Hamilton’s Forge FC soccer club will kick off their 2025 Canadian Premier League (CPL) season this Saturday, April 5, at Hamilton Stadium, formerly Tim Horton’s Field, in a match that will be broadcasted on TSN.
Forge will be facing Cavalry FC (Calgary, Alberta) in what is a rematch of the 2024 CPL Final. Kick-off is at 5:30 p.m.
This is the first time that a CPL match will be broadcasted on TSN.
CPL broadcaster OneSoccer, which is available through a subscription or the streaming service Fubo, announced the new partnership with TSN last week.
It should be noted, however, that the 2024 CPL Final was broadcasted on CBC.
TSN will be broadcasting four select CPL matches throughout April, with the next match being Pacific FC against Forge on April 12, followed by Cavalry against Vancouver on April 18 and then Cavalry against Atletico Ottawa on April 26.
A press release from Forge states, “As the league garners more media attention and fans than ever before, this season promises to be the most exciting and widely watched yet.”
While Forge did not win the CPL Final last season, they did finish as the top team in the league standing, earning them the CPL Shield.
As a result, Forge will be giving away an exclusive pennant celebrating that victory to the first 5,000 fans at their April 5 match.
Forge has already played two matches so far in 2025 as part of the Concacaf Champions Cup, formerly the Concacaf Champions League, the biggest club soccer competition in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Those matches took place on Feb. 5 and Feb. 11 against Mexican side CF Monterrey.
Forge lost those two difficult matches by a combined score of 5-0 and were knocked out of the competition.
Nevertheless, Forge fans have a lot to look forward to with the CPL regular season set to kick off.
Forge will also be competing in the TELUS Canadian Championship once again this year, with their first matchup in that competition coming against the Halifax Wanderers on May 7.
Forge will also be hosting a School Day Match on Tuesday, May 13 at 11 a.m. at Hamilton Stadium, with more than 160 schools already registered.
In terms of their 2025 roster, Forge have made a number of signings, including Canadian striker Brian Wright who has played for York United FC over the past two seasons.
Forge also signed star CPL defender Daniel Nimick from the Halifax Wanderers where he was nominated for the 2023 CPL Defender of the Year Award.
Mo Babouli, who played for Forge in 2020 and 2021 before playing in Qatar and then at York United, has now returned to Hamilton, as has defender Rezart Rama who played with the club in 2022 and 2023.
Forge signed Serbian left-back Marko Jevremovic as well.
Forge’s goalkeepers for 2025 are listed as Christopher Kalongo, Jassem Kleilat, and Emmanual Marmolejo.
Their defenders are listed as Marko Jevremovic, Daniel Nimick, Malik Owolabi-Belewu, and Rezart Rama.
The midfielders are listed as Alexander Achinioti-Jonsson, Kyle Bekker, Orlendis Benitez, Zayne Bruno, Elimane Cisse, Alessandro Hojabrpour, Noah Jensen, Khadim Kane, Keuto Lipovschek, and Ben Paton
And their attackers for 2025 are listed as Nana Ampomah, Molham Babouli, Beni Badibanga, Tristan Borges, David Choiniere, and Brian Wright.
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.
