Forge clinched first seed, which they have won four out of the past five seasons. Photo Credit: Forge FC/X.
Regardless of how the rest of their matches turn out, Hamilton’s Forge FC soccer club has already had a successful season.
The team clinched the Canadian Premier League (CPL) Shield on Sunday, October 6th, after a 1-0 win against Valour FC in Winnipeg.
The trophy, which was introduced in 2022, is awarded to the team that finishes at the top of the table after the 28-game season.
This is the first time that Forge has won the trophy since it was introduced, with Atletico Ottawa and Cavalry FC winning the first two CPL Shields.
Forge was presented the trophy at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday, Oct. 12.
CPL PLAYOFFS
With that same win against Valour, Forge also clinched first seed in the CPL playoffs, which they have won four out of the past five seasons.
That trophy, the North Star Cup, was won by Forge in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023.
Forge has made it to the CPL final all five years, with Pacific FC winning the 2021 final against the Hamilton-based team.
Under the CPL’s five-team playoff format, Forge will play the number two seed (either Cavalry FC or Atletico Ottawa) on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. at Tim Hortons Field, with the winner advancing directly to the final and also earning home field advantage for the big game.
Whichever team loses that match will still have a chance to qualify for the final but will have to clinch a spot by beating either the third, fourth or fifth seed.
The 2024 CPL Final will be held on Saturday, Nov. 9.
It was recently announced that CBC will be broadcasting the championship game (in addition to OneSoccer).
CBC will also be broadcasting the 2024 CPL Awards on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.
CHAMPIONS CUP BERTH
By winning the CPL Shield, Forge has also qualified for a spot in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, formerly the Concacaf Champions League, the biggest club soccer competition in North and Central American and the Caribbean.
That competition begins in February 2025, where Forge will be playing in a home-and-away match up against either a Mexican club or Major League Soccer (MLS) side.
Potential opponents include the likes of CF Monterrey, Sporting Kansas, Columbus Crew, Colorado Rapids, LA Galaxy (featuring Olivier Giroud), and even Inter Miami CF (featuring Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets).
That means some of the most iconic players in the history of the sport could be playing at Tim Hortons Field this winter, and it’s all thanks to the exceptional play of Forge, which has propelled them to the very top.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
