Stephen Simon Hart (born 15 March 1960) is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

football manager and former player. As a player, Hart began his career with the San Fernando Hurricanes before joining Professional Football League club Texaco in 1979. Leaving

Trinidad and 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 ...

for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to study at Saint Mary's University, he represented the university team as well as the Halifax Privateers. Hart joined the San Fernando Strikers briefly before six years with King of Donair. He ended his playing career with Americas. As a coach, Hart first took over at King of Donair as a player-manager in 1988. He returned to Saint Mary's University as coach of the Huskies women's team, before becoming technical director of Soccer Nova Scotia. Between 2004 and 2012, Hart undertook several roles with the

Canadian Soccer Association 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 ...

from under-17 to senior level. In December 2009, he was named head coach of the Canadian national team, and in June 2013 took charge of the Trinidad and Tobago national team. In June 2018, he was named the inaugural head coach of

HFX Wanderers FC 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 l ...

of the

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

. On 13 October 2022 it was announced that the Wanderers had parted ways with Hart.

Club career

Hart spent his early playing career in his native

, and after progressing in the youth ranks of the San Fernando Hurricanes, joined Professional Football League club Texaco in 1979. He spent a year with the Halifax Privateers before playing for local club the San Fernando Strikers, and joined King of Donair in 1983. He ended his playing career with a brief stint with Americas. After moving to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

to continue his education, Hart also played for the Saint Mary's Huskies, the university soccer team, and was named an

Atlantic University Sport Atlantic University Sport (AUS; french: Sport universitaire de l'Atlantique) is a regional membership association for universities in Atlantic Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and pr ...

all-star midfielder. In 2016, Hart was recognised in the Saint Mary's University Sport Hall of Fame.

International career

In 1980, Hart was called up to the Trinidad and Tobago national team. He earned seven caps.

Coaching career

Early career

Hart began his coaching career while in university, volunteering his time to coach children. He took his first coaching position in 1989 as a player-manager for semi-professional club King of Donair. Hart coached the team to four consecutive league titles and six cups. In 1993, he was named technical director of Soccer Nova Scotia and remained in the position for eight years. Hart also served as Nova Scotia's head coach to win bronze medals at the 1993 Canada Games and 2001 Canada Games. Hart returned to Saint Mary's University to coach the Saint Mary's Huskies women's team for four years.

Canada

In September 1997, Hart served as assistant coach for the Canada U23 national team at the

Jeux de la Francophonie The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...

. He was named Canada U17 national team assistant coach in April 2000, and after two years was promoted to head coach of the U17s and Canada U20 national team. He remained with the U17s until May 2007. Hart was named Canada national team assistant coach in July 2005 under

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

, and in 2006, stepped in as the senior team's interim coach. He led Canada to a semi-final spot in the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

but was replaced by Dale Mitchell ahead of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. In April 2009, Hart was named as interim head coach for a second time after the departure of Mitchell. He was named permanent head coach for the first time in December 2009. Hart resigned in October 2012 after suffering an 8–1 loss to Honduras in

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

Trinidad and Tobago

In June 2013, Hart was appointed as manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team. He was fired in November 2016 and replaced by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

coach

Tom Saintfiet Tom Saintfiet (born 29 March 1973) is a Belgian football coach and former player. He was appointed as manager of the Gambian national team in July 2018. Coaching career Saintfiet has coached in several countries, including Belgium, Qatar, Ger ...

HFX Wanderers

On 28 June 2018, Hart was announced as the first head coach of

club

. At the end of the 2022 season, it announced that the Wanderers had parted ways with Hart.

Personal life

Hart was born in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, and grew up in

Marabella Marabella is a former town in southern Trinidad, between San Fernando (to the south) and Pointe-à-Pierre (to the north). Early 19th-century maps highlighted it as Marabella Junction because of the railway intersection to Williamsville and othe ...

and La Romaine. He attended the San Fernando Boys' Government School and St Benedicts College, and graduated from St Mary's University in 1985 with a degree in marine biology. He is a long-time Halifax resident and lives with his wife, a

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

native, and their three daughters.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Club

HFX Wanderers *

**Runners-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Individual

* Canadian Premier League Coach of the Year:

References

External links