What is it about Forge? The Canadian Premier League has been going a few years now and each of the participating clubs (both past and present) have contributed effectively to its growth. None of them have simply been there for the ride; even FC Edmonton who are sadly no longer with us on this journey played their part. Some of the teams have been right up there competing for the North Star Shield each year. Pacific FC have won it; Cavalry FC are always in the conversation and have topped the tables repeatedly; even HFX Wanderers are there or thereabouts on a regular basis. But there is something about Forge FC of Hamilton.
Parallels can be drawn, if only by me, to the early years of the English Premier League. Manchester United absolutely dominated the first decade of that competition. They were the inaugural winners and won four out of the first five league titles – 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. The only blot on their pad was Blackburn Rovers winning the 1995 Championship, leaving Man Utd in second place. Likewise, Forge have achieved the same feat in Canada by becoming the CPL Champions in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Pacific FC pipped them to the post in 2021, mirroring the sequence of champions in England 26 years sooner.
I’m sure that none of the Forge FC players, coaching staff, owners or fans would turn their nose up at a continued period of success in the way Manchester United did. The Red Devils went on to win another nine league titles in 16 years with only Arsenal and Chelsea having purple patches of dominance in that period before the fortunes of success swung across the city of Manchester, seemingly for good.
If you look at some of the major leagues across the world, you will see multiple winners but with specific clubs rising to the top like cream. La Liga has always been dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona; Ligue 1 in France is almost always Paris Saint Germain these days; the Bundesliga is consistently the playground of Bayern Munich; Eredivisie is Ajax and PSV and not much else.
Ok, some creep in here and there – Atlético Madrid, Monaco, Dortmund, Feyenoord to name a few. Serie A has a little more widespread success but generally it is monopolised by Juventus or Inter and as for Scotland, if you’re not from Glasgow then you can kiss the title goodbye from day 1 with Celtic and Rangers winning the league exclusively for the past 38 seasons winning 109 between them and the nearest alternative winners claiming just 4. The last winning team before either Celtic or Rangers was Aberdeen led by none other than Alex Ferguson before he embarked on his endemic assault on the English Premier League with Manchester United. Whether such periods of dominance are good for business, as it were, remains to be seen. Yes, it is impressive and yes, it should be admired and congratulated but it can get a bit tedious over the years.
Regardless of whether you view this to be a good thing or not, though, it is a fact. The Hamiltonians are forging their dynasty seemingly without any signs of stopping. Not only are they getting their hands on the title (almost) every year, but they are also individually top of the charts. Terran Campbell is the all-time leading goal scorer (although some were scored for Pacific), Tristan Borges holds the record for most assists and Triston Henry has the most clean sheets in the league’s history. And we see seven players out of the top ten on the all-time appearance list come from Forge. Conversely, however, head coach Bobby Smyrniotis has lost out on the Coach of the Year award every single time.
It is undoubtedly that core consistency which has bred this golden period of success for Forge. We hear a lot about “the spine of the team” across the biggest and best leagues. A prolific striker in front of a magic playmaker; an omnipresent guardian or two in defence; preferably an impressive shot stopper in goal. This is and will always prove to be a winning formula. Schmeichel – Stam – Keane – Scholes – Cole (and the rest), Cech – Terry – Essien – Lampard – Drogba, Hart – Kompany – Fernandinho – De Bruyne – Aguero, Lehmann – Campbell – Vieira – Pires – Henry, Valdes – Pique – Puyol – Xavi – Iniesta – Messi, the examples could go on and on both domestically and internationally. Forge are doing the same: Henry – Metusala – Achinioti-Jonsson – Bekker – Borges. These players have, for the most part, been there since the club’s inception and show no signs of stopping in their pursuit of taking Forge to the next level.
That next level will be the true test – how Forge fair outside of the Canadian Premier League. They have managed to get to a final of the Canadian Championship – a knockout cup featuring all Canadian football clubs from CPL, MLS and the semi-pro provincial leagues – which is always won by a team from Major League Soccer when they lost narrowly on penalties to Toronto FC.
As for their continental efforts, they have ventured as far as the semi final of the now defunct CONCACAF League when they lost in extra time to FC Motagua of Honduras. Last season, they competed in the CONCACAF Champions (League) Cup, playing at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico but losing to Cruz Azul. The competition has been expanded for the upcoming season so we will see how far they can travel, literally and figuratively, at this attempt.
One thing is for sure, Forge FC of Hamilton are flying the Canadian flag on the international stage while forging their own dynasty in the Canadian Premier League. They fear absolutely nobody, nor should they, and they will…not…stop.
*Ad* If you’ve enjoyed reading Simon’s article then why not check out “This Day in Canadian Soccer History: Club Football Edition“?
Heart of Football 
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