2019 Canadian Premier League season

The 2019 Canadian Premier League season was the inaugural season of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian professional soccer. The regular season began on April 27 and ended on October 19, with seven teams competing.^[1] The CPL's inaugural match took place between Forge FC and York9 at Tim Hortons Field on April 27, 2019, which ended in a 1–1 draw.^[2]

Canadian Premier League

Season	2019
Dates	April 27 – October 19 (regular season)
Champions	Forge FC
Regular season winners	Cavalry FC
2019 CONCACAF League	Forge FC[a]
2020 CONCACAF League	Forge FC[b]
Matches played	100
Goals scored	250 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tristan Borges (13 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Marco Carducci Triston Henry (9 clean sheets each)
Biggest home win	York9 6–2 HFX Wanderers (July 27) York9 4–0 Forge FC (October 12)
Biggest away win	Valour FC 0–8 Cavalry FC (September 2)
Highest scoring	York9 6–2 HFX Wanderers (July 27) Valour FC 0–8 Cavalry FC (September 2)
Longest winning run	7 matches Cavalry FC (May 4 – June 19)
Longest unbeaten run	14 matches Forge FC (July 13 – October 6)
Longest winless run	10 matches FC Edmonton (August 16 – October 5) HFX Wanderers (August 10 – October 9)
Longest losing run	5 matches HFX Wanderers (July 13 – 31)
Highest attendance	17,611 Forge FC 1–1 York9 (April 27)
Lowest attendance	1,729 York9 0–0 FC Edmonton (June 19)
Total attendance	419,314
Average attendance	4,279
2020 → As winners of the CONCACAF League qualification series As 2019 CPL champions

The CPL Finals were contested between the Spring and Fall season champions, Cavalry FC, and the Spring and Fall season runners-up, Forge FC, in October and November. Forge FC won 2–0 over two legs to win the inaugural Canadian Premier League title.

Overview

Background

On May 6, 2017, the Canadian Premier League was unanimously approved and sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association.^[3] Seven teams competed in the first Canadian Premier League season, leaving four professional Canadian teams playing in United States-based leagues (Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer and Ottawa Fury FC in the USL Championship). The CPL teams competed in the 2019 Canadian Championship with the Canadian MLS and USL teams, and the champions of the Ontario and Quebec tier three leagues.

Teams

Forge

Cavalry

Pacific

HFX Wanderers

York9

Valour

FC Edmonton

2019 Canadian Premier League teams

Seven teams competed during this season – six newly-formed teams and one existing team which joined the CPL. The six new teams were Cavalry FC, Forge FC, HFX Wanderers FC, Pacific FC, Valour FC, and York9 FC. FC Edmonton announced their move to the CPL having previously ceased professional operations following their 2017 season in the North American Soccer League.

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Cavalry FC	Foothills County, Alberta	ATCO Field	5,288
FC Edmonton	Edmonton, Alberta	Clarke Stadium	5,100
Forge FC	Hamilton, Ontario	Tim Hortons Field	10,016
HFX Wanderers	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Wanderers Grounds	6,200
Pacific FC	Langford, British Columbia	Westhills Stadium	6,200
Valour FC	Winnipeg, Manitoba	IG Field	10,000
York9 FC	Toronto, Ontario	York Lions Stadium	8,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use the same kit manufacturer: Macron.^[4]

Team	Head coach	Captain(s)	Shirt sponsor
Cavalry FC	Tommy Wheeldon Jr.	Nik Ledgerwood	WestJet
FC Edmonton	Jeff Paulus	Tomi Ameobi	OneSoccer
Forge FC	Bobby Smyrniotis	Kyle Bekker	Tim Hortons
HFX Wanderers	Stephen Hart	Jan-Michael Williams	Volkswagen
Pacific FC	James Merriman[a]	Marcus Haber	Volkswagen
Valour FC	Rob Gale	Louis Béland-Goyette	OneSoccer
York9 FC	Jimmy Brennan	Manny Aparicio	Macron

1. Merriman was named interim head coach on October 18 following Pacific's announcement that the club had relieved Michael Silberbauer of his duties as head coach.

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Pacific FC	Michael Silberbauer	Fired	October 18, 2019	6th in Fall, 6th overall	James Merriman (interim)	October 18, 2019

Format

The Canadian Premier League season ran from late April to October.^[5][6] Each team played 28 games, split between a spring and fall season. The 10-game spring season began on April 27 and ended on Canada Day, July 1. The 18-game fall season began on July 6 and ended on October 19. The winner of each season gained a berth into the 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals.^[7]

Spring season

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cavalry	10	8	0	2	16	7	+9	24	2019 Canadian Premier League Finals
2	Forge	10	6	1	3	15	7	+8	19	2019 CONCACAF League preliminary round[a]
3	FC Edmonton	10	4	2	4	8	9	−1	14
4	HFX Wanderers	10	3	2	5	8	11	−3	11
5	Pacific	10	3	2	5	11	15	−4	11
6	York9	10	2	5	3	9	11	−2	11
7	Valour	10	3	0	7	8	15	−7	9

Source: CanPL.ca
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals for; 7) home goal differential; 8) home goals for; 9) coin toss or drawing of lots.
Notes:

1. As winner of home and away matches between FC Edmonton, Forge FC, and Valour FC

2019 CONCACAF League qualification

One Canadian Premier League team qualifies annually for the CONCACAF League tournament. For the 2019 edition only, this slot was granted to one of the league's 'inaugural teams' (FC Edmonton, Forge FC, or Valour FC) based on their home and away matches in the 2019 spring season.^[8] In subsequent years, CONCACAF League qualification is awarded to the previous year's CPL champion.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FOR	FCE	VAL
1	Forge FC	4	3	0	1	6	2	+4	9	2019 CONCACAF League		—	2–0	2–1
2	FC Edmonton	4	2	0	2	3	4	−1	6			1–0	—	0–1
3	Valour FC	4	1	0	3	3	6	−3	3			0–2	1–2	—

Source: CanPL.ca
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals for; 7) home goal differential; 8) home goals for; 9) coin toss or drawing of lots.

Results

Home \ Away	CAV	FCE	FOR	HFX	PAC	VAL	YOR
Cavalry FC	—	1–0	0–1	2–0	—	1–0	2–1
FC Edmonton	0–3	—	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–1	—
Forge FC	1–2	2–0	—	—	3–0	2–1	1–1
HFX Wanderers	1–2	—	2–1	—	2–1	2–0	1–1
Pacific FC	3–1	1–3	—	1–0	—	1–2	2–2
Valour FC	—	1–2	0–2	1–0	1–2	—	1–3
York9	0–2	0–0	0–2	0–0	1–0	—	—

Source: CanPL.ca
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fall season

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cavalry	18	11	5	2	35	12	+23	38	2019 Canadian Premier League Finals
2	Forge	18	11	4	3	30	19	+11	37
3	York9	18	7	2	9	30	26	+4	23
4	Pacific	18	5	5	8	24	31	−7	20
5	Valour	18	5	4	9	22	37	−15	19
6	FC Edmonton	18	4	6	8	19	24	−5	18
7	HFX Wanderers	18	3	8	7	13	24	−11	17

Source: CanPL.ca
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals for; 7) home goal differential; 8) home goals for; 9) coin toss or drawing of lots.

Results

Home \ Away	CAV	FCE	FOR	HFX	PAC	VAL	YOR	CAV	FCE	FOR	HFX	PAC	VAL	YOR
Cavalry FC	—	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	4–1	1–0	—	3–1	—	—	4–1	—	3–1
FC Edmonton	0–1	—	1–1	2–0	3–1	0–0	2–2	—	—	0–1	—	3–1	—	1–3
Forge FC	1–0	1–2	—	2–0	3–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	—	—	2–2	—	—	1–0
HFX Wanderers	0–1	0–0	1–1	—	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	—	—	—	0–0	—
Pacific FC	2–3	1–0	2–3	3–1	—	2–1	0–2	—	—	1–1	1–1	—	2–0	—
Valour FC	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–0	2–2	—	0–4	0–8	3–1	1–3	—	—	—	—
York9	1–1	2–1	4–0	6–2	2–1	0–2	—	—	—	—	0–2	0–2	2–4	—

Source: CanPL.ca
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals

Main article: 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals

The winners of the spring and fall seasons gained berths to the two-legged CPL Finals. As a contingency implemented this year because a single team won both halves of the season, the second berth was given to the team with the second-best overall record. The two games were played on October 26, 2019 and November 2, 2019, with the winner of the Fall season choosing which leg to host.

Overall table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cavalry (S)	28	19	5	4	51	19	+32	62	2019 Canadian Premier League Finals[a]
2	Forge (C)	28	17	5	6	45	26	+19	56	2019 Canadian Premier League Finals[b]
3	York9	28	9	7	12	39	37	+2	34
4	FC Edmonton	28	8	8	12	27	33	−6	32
5	Pacific	28	8	7	13	35	46	−11	31
6	Valour	28	8	4	16	30	52	−22	28
7	HFX Wanderers	28	6	10	12	21	35	−14	28

Source: CanPL.ca
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) away goal differential; 6) away goals for; 7) home goal differential; 8) home goals for; 9) coin toss or drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (S) Regular season winner
Notes:

1. As winner of the 2019 Spring and Fall seasons
2. As second place in overall table

Results

The first leg was held on October 26, and the second leg on November 2, 2019.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Forge FC	2–0	Cavalry FC	1–0	1–0

Attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Forge FC	92,228	17,611	3,864	6,588	n/a†
2	HFX Wanderers	84,860	6,244	5,387	6,061	n/a†
3	Valour FC	74,694	9,699	3,173	5,335	n/a†
4	Cavalry FC	46,091	4,697	1,938	3,292	n/a†
5	Pacific FC	43,426	5,103	2,017	3,102	n/a†
6	FC Edmonton	40,663	4,238	2,021	2,905	n/a†
7	York9	37,352	4,260	1,729	2,668	n/a†
	League total	419,314	17,611	1,729	4,279	n/a†

Source:

Statistical leaders

Statistics include regular season and Finals.

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Tristan Borges Forge FC 13 2 Terran Campbell Pacific FC 11 Dominique Malonga Cavalry FC 4 Easton Ongaro FC Edmonton 10 5 Rodrigo Gattas York9 9 6 Ryan Telfer York9 8 7 Simon Adjei York9 7 Marco Bustos Valour FC Akeem Garcia HFX Wanderers Oliver Cavalry FC Source:[9]

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Kwame Awuah Forge FC 5 Kyle Bekker Forge FC Tristan Borges Forge FC Ben Fisk Pacific FC Michael Petrasso Valour FC Blake Smith Pacific FC 7 6 players tied 4 Source:[9]

Clean sheets Rank Player Club Clean sheets 1 Marco Carducci Cavalry FC 9 Triston Henry Forge FC 3 Connor James FC Edmonton 7 4 Nathan Ingham York9 6 Christian Oxner HFX Wanderers 6 Mathias Janssens Valour FC 4 Quillan Roberts Forge FC Mark Village Pacific FC 9 Niko Giantsopoulos Cavalry FC 3 10 Tyson Farago Valour FC 2 Jan-Michael Williams HFX Wanderers Source:[9]

Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Rodrigo Gattas York9 HFX Wanderers 6–2 (H) July 27 [10]

Awards

Premier Performer

The Premier Performer presented by Volkswagen Canada is presented to the CPL's top player based on an algorithm developed by the league and its data analysis provider. The winner receives a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta GLI, handed out at the Canadian Premier League Awards ceremony.^[11]

2019 Premier Performer top 5^[12]

Rank	Player	Points
1	Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC)	77.36
2	Nathan Ingham (York9 FC)	76.47
3	Ryan Telfer (York9 FC)	76.46
4	Tristan Borges (Forge FC)	75.79
5	Dominique Malonga (Cavalry FC)	75.43

Canadian Premier League Awards

Main article: Canadian Premier League Awards

On November 1, 2019, the Canadian Premier League revealed the five individual awards to be given based on performance over the whole season including Finals.^[13] The awards are Inuit soapstone sculptures designed by artists from Cape Dorset, Nunavut. The recipients of the awards were announced at a ceremony in Toronto on November 26.

2019 Canadian Premier League Awards

Award	Recipient[14]	Finalists[15]
Golden Boot (Hunter)	Tristan Borges (Forge FC)	N/A
Golden Glove (Qimmiq or Canadian Inuit Dog)	Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC)	Nathan Ingham (York9 FC) Connor James (FC Edmonton)
Coach of the Year (Owl)	Tommy Wheeldon Jr. (Cavalry FC)	Jim Brennan (York9 FC) Bobby Smyrniotis (Forge FC)
Player of the Year (Nikisuittuq)	Tristan Borges (Forge FC)	Kyle Bekker (Forge FC) Dominique Malonga (Cavalry FC)
Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year (Polar Bear)	Tristan Borges (Forge FC)	Diyaeddine Abzi (York9 FC) Terran Campbell (Pacific FC)

Fan Awards

The Canadian Premier League allowed fans to vote for a series of Fan Awards for a chance to win various prizes. The winners were announced on December 16.^[16]

2019 CPL Fan Awards

Goal of the Year
Player	Opponent	Date	Time
Kadell Thomas (Forge FC)	Valour FC	July 20	90+4'
Save of the Year (Allstate Good Hands Award)
Player	Opponent	Date	Time
Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC)	Forge FC	October 26	39'
Team of the Year
Player	Position
Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC)	Goalkeeper
Morey Doner (York9 FC)	Right back
Daniel Krutzen (Forge FC)	Left centre back
Dominick Zator (Cavalry FC)	Right centre back
Kwame Awuah (Forge FC)	Left back
Elijah Adekugbe (Cavalry FC)	Defensive midfielder
Tristan Borges (Forge FC)	Right centre midfielder
Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)	Left centre midfielder
Nico Pasquotti (Cavalry FC)	Right wing
Marco Bustos (Valour FC)	Left wing
Dominique Malonga (Cavalry FC)	Striker

Player transfers

Main article: List of Canadian Premier League transfers 2019

U Sports Draft

Further information: 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft

The 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft was held on November 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Draftees were invited to team preseason camps, with an opportunity to earn a developmental contract and retain their U Sports men's soccer eligibility. Cavalry FC selected Gabriel Bitar with the first overall pick. Three players were selected by each team, with a total of twenty-one players being drafted including fifteen Canadians.

Foreign players

Canadian Premier League teams may sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five can be in the starting line-up for each match. The following players are considered foreign players for the 2019 season. This list does not include Canadian citizens who represent other countries at international level.^[17]

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Player 7
Cavalry FC	Jordan Brown	Julian Büscher	José Escalante	Dominique Malonga	Nathan Mavila	Oliver
FC Edmonton	Oumar Diouck	Jeannot Esua	James Marcelin	Kareem Moses	Son Yong-chan	Ramón Soria	Tony Tchani
Forge FC	Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson	Elimane Cissé	Daniel Krutzen	Bertrand Owundi
HFX Wanderers	Akeem Garcia	Juan Gutiérrez	Kodai Iida	Elton John	Luis Perea	Andre Rampersad	Jan-Michael Williams
Pacific FC	Alexander González	Hendrik Starostzik
Valour FC	Martín Arguiñarena	José Galán	Josip Golubar	Mathias Janssens	Adam Mitter	Michele Paolucci
York9 FC	Simon Adjei	Wataru Murofushi	Rodrigo Gattas