CALGARY — It’s probably unfair to call Cavalry FC’s long-awaited Canadian Premier League championship a footballing redemption arc, but after years of heartbreak — so often at the hands of their CPL final opponents, the big, bad Forge FC — the conclusion to the 2024 season felt fitting in so many ways.
The league would never publicly admit it, but having another city beyond Hamilton lift the North Star Cup was important. Forge have owned the league since its inception in 2019, winning every year aside from 2021 when Pacific FC beat what Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis told me this weekend was perhaps his greatest side. Nothing helps grow a local fanbase more than success, and that is really the most important thing for the league right now.
Forge have represented the fledgling league since the opening kickoff six seasons ago with class and pedigree, a model franchise that will be back with a vengeance next season. Perhaps a painful loss in the final will allow them to hit the reset button following a dominating campaign that, despite bringing another League Shield to the trophy cabinet, did see a spluttering run of form late in the season.
On Saturday, it was the Cavalry’s turn. It was poetic to see Day 1 player Sergio Camargo score the winner, with captain and fellow original Marco Carducci finally getting to lift the trophy having come so close before. If there is a more affable and charismatic head coach in Canadian sport than Tommy Wheeldon Jr., I don’t know who it is. The Englishman who has made Calgary his home since 2002 is box office, and a genuine league star who at some point will be targeted by bigger clubs in bigger leagues. For now, though, he deservedly gets his CPL title.
As do the Cavalry faithful. As someone experiencing Spruce Meadows for the first time over the weekend, their fans wowed me with their passion, support and footballing sophistication. If the CPL was able to magically clone Atco Field and its surroundings and stick it in every CPL market, they’d really be onto something.
Beyond the festivities and football, in the back rooms of Canada Soccer, meetings were being had and deals were being worked on towards a new collective bargaining agreement with the players. “Nothing to report at this point” was the response when CPL commissioner and Canada Soccer Business president Mark Noonan and CSA president Peter Augruso were questioned throughout the week, but the twinkle in the eye suggested labour peace is not so far away.
There is a genuine air of optimism surrounding Canadian soccer at the moment, even with the drone scandal findings coming to a head as early as Tuesday. Not to be naive as there are still many hurdles to overcome, including that big one, but there does seem to be a plan taking shape to move Canadian soccer forward.
As Noonan puts it, the World Cup in 2026 needs to be used as an accelerator for not just the CPL, but the game as a whole in Canada. It feels as if the starting gun has been fired and we are in good shape, but we need to get into great shape. If the energy I felt over a few days in Calgary are anything to go by, that will come sooner rather than later.
WILL BOBBY BE BACK?
As the off-season begins for the CPL, there are some huge questions that will dictate the next few months. The most compelling storyline surrounds Smyrniotis and his future with the Forge.
Despite Saturday’s loss, Smyrniotis is a hot property in the coaching landscape. He was a finalist for the Toronto FC job before John Herdman’s hire, and CF Montreal also considered him for their top job. With MLS coaching vacancies beginning to open up, will this be the year that a club takes the plunge on a Canadian that cannot prove anything more in the CPL?
Of course, it would need to be the right fit for Smyrniotis. His connections to Forge go well beyond that of just his role as head coach. He was integral to the mere existence of the club, let alone the success on the pitch. He has a great gig where he is, but will he be swayed if a bigger club comes a knocking? Let’s be clear, as much as it would be an emotional day to see Canadian soccer lose Smyrniotis, it would be an enormous moment for Canada and the CPL’s credibility.
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