Lethbridge soccer star Nik Ledgerwood retires

It’s been quite the ride for Nik Ledgerwood.

After 50 appearances with the Canadian men’s national team, pro contracts in Europe and the captain’s arm band with Cavalry FC, the Lethbridge soccer star is hanging up his cleats.

“I’m really proud of the career I had, especially coming from Lethbridge and the pathway that wasn’t there for me that I had to kind of build on my own,” Ledgerwood said.

After making his professional debut with the Calgary Storm, Ledgerwood blazed his own trail across the pond, trying out for a Bayern Munich team that now employs fellow Albertan Alphonso Davies, before signing a four-year deal with 1860 Munich.

“The media attention, the quality of the training pitches there, it just blew my mind,” Ledgerwood said.

“I was so far in the deep end, because I never had a realization that could possibly exist.”

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Splitting his time in Europe between Germany and Sweden, Ledgerwood returned to Canada to play for FC Edmonton.

Spending half his career representing the Canadian men’s national team, the fullback and midfielder played in three cycles of World Cup qualifiers in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

In 2018, Ledgerwood was one of the first signings made by Tommy Wheeldon Jr. in Cavalry FC history.

For Wheeldon Jr., Ledgerwood’s attributes made him the perfect pick-up for the club as it began play in the newly formed Canadian Premier League.

“You’d go into any battle with him,” Wheeldon Jr. said. “He’s such a competitor, he’s such a driver and leader of men. You need professionals, you need leaders, you need people who have been in bigger arenas than what we were creating and Nik epitomized that.”

Across 47 appearances with Cavalry, Ledgerwood left his mark on the club.

“We have a thing we call ‘pass the jersey on in a better place’ and I think that’s what Nik’s done,” Wheeldon Jr. said. “Whoever takes his jersey or takes the captain’s armband, he leaves with him a really good standard.”

After helping pave the way for other southern Alberta soccer players, Ledgerwood isn’t done with the sport. It’s still too early to announce his next steps, but Ledgerwood plans to remain involved off the pitch.

“I just want to help this country reach its full potential that I think it does have in being a soccer country.”