Just days after Forge FC won the team’s third Canadian Premier League (CPL) championship in its four-year history, the franchise’s head coach says the front office is already looking ahead to 2023.
Hours ahead of a rally with supporters at Tim Hortons Field to celebrate a 2-0 win over Atlético Ottawa on the road in Sunday night’s CPL final, head coach Bobby Smyrniotios is already looking at filling out a roster for 2023 amid the high attrition inherent with North American soccer clubs.
“We take two days to relax … and start going again,” Smyrniotios told 900 CHMLs Good Morning Hamilton.
“The planning keeps moving forward, you know, it’s one thing that we want to make sure we’re always ahead of.”
The four-time coach of the year nominee says part of the team’s struggle to win another championship in 2022 was fitting in new players to fill out vacated roles.
“Trying to bring the guys into focus and making sure that they still had the hunger inside of them — that’s probably the biggest challenge we had as a coaching staff organization,” he said.
“I think that’s what makes this one very special in the end.”
Smyrniotis points to Durham Region native Noah Jensen as an example of youth stepping up in the final, covering for former Major League Soccer (MLS) veteran Kyle Bekker who bowed out due to a red-card suspension.
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Bekker, the first player in CPL history to play 100 games for a club, up to that point had been involved in every big moment for Forge both domestically and internationally.
“But here we go into a big match and the first-year professional Noah Jensen steps up and doesn’t miss a beat,” Smyrniotis recalled.
“That’s been the biggest thing we’ve had as a club this season — adversity of missing some players, either through cards or a lot of our experienced players through micro-injuries.”
Forge’s 2022 journey began in early January with preparations for their CONCACAF Champions League bout with Mexico Liga MX heavyweight Cruz Azul in the Round-of-16.
That February home-and-home matchup saw the club visit the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico city, which has hosted two FIFA World Cup Finals in its 56-year history.
Smyrniotos says despite going out of the competition at that stage, the opportunity was immense for the players and the club.
“That’s the type of competition you can play on your continent and against our historic clubs as Cruz Azul … having such a massive club visiting Hamilton to play that match and then obviously heading to one of the cathedrals of world football, in the Azteca,” Smyrniotis said.
Another milestone in the season was a “fantastic match” with Toronto FC (TFC) for the belated 2020 Canadian Championship, which pitted the club against a Major League Soccer (MLS) rival just 70 kilometres north on the QEW.
The game was about a year and a half late, having been carried over after multiple COVID-related episodes and ending in a thrilling TFC shootout win at Tim Horton’s Field.
“Being the first CPL team to compete for a Canadian championship, losing in the shootout, and now you end the season in the best way possible by lifting another North Star Shield, ” Smyrniotis said.
Supporters will have an opportunity Thursday night to see players and coaching staff in the flesh with their third North Star Shield.
The championship celebration goes at 7 p.m. at Tim Hortons Field and requires an RSVP through the CPL team’s website.
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