ...

(1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gala, Gabe 1989 births Living people People from Adamawa State Black Canadian soccer players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian soccer players Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent Nigerian footballers Nigerian emigrants to Canada Toronto FC players Major League Soccer players Canadian real estate agents Canada men's youth international soccer players Mississauga Eagles FC players North York Astros players Scarborough SC players Association football midfielders North Mississauga SC players Toronto Varsity Blues soccer players Soccer players from Brampton