2023 Forge FC season

The 2023 Forge FC season was the fifth season in the history of Forge FC and the club's fifth season in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top flight in Canadian soccer. Forge were the defending CPL champions, having defeated Atlético Ottawa in the 2022 Canadian Premier League final. The club was managed by Bobby Smyrniotis in his fifth season as head coach and first season as sporting director. This was Forge FC's first season without any matches in international competitions after having failed to qualify for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.

Forge won a record-extending fourth CPL championship, defeating regular-season champions Cavalry FC 2–1 at home in the 2023 Canadian Premier League final. As champions, they qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, returning the club to international competition in 2024 after a one-year absence. In addition, Forge finished second in the CPL season and reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship.

Background
Forge FC entered the season as the reigning Canadian Premier League champions after having won the 2022 Canadian Premier League final against Atlético Ottawa. This was the club's third CPL title and fourth finals appearance in four years, leading to the Canadian Premier League and several pundits to declare Forge FC to be a dynasty.

Beginning this season, the top five CPL teams will qualify for the playoffs and both the Canadian Premier League champion and regular season winner will qualify for the newly reorganized and expanded CONCACAF Champions Cup. Along with the Champions Cup spot awarded to the winner of the Canadian Championship, Forge has three qualification paths to the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup. As a result of the reorganization, the 2022 CPL champions were not given a spot in any CONCACAF competitions, making this the first season in Forge's history not to include any international competitive matches. The club's goal entering the 2023 season was to return to international competition and qualify for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Forge retained most of its roster from the previous season; the club's highest profile off-season move was to add Canadian international Manjrekar James to replace outgoing cenre-back Daniël Krutzen in defence. Entering the season, Forge FC were favoured to repeat as Canadian Premier League champions.

April
Forge began its season on April 15 at home against rivals Cavalry FC. This was a rematch of the 2022 playoff semifinal where Forge defeated Cavalry 3–2 on aggregate on their way to the championship. Club captain Kyle Bekker served the second game of a two-match suspension following his red card in the second leg of that semifinal, while midfielder Sebastian Castello missed the match due to injury. Manjrekar James made his debut for the club in an entertaining match where Forge came back from 1–0 and 2–1 deficits to secure a 2–2 draw. Forge's first goal came from a Jordan Hamilton penalty in the 41st minute after he was hauled down by Cavalry goalkeeper Marco Carducci. Noah Jensen scored on a volley in the 76th minute to tie the match 2–2, helping to earn himself Player of the Match honours and a spot in the CPL Team of the Week. For the fifth consecutive year, Forge were unable to win on opening day; this draw brought their record in season openers to three draws and two losses.

Three days later, Forge entered the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round with a home match against FC Laval, making this the second year in a row that the Hammers hosted a PLSQ side. Entering the match, Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis highlighted the importance of this cup tournament for the club, describing it as "a competition that we want" and the Voyageurs Cup as "a trophy that we don’t have in our cabinet." Heavily favoured against their semi-pro opponent, Forge delivered with a 3–0 win. Noah Jensen was the star again, scoring a brace, while Woobens Pacius scored a penalty. The match was Tristan Borges's 100th for Forge in all competitions, making him the fifth player in club history to achieve this milestone. The win advanced Forge to the Canadian Championship quarter-finals where they would face Atlético Ottawa.

On April 22, Forge hosted HFX Wanderers FC for the first time under their new head coach, Patrice Gheisar. Gheisar and Bobby Smyrniotis had previously coached against each other in League1 Ontario where Gheisar coached Vaughan Azzurri and Smyrniotis coached Sigma FC. After the Wanderers took a 1–0 first half lead, Woobens Pacius scored a late 89th minute equaliser to lift the Hammers to a 1–1 draw. He was the beneficiary of a favourable deflection that came off of a shot from Aboubacar Sissoko. Notwithstanding the equalizer, Forge struggled to convert their scoring chances into goals, leading Smyrniotis to comment after the match that the team needed to "be a little more clinical in the final third [of the field]." For midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour, the match was his 100th in all competitions for CPL clubs, split between Pacific FC and Forge.

In their next match, Forge played away from home at Starlight Stadium against Pacific FC in a battle of the only ever CPL champions. Goalkeeper Christopher Kalongo picked up an injury before the match, joining the still-injured Sebastian Castello as unavailable. Returning from injury was Kyle Bekker who made his season debut in the match. Woobens Pacius headed in an Ashtone Morgan cross in the 17th minute that stood up as the match winner as Forge won 1–0 in Langford. It was Pacius's third goal in three games, tying him with Tristan Borges for first all-time in goals in all competitions for Forge FC. After the match, Bobby Smyrniotis drew attention to Pacius by comparing him and his scoring ability to that of Canadian international Cyle Larin, Smyrniotis's former protégé. Manjrekar James was dominant in defence to help stymie Pacific and secure the clean sheet, earning him Player of the Match. He was joined by Ashtone Morgan and Aboubacar Sissoko in being named to the CPL Team of the Week, and he was honoured as the CPL Player of the Week.

Forge ended April undefeated, tied with Valour FC atop the CPL standings. For the team's success, Bobby Smyrniotis was named the CPL Manager of the Month.

May
Forge continued their winning ways with a 1–0 road win on May 5 against 905 Derby rival York United FC. Terran Campbell scored the match's only goal in the 21st minute in an intense match that included a red card to Ashtone Morgan. Khadim Kane made his professional debut for Forge in the match as a substitute.

On May 9, Forge returned to Canadian Championship action in a quarter-final matchup against Atlético Ottawa in Hamilton. This was the first meeting between these two teams since the 2022 CPL Final. Kyle Bekker scored the game's opening goal in the 76th minute, only to have Atlético's Ollie Bassett score an equalizing penalty in the 87th minute to force the match to a penalty shoot-out. Noah Jensen, Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson, and Aboubacar Sissoko scored for Forge while Triston Henry made two saves to lead Forge to a 3–2 win. This was the Hammers' first ever win in a penalty shoot-out and qualified the team for the Canadian Championship semi-finals.

Returning to CPL play, Forge defeated Valour 3–2 on May 13 for their third consecutive league win. Kwasi Poku broke the deadlock with a 77th-minute winner while Jordan Hamilton scored the 200th goal in Forge's history. Forge then hosted expansion side Vancouver FC on May 19 in the first ever match between the two clubs. Christopher Kalongo secured his first clean sheet for Forge in a 0–0 draw. This was Forge's first ever scoreless draw at home in league play.

Forge then travelled to Montreal's Saputo Stadium to face CF Montréal on May 24 in the semi-final of the Canadian Championship. This was Forge's third consecutive year facing CF Montréal in the tournament after losing to them in penalties following a 0–0 draw in 2021 and losing 3–0 thanks to a Sunusi Ibrahim hat-trick in 2022. Forge held their own for a large stretch of the match before ultimately falling 2–0, eliminating them from the competition. Ariel Lassiter opened the scoring for Montreal in the 53rd minute with a goal that deflected in off of Alessandro Hojabrpour and Sunisi Imbrahim put the match away with a powerful shot from inside the penalty box in the 78th minute.

On May 27, David Choinière scored in second half stoppage time secure a 1–0 road win against Atlético Ottawa at TD Place Stadium. Triston Henry made eight saves to earn a clean sheet as well as a spot in the CPL Team of the Week and CPL Player of the Week honours. At the quarter mark of the season, Forge had four wins and three draws and were off to their best start to a CPL season in club history. The club's undefeated run ended in their very next match back home on May 31 with a 2–1 loss to York United. Terran Campbell scored a 76th equalizer to erase an earlier own goal from Alessandro Hojabrpour, however the match was ultimately decided in York's favour with a Brem Soumaoro stoppage time screamer.

Forge held first place in the CPL table for the duration of the month. At its conclusion, Triston Henry was honoured by the league as its Goalkeeper of the Month for May.

Roster rules
As a Canadian Premier League club, Forge FC's roster must conform to the league's roster rules and regulations.

On July 20, the Canadian Premier League introduced a new Exceptional Young Talent (EYT) roster subcategory retroactive to July 14. CPL teams can name a maximum of two domestic U-18 players to this category and they do not count against the club's salary cap or 23-player main roster. On the day that the new roster subcategory was announced, Forge designated 18-year-old midfielder Khadim Kane as an EYT.

In
The 2023 transfer windows were open from February10 to May4 and from July7 to August4. The Canadian Premier League also institutes a roster freeze; after September1, clubs may only sign new players in cases of "extreme hardship".

Draft picks
Forge FC made the following selections in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.

Loans out
Forge FC is affiliated with Sigma FC of League1 Ontario as part of the CPL's Downward Player Movement Pilot Project. The following Forge FC players featured for Sigma FC during the 2023 League1 Ontario season.

Staff


On April 12, Costa Smyrniotis left the club to join the CPL as Executive Vice President, Soccer. He had been the club's Director of Football and Business since 2018 and had been a key architect of the team's early success, including three CPL championships.

On May 1, Forge announced that it had signed technical director and head coach Bobby Smyrniotis to a four-year contract extension and expanded his role as head coach and sporting director. He had previously been linked to CF Montréal's head coaching vacancy as well as others in MLS and Europe during the preceding off-season. Over the following days, the club also announced the promotions of Jelani Smith to director of soccer operations and Nicole Demers to vice president of business operations.

Club partnerships
On March 31, Forge announced Hamilton United Elite as an official Forge FC Development Club, joining Sigma FC in the club's youth structure. As part of the agreement, Forge will provide technical leadership and guidance to Hamilton United's coaching staff as well as season passes to their youth players. Hamilton United has also changed its logo and colours to match Forge's orange, grey, and white.

On April 13, Forge made another partnership announcement by revealing eight official "Forge FC Youth Partner Clubs": • Mount Hamilton YSC

• Saltfleet Stoney Creek SC

• Flamborough Dundas SC

• Force Academy

• Oakville SC

• Ancaster Legacy FC

• Grimsby Town YSC

• St. Catharines Roma Wolves

On April 21, the CPL announced a "downward player movement pilot project" to allow its clubs to each have an affiliate club that they can send players to get additional game time. That same day, Forge announced Sigma FC as their affiliate. Forge quickly took advantage of the affiliation by sending Malcolm Duncan and Khadim Kane to Sigma to start in a match the next day.

Community initiatives
On September 9, Forge hosted its second annual Spark Summit, an event aimed at connecting and inspiring professional women in the sports and entertainment industry. Other club initiatives during the season included youth soccer clinics, a high-performance training program, a coaches clinic, an international night, and a food drive in support of Good Shepherd.

Kits
Forge FC unveiled its 2023 primary and alternate kits at a supporters event on March 14 hosted at Tim Hortons Field. Both kits draw inspiration from Hamilton's city flag by featuring a six-link chain that represents the communities of Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook, and Stoney Creek. The kits continue to be produced by Macron and sponsored by Tim Hortons for a fifth consecutive season and for the first time feature sponsorship from CIBC on the left sleeve.

Preseason and friendlies
On February 13, Forge took to the field to begin its preseason. The club travelled to Costa Rica on March 16 for two weeks of training in Alajuela where they played friendlies against Primera División sides Cartaginés, LD Alajuelense, and Deportivo Saprissa, as well as the Costa Rica national under-20 football team. The team also played preseason friendlies against League1 Ontario side Sigma FC, NCAA Division I's Syracuse Orange and Akron Zips, U Sports's York Lions, and fellow CPL side and 905 Derby rival York United.

Competitions
Matches are listed in Hamilton local time: Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

Matches
Forge FC's opening weekend match against Cavalry FC was announced on January 27, 2023. The rest of the schedule was announced on January 30.

Playoff matches
Forge qualified for the CPL playoffs on September 23. As the second-place finishers in the regular season, they opened the playoffs away at regular season winners Cavalry FC on October 14 in the page playoff first semifinal. After defeating Cavalry 2–1 and earning the right to host the final in Hamilton at Tim Hortons Field, the league announced that the final would be played on October 28 at 6:00pm.

Canadian Championship
Canada Soccer announced the draw procedure for the Canadian Championship on January 17, 2023; the draw was held on January 31. Fixtures were announced on February 7 for the preliminary round, April 21 for the quarter-finals, and May 11 for the semi-finals.

Squad and statistics


! colspan="14" | Player(s) transferred out during this season


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Goal scorers
Woobens Pacius and Terran Campbell ended the CPL season with 10 goals each, tied for third in the league's scoring race and one back of joint Golden Boot winners Ollie Bassett and Myer Bevan who each scored 11 goals.

Canadian Premier League Awards
The Canadian Premier League Awards took place on October 26 in Hamilton.

Team of the Week
The Gatorade Team of the Week is usually selected by the CPL's Kristian Jack and OneSoccer's Oliver Platt.

150th game in charge
Bobby Smyrniotis managed his 150th game in charge of Forge FC on September 9, 2023.

Debuts
The following players made their competitive debuts for Forge during the 2023 season.

100th appearances
The following players made their 100th appearance for Forge during the 2023 season.

First goals
The following players scored their first goals for Forge during the 2023 season.

First clean sheets
The following goalkeepers kept their first clean sheets for Forge during the 2023 season.