The 2019 Canadian Premier League season was the inaugural season 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 ...

, the top level of Canadian professional soccer. The regular season began on April 27 and ended on October 19, with seven teams competing. The inaugural match of the Canadian Premier League took place between

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 ...

and

York9 York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histo ...

Tim Hortons Field Tim Hortons Field, nicknamed "The Donut Box", is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Built as a replacement for Ivor Wynne Stadium, Tim Hortons Field is primarily used for Canadian football and soccer, and is the home of the ...

on April 27, 2019, which ended in a 1–1 draw. The CPL Finals were contested between the Spring and Fall season champions,

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 ...

, and the Spring and Fall season runners-up, Forge FC, in October and November. Forge FC won 2–0 over two legs to win the inaugural Canadian Premier League title.

Overview

Background

On May 6, 2017, the Canadian Premier League was unanimously approved and sanctioned by 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 ...

. Seven teams competed in the first Canadian Premier League season, leaving four professional Canadian teams playing in United States-based leagues ( Montreal Impact,

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 BM ...

and

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

and

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were d ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

). The CPL teams competed in the

2019 Canadian Championship The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title (their tenth Voyageurs Cup) and earned a berth in the ...

with the Canadian MLS and USL teams, and the champions of the Ontario and Quebec tier three leagues.

Teams

Seven teams competed during this season – six newly-formed teams and one existing team which joined the CPL. The six new teams were

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 lea ...

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 20 ...

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned ...

, and

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histor ...

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to ...

announced their move to the CPL having previously ceased professional operations following their 2017 season in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: * North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league * North American Soccer League (2011–2017), a former Division II league {{disambig ...

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

:''Note: All teams use the same

kit Kit may refer to: Places *Kitt, Indiana, US, formerly Kit * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Kit Hill, Cornwall, England People * Kit (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Kit (surname) Animals * Young animals: ...

manufacturer:

Macron Macron may refer to: People * Emmanuel Macron (born 1977), president of France since 2017 ** Brigitte Macron (born 1953), French teacher, wife of Emmanuel Macron * Jean-Michel Macron (born 1950), French professor of neurology, father of Emmanu ...

.''

Coaching changes

Format

The Canadian Premier League season ran from late April to October. Each team played 28 games, split between a spring and fall season. The 10-game spring season began on April 27 and ended on Canada Day, July 1. The 18-game fall season began on July 6 and ended on October 19. The winner of each season gained a berth into 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 d ...

Spring season

Table

2019 CONCACAF League qualification

One Canadian Premier League team qualifies annually for 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 le ...

tournament. For the 2019 edition only, this slot was granted to one of the league's 'inaugural teams' (FC Edmonton, Forge FC, or Valour FC) based on their home and away matches in the 2019 spring season. In subsequent years, CONCACAF League qualification is awarded to the previous year's CPL champion.

Results

Fall season

Table

Results

Finals

The winners of the spring and fall seasons gained berths to the two-legged CPL Finals. As a contingency implemented this year because a single team won both halves of the season, the second berth was given to the team with the second-best overall record. The two games were played on October 26, 2019 and November 2, 2019, with the winner of the Fall season choosing which leg to host.

Overall table

Results

The first leg was held on October 26, and the second leg on November 2, 2019.

Attendance

Statistical leaders

Statistics include regular season and Finals.

Top scorers

Top assists

Clean sheets

Hat-tricks

Awards

Premier Performer

The Premier Performer presented by

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

Canada is presented to the CPL's top player based on an algorithm developed by the league and its data analysis provider. The winner receives a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta GLI, handed out at the Canadian Premier League Awards ceremony.

Canadian Premier League Awards

On November 1, 2019, the Canadian Premier League revealed the five individual awards to be given based on performance over the whole season including Finals. The awards are Inuit soapstone sculptures designed by artists from

Cape Dorset Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning "high mountain" or "where the hills are"; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), formerly known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baf ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

. The recipients of the awards were announced at a ceremony in Toronto on November 26.

Fan Awards

The Canadian Premier League allowed fans to vote for a series of Fan Awards for a chance to win various prizes. The winners were announced on December 16.

Player transfers

U Sports Draft

The

2018 CPL–U Sports Draft The 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft was the inaugural CPL–U Sports Draft, held on November 12, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 21 U Sports athletes in total. The results were announced on Novem ...

was held on November 12 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. Draftees were invited to team preseason camps, with an opportunity to earn a developmental contract and retain their

U Sports men's soccer U Sports men's soccer is the highest level of play at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. As of the 2018 season, 48 teams from Canadian universities are divided into four conference ...

eligibility.

selected

Gabriel Bitar Gabriel Walid Bitar (; born August 23, 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or forward for Canadian club Vancouver FC. Born in Canada, he plays for the Lebanon national team. Early life Bitar began playing soccer with ...

with the first overall pick. Three players were selected by each team, with a total of twenty-one players being drafted including fifteen Canadians.

Foreign players

Canadian Premier League teams may sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five can be in the starting line-up for each match. The following players are considered foreign players for the 2019 season. This list does not include Canadian citizens who represent other countries at international level.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Premier League 2019

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 ...

2019 in Canadian soccer