Taylor Benjamin (born March 27, 1990) is a Canadian-born Guyanese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and was a member of the Guyanese national football team.

Career

College and Amateur

Born in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, Benjamin attended

Woodroffe High School Woodroffe High School is a secondary school located in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, situated at the western end of the Kichi Zibi Mikan near Lincoln Fields Station. The school is under the jurisdiction of the Ottawa-Carleton District S ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, played youth soccer with Ottawa Royals S.C. and FC Outaouais. He played one year of OCAA soccer at

Algonquin College Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded English-language college located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The college serves the National Capital Region and the outlying areas of Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Upst ...

. After one season, he moved to Limeira, Brazil to play for Associação Atlética Internacional.

Professional

Benjamin signed his first professional contract when he signed for Capital City F.C. in 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 ...

(CSL) on May 18, 2011. He made his professional debut on 20 May 2011, in a 2–0 loss to

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

. In 2013, he signed with

Kingston FC Kingston FC were a Canadian soccer team based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The team was awarded a franchise in 2011 as a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and participated in the league for three seasons, 2012 to 2014. In February 2015, Ki ...

, and assisted in securing the First Division title. He featured in the

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final or CSL Championship is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North A ...

finals with Kingston, but fell short after losing to

SC Waterloo Region SC Waterloo Region is a professional Canadian soccer team that plays in the Canadian Soccer League, a non-FIFA-sanctioned league. The club was formed in 2011 under the name KW United FC and competed in the Second Division of the CSL. The following ...

. In 2014, he played abroad in the

TT Pro League The TT Pro League (formerly known as the Professional Football League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad ...

with

Morvant Caledonia United Morvant Caledonia United (formerly known as Caledonia AIA) is a professional football team in Trinidad and Tobago's top-level TT Pro League. It is based in Morvant; its home stadium is Hasely Crawford Stadium. History The Caledonia AIA Football ...

, and later was transferred to

North East Stars Athletic Club Port of Spain (previously known as North East Stars) is a Trinidad and Tobago professional football club, based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, that plays in the TT Pro League. The team plays its home games at the Hasely Crawford Stad ...

. In 2015, he returned to the CSL to play with London City. For the remainder of the season he played abroad in the

Landesliga Bayern-Mitte The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte ( en, State league Bavaria-Central) was the sixth tier of the German football league system in southern Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008, it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the int ...

with SV Fortuna Regensburg. He had a brief stint in the A-Klasse Bogen to play with SG Bogen. In 2016, he played in the

Bayernliga Süd The Bayernliga (English: Bavarian league) is the highest amateur football league and the second highest football league (under the Regionalliga Bayern) in the state of Bavaria (german: Bayern) and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of ...

with TSV Bogen. He returned to the Landesliga Bayern-Mitte to sign with SV Neukirchen Hl. Blut for the remainder of the 2016–17 season. In 2017, he returned to play with SV Fortuna Regensburg.

International

On November 11, 2011, Benjamin was called up to

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

for their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

. He made his international debut in the return-leg against

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Hasely Crawford Stadium The Hasely Crawford Stadium, formerly the National Stadium, is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was inaugurated and formally opened by Prime Minister George Chambers on 12 June 1982. On 30 December 1996, Prime Minister Basdeo Pa ...

on November 15, 2011.

Honors

Kingston *

First Division: 2013

References

External links

CSL player profile
1990 births Living people Soccer players from Toronto Sportspeople from Etobicoke Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Kingston FC players London City Soccer Club players Morvant Caledonia United players AC Port of Spain players TT Pro League players Canadian men's soccer players Guyanese men's footballers Guyana men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Canadian sportspeople of Guyanese descent Black Canadian men's soccer players {{Guyana-footy-bio-stub