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The 2022 Forge FC season was the fourth season in the history of Forge FC. In addition to the Canadian Premier League, the club competed in the 2022 Canadian Championship and the previously delayed final of the 2020 Canadian Championship.

Forge FC began its season in February by competing against Mexican club Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first Canadian Premier League club to play in the competition.

On October 30, Forge FC defeated Atlético Ottawa 2–0 in the 2022 Canadian Premier League Final to claim their third CPL title.

January


On January 7, Pacific FC announced that forward Terran Campbell and reigning CPL Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year Alessandro Hojabrpour had left the club to sign with Forge FC. Forge officially confirmed the signings the following week.

Over the following weeks, Forge announced the return of several key players including Dominic Samuel, Emery Welshman, and Chris Nanco, as well as an extension of Omar Browne’s loan from Independiente. Also in January, Forge lost Mo Babouli and Maxim Tissot, both members of Forge’s 2020 CPL championship team, on free transfers to Qatari Second Division club Muaither SC and fellow CPL club Atlético Ottawa, respectively. Club original Elimane Cissé also departed the club, later joining Moroccan side US Touarga.

With CONCACAF Champions League matches coming up in February, Forge began its pre-season early and played several closed-door friendlies, starting with a January 29 match against League1 Ontario club Vaughan Azzurri.

February
Forge continued to prepare for Champions League games with friendlies against the Syracuse Orange of the NCAA and fellow CPL side and 905 Derby rival York United.

The club continued to make additions to its roster including adding former Toronto FC defender Ashtone Morgan and midfielders Aboubacar Sissoko and Noah Jensen. Tristan Borges was also brought back on loan from OH Leuven. Standout full-back Kwame Awuah announced his departure from the club on February 10; he later joined newly formed MLS Next Pro side St. Louis City SC 2.

CONCACAF Champions League
On February 16, Forge hosted Liga MX giants Cruz Azul at Tim Hortons Field for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League round of 16 tie, Forge’s first ever match in the competition. Forge entered the tie as heavy underdogs with a payroll less than one tenth of Cruz Azul’s. Rómulo Otero scored the only goal of the match on a first-half free kick to give Cruz Azul a 1–0 win.

In the second leg the next week at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Cruz Azul finished the job by winning 3–1 to eliminate Forge 4–1 on aggregate and advance to the quarter-finals. David Choinière broke La Máquina’s clean sheet in the 26th minute, scoring Forge’s first ever Champions League goal on a low shot into the bottom right corner. After the match, head coach Bobby Smyrniotis congratulated his players and staff for their performance against "a grand opponent" over the two legs of the tie.

March and April
Following the conclusion of its Champions League run, Forge readjusted its focus towards the upcoming CPL season, playing friendlies against fellow CPL club HFX Wanderers and another match against York United.

On April 10, Forge kicked off its 2022 CPL season at Starlight Stadium for a 2021 finals rematch against Pacific FC, the first match for Terran Campbell and Alessandro Hojabrpour against their old team. Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson headed in Forge’s first goal of the season in the 89th minute, but it wasn’t enough as Forge lost the match 2–1.

Forge returned to Hamilton for its home opener against rival side Cavalry FC on April 16. Alessandro Hojabrpour opened the scoring early with a blast from outside the penalty area but Cavalry were able to tie the match and later take the lead before half time. Forge pressed for an equalizer in the second half, finally succeeding in the 90th minute on a goal from David Choinière to secure a 2–2 draw.

Forge finished the month by winning its first match of the season with a 3–0 home win against FC Edmonton. Terran Campbell lead the way by scoring a brace and assisting on a goal by Tristan Borges. With the win, the club began a new tradition of celebrating home victories by having a prominent player from the match strike an anvil before the Barton St. Battalion supporters' group.

May
On May 6, Forge was shutout in a 1–0 away loss against York United. In its next match, Forge hosted Atlético Ottawa at Tim Hortons Field. Noah Jensen scored his first goal for the club in the 47th minute to help secure a 1–1 draw. Due to injuries, Forge played without any natural centre-backs in its lineup, forcing midfielder Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson and full-back Ashtone Morgan to play out of position. With the draw, Forge found itself in seventh place in the league standings with only one win in its first five games.

On May 19, Forge signed Albanian-Greek defender Rezart Rama from Nottingham Forest. He and fellow new addition Malik Owolabi-Belewu made their debuts the following day against HFX Wanderers, helping to shore up the team’s ailing backline and contributing to a convincing 4–0 away win. The win turned out to be the first of what would become a four game winning streak in league play.

Forge began its run in the 2022 Canadian Championship with a 2–0 home win in the preliminary round against PLSQ side CS Mont-Royal Outremont. This set up a quarter-final match at Saputo Stadium in Montreal against MLS franchise CF Montréal, a rematch of the previous year’s semi-final where Montréal had defeated Forge on penalties following a scoreless draw. This match was less close as Forge suffered a difficult 3–0 loss powered by a Sunusi Ibrahim hat-trick to bow out of the competition.

Forge ended the month with a come-from-behind 4–3 win at FC Edmonton. Tristan Borges completed a hat-trick with an 82nd minute penalty, the first hat-trick in club history.

June
On June 4, Forge hosted Toronto FC in the previously delayed final of the 2020 Canadian Championship. Forge had qualified for this match by defeating HFX Wanderers in the 2020 CPL Final, a match played 623 days earlier. After the match had been delayed and Toronto FC had been awarded the Champions League berth that is reserved for the Voyageurs Cup winning team, there had been speculation that this match would not be played. Although they played Toronto competitively for much of the match, Forge fell 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw. The club had opened up expanded seating to accommodate the 13,715 fans who attended the match.

Returning to league play, Forge secured a pair of 3–0 victories in its next two matches against Pacific FC and HFX Wanderers before ending the month with a 1–0 loss to Valour FC. By playing against Valour, club captain Kyle Bekker became the first player to play in 100 games in all competitions for a CPL club.

July


Forge began July with a second consecutive 1–0 home loss, this time to Atlético Ottawa. The losing streak would be short-lived as Forge went on to win its remaining five games in July. Lead by striker Woobens Pacius scoring six goals in the month, including a hat-trick against FC Edmonton, Forge outscored its opponents 17 to 5 in July. For their successes, Pacius was named the CPL Player of the Month and manager Bobby Smyrniotis was named the CPL Manager of the Month.

August
On August 5, Forge bolstered its attack by signing forward Jordan Hamilton to a multi-year contract. He made his debut the next day as Forge defeated HFX Wanderers 1–0 to extend their winning streak to six games (a club record) as Forge built a 5-point lead atop the standings. This turned out to be the last win of the streak as Forge lost its next match 2–1 at Cavalry.

Forge then traveled to Winnipeg for a pair of away matches against Valour. The first of the two matches on August 31 had previously been postponed and rescheduled due to "League Covid Protocols." Forge lost the first match 1–0 in a game that became heated late and featured 12 yellow cards including a second to Valour’s Moses Dyer in the 9th minute of second half stoppage time resulting in a sending off. The loss extended Forge’s winless run and they ended the month in third place in the CPL Standings.

September
Forge’s rematch against Valour on September 4 resulted in a second consecutive 1–0 loss. The loss extended the club’s winless run to five games and goalless drought to three games, both new club records. The result brought Valour level with third place Forge in the CPL standings with 36 points.

On September 10, Dominic Samuel became Forge’s fourth player to play in his 100th game for the club in all competitions when he started in the club’s final game of the season against Cavalry. The starting 11 also featured the return of defender Daniel Krutzen who played in his first game since November, 2021 when he suffered an ACL injury in a CONCACAF League game versus Motagua. In the match, Forge took a 2–0 lead off of goals from David Choinière and Aboubacar Sissoko before surrendering a goal to Cavalry’s Ali Musse. In the 70th minute, Kyle Bekker was sent off for stepping on Roberto Alarcón’s leg. Forge’s numerical deficit didn’t last long as Cavalry’s Joseph Di Chiara and Mikaël Cantave were also both sent off in the 86th minute and the 5th minute of stoppage time, respectively. Forge held on for a 2–1 win, ending its five game winless drought. Forge appealed Bekker’s red card suspension to Soccer Canada, but it still resulted in the standard three match suspension.

October
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Playoffs
to qualify for the Canadian Premier League Finals for the fourth consecutive season.

CPL Final
The Canadian Premier League Awards were handed out at a ceremony on October 28. Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson earned CPL Defender of the Year honours; he had also be nominated for Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. Other Forge nominees included Kyle Bekker	for Players' Player of the Year, Woobens Pacius	for Players' Player of the Year	and Canadian U-21 Player of the Year, and Bobby Smyrniotis for Coach of the Year.

On October 30, Forge faced regular season winner Atlético Ottawa at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa for the CPL Final. Thanks to first-half goal by Alessandro Hojabrpour and a second-half insurance goal by David Choinière, Forge defeated Atléti 2–0 to claim the club's third CPL title in four years. This accomplishment lead the Canadian Premier League and members of the media to declare Forge FC to be a dynasty.

Bobby Smyrniotis and David Choinière were later named the CPL's Manager of the Month and Player of the Month respectively for their roles in leading Forge to the championship.

Draft picks
Forge FC made the following selections in the 2022 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.

Club
On January 2, Forge FC reorganized its ownership under the newly announced Hamilton Sports Group, an entity that also took over the ownership of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the master licence for Tim Hortons Field. Bob Young continued as the club's chairman and largest shareholder while also welcoming new investment from Hamilton-based steel company Stelco (represented by its chairman and CEO Alan Kestenbaum), club CEO Scott Mitchell, and Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson.

Kits
Forge FC unveiled its 2022 home kit on March 17 and away kit on March 31. The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League began before the new kits were unveiled, requiring the club to continue to wear its 2021 kit for its matches in the competition.

Supplier: Macron / Sponsor: Tim Hortons

Pre-season and friendlies
Forge FC split its pre-season, playing friendlies both before and after the club's CONCACAF Champions League matches against Cruz Azul.

Competitions
Matches are listed in Hamilton local time: Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) from March 13 until November 5, and Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) otherwise.

2020 Canadian Championship
The 2020 Canadian Championship Final was delayed nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Squad and statistics


! colspan="14" | Player(s) on loan but featured this season

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


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