Forge FC head into the 2025 Canadian Premier League season after a very successful previous year.
The Hamilton club finished the 2024 regular season atop the CPL table, lifting the CPL Shield and earning a Concacaf Champions Cup berth as a result.
But 2024 ultimately ended in disappointment when Forge FC lost the CPL Final 2-1 to archrivals Cavalry FC in Calgary in November.
However, club captain Kyle Bekker is looking to end the 2025 season on a better note.
“The expectation when you put on a Forge jersey is that you’re lifting trophies,” said Bekker in a recent CHCH TV appearance. “We would like to be the first team to lift both (the CPL Shield and North Star Cup. No team has done it in CPL so far. We think we’re more than capable to do it, and we know the expectation from the higher-ups in the club is that we’ll be in the position to do it.”
And it would given the roster they take into the new season.
Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis has again done well to maintain his core set of players, while also adding quality to his squad.
Forge FC’s solid core and new signings
Midfielders Bekker, 2024 CPL Player of the Year Tristan Borges and Player of the Year nominee Alessandro Hojabrpour all re-signed to give Forge FC its solid foundation.
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But Smyrniotis is hoping the signings of forwards Brian Wright and Mo Babouli from York United, and 2023 Defender of the Year nominee Dan Nimick from HFX Wanderers will provide his club an element of dynamism.
“I think that’s somewhere where we could be better as a group even after an excellent 2024 season,” said Smyrniotis in a recent interview. “We want the team to be a little bit more dynamic, as we have been in the past, a little bit more aggressive in the phases of the game and I think that’s what we’ve seen from the group of players we’ve brought in here. That they are able to play at a quicker pace both on the ball and off the ball. That gives us a lot of options in games.”
Forge FC coach targets more trophies
Forge FC have already started their 2025 campaign, competing in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup in February.
And while their continental journey ended quickly after losing to Mexico’s CF Monterey 5-0 on aggregate in the first round, Smyrniotis is confident there is more silverware in his club’s future.
“The minimum is we need to add to that trophy case, and that comes with a lot of good positive pressure on this group,” said Smyrniotis. “Players know when they step out onto a training session it means something in preparation for what’s coming next, and what’s coming next is 28 games against very good teams from across the country who have all made moves to make themselves better with their eyes on a trophy.”
Forge FC open their 2025 Canadian Premier League season at home to Cavalry FC at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton Saturday, April 5.
