The 2025 Canadian Premier League season kicks off April 5, as Canada’s top-flight domestic league enters its seventh season.

In the lead-up to matchday one, we at CanPL.ca will have all you need to know about each of the league’s eight clubs. To see every CPL team’s season preview, click here.

For just the second time in Canadian Premier League history, Forge FC do not enter the 2025 campaign as the defending North Star Cup champions.

In their sixth straight appearance in the league’s finale, Forge lost the 2024 CPL Final to long-time rivals Cavalry FC 2-1 in Calgary.

It was, however, a bitter conclusion to an otherwise outstanding 2024 campaign — one that saw them lift the CPL Shield as regular season winners and make a historic run in the Canadian Championship.

Having recruited several star players from across the league this off-season, including star pair Brian Wright and Mo Babouli from rivals York United, and 2023 Defender of the Year nominee Dan Nimick, Forge will be back with a vengeance in 2025.

STORY OF 2024

• 2024 CPL regular season record (W-D-L): 15-5-8 (50 pts, 1st place)
• Goals scored: 45
• Goals against: 31
• Goal difference: +14
• Top scorer: Tristan Borges, Kwasi Poku (8)
• Canadian Championship: Lost 2-2 (agg.) on away goals to Toronto FC in the semi-finals

This past campaign was one of the best and most consistent in the club’s history — which is saying something. Forge won their first three matches of the season, and remained comfortably above the playoff line for the entire year.

Where they really hit their stride, however, was the second half of the campaign. In a 15-game stretch between July 5 and Oct. 6, they went 10-3-2, clinching the regular season title in the process.

They were especially dominant at home, winning a club-record 11 of 14 regular season home matches, and collecting 34 points. Only Cavalry FC, who collected 35 points at home in the league’s inaugural campaign, have ever had a better single-season home record.

Forge finished the season on a bit of a down note, however. After losing their final two matches of the regular season, they lost twice to Cavalry FC in the playoffs — including the 2024 Final.

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES

Forge spent a lot of this off-season locking down key members of its core. Captain Kyle Bekker, 2024 CPL Player of the Year Tristan Borges and Player of the Year nominee Alessandro Hojabrpour were all signed to new deals — giving the club crucial consistency.

The backline, in particular, will see a lot of change this season. Gone are mainstays from 2024 Malcolm Duncan and Garven Metusala, as well as long-time veteran Dom Samuel. The club brought in the CPL-experienced Rezart Rama and Dan Nimick, as well as Serbian left-back Marko Jevremović.

After Kwasi Poku departed the club in late August, they struggled to find production for their strikers. As such, Forge have basically overhauled their attack this season. Gone are Terran Campbell, Jordan Hamilton and Victor Klonaridis — replaced by York United pair Brian Wright and Mo Babouli.

There were a few notable names missing from Forge’s Concacaf Champions Cup roster, including Daniel Parra and Béni Badibanga. The club has since confirmed that Parra has left Forge after his parent club, CF Monterrey, transferred him to a new club in Mexico. Central defender Malik Owolabi-Belewu, however, is back training with the group and available for selection.

2025 OUTLOOK

The Hamilton club have brought back enough of their core, coupled with signing proven players of quality within the CPL to expect them to be among the leading pack again this season.

The new recruits will offer some new tactical wrinkles in Forge’s arsenal, such as Nimick’s incredible passing range from the back, Rezart Rama’s clever late runs from the right-back position or Mo Babouli’s technical and direct free-kick ability.

Forge particularly built their 2024 dominance on the back of an outstanding home record, setting single-season club highs in both wins (11) and points (34). They managed 10 more points at home than any other club in the league last season. They will again make home success a central tenant of their goals for 2025.

A lot of Forge’s success in 2025 appears tied to Brian Wright replicating his Players’ Player of the Year form from 2024. Dating back to the end of last season, and including this year’s Champions Cup matches, Forge have managed an uncharacteristic just three goals in eight matches in all competitions. Wright is a different profile of striker to what the club have had at the position in recent campaigns, and as such will allow them to play a little bit differently given his excellent hold-up ability and profile as a target man.

But even if Wright takes a little bit of time to get up to speed, Forge still possesses plenty of offensive weapons. Borges sits third in all-time CPL goals scored, while new signing Babouli is tied for seventh. They had a league-leading 14 different players find the back of the net last season.

This is a team as deep as any in the Canadian Premier League, and with most of the roster steeped in the culture and expectation of winning.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“The minimum is we need to add to that trophy case, and that comes with a lot of good positive pressure on this group. Players know when they step out onto a training session it means something in preparation for what’s coming next, and what’s coming next is 28 games against very good teams from across the country who have all made moves to make themselves better with their eyes on a trophy” — Bobby Smyrniotis, head coach

“Maybe trying to create a more dynamic team. I think that’s somewhere where we could be better as a group even after an excellent 2024 season. We want the team to be a little bit more dynamic, as we have been in the past, a little bit more aggressive in the phases of the game and I think that’s what we’ve seen from the group of players we’ve brought in here. That they are able to play at a quicker pace both on the ball and off the ball. That gives us a lot of options in games.” — Bobby Smyrniotis, head coach

“I’m lucky to be in a team with such a winning mindset and a winning environment, and it’s helped me learn and grow as a player” — Jassem Koleilat, goalkeeper

PROJECTED XI

(4-3-3): Koleilat; Rama, Nimick, Achinioti-Jönsson, Jevremović; Hojabrpour, Bekker, Borges; Babouli, Wright, Choinière

The Concacaf Champions Cup gave a glimpse at what Forge’s preferred XI could look like this season.

The main area of change from 2024 is across the backline, where full-back newcomers Rezart Rama (who previously played for Forge in 2022 and 2023) and Marko Jevremović will start most games. Former Halifax Wanderer Dan Nimick, meanwhile, is expected to start next to veteran Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson.

The midfield pretty much picks itself at this point, with 2024 Player of the Year nominees Kyle Bekker and Alessandro Hojabrpour joined by the league’s 2024 Player of the Year himself Tristan Borges.

Up front, former York United pair Brian Wright and Mo Babouli slot in alongside veteran David Choinière.

There will be a number of players pushing to get into that starting lineup throughout the season at just about every position, be that Chris Kalongo in goal, Malik Owolabi-Belewu along the backline, Noah Jensen and Elimane Cissé in midfield or a player like Nana Ampomah up front.

ROSTER NOTES