# 2021 Forge FC season

The 2021 Forge FC season was the third season in the history of Forge FC. Forge were the defending league champions, having defeated HFX Wanderers FC in the 2020 Canadian Premier League Final. In addition to the domestic league, the club competed in the Canadian Championship and the CONCACAF League.
On November 2, Forge FC defeated Santos de Guápiles in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF League to qualify for the 2022 edition of the CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first Canadian Premier League club to do so. The club eventually bowed out of the competition in the semi-finals against Motagua.
On November 9, Forge defeated York United to clinch first place in the Canadian Premier League regular season. This secured Forge the CPL Shield, an honour that the league announced it will recognize retroactively.

## Squad

As of August 8, 2021
| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Previous club |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Triston Henry | GK | (1993-09-08)September 8, 1993 (aged 28) | Sigma FC |
| 29 | Christopher Kalongo | GK | (2002-01-07)January 7, 2002 (aged 19) | Sigma FC |
| 31 | Baj Maan | GK | (2000-07-12)July 12, 2000 (aged 21) | NKU Norse |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Jonathan Grant | RB | (1993-10-15)October 15, 1993 (aged 28) | Nyköpings BIS |
| 3 | Dejan Jakovic | CB | (1985-07-16)July 16, 1985 (aged 36) | Los Angeles FC |
| 4 | Dominic Samuel | RB / CB | (1994-09-29)September 29, 1994 (aged 27) | Sigma FC |
| 5 | Daniel Krutzen | CB / LB | (1996-09-19)September 19, 1996 (aged 25) | Reading United |
| 6 | Kwame Awuah | LB / CM | (1995-12-02)December 2, 1995 (aged 26) | New York City FC |
| 15 | Maxim Tissot | LB / DM | (1992-04-13)April 13, 1992 (aged 29) | Ottawa Fury |
| 22 | Monti Mohsen | LB | (2000-06-13)June 13, 2000 (aged 21) | Sigma FC |
| 23 | Garven-Michée Metusala | DM / CB | (1999-12-31)December 31, 1999 (aged 22) | AS Blainville |
| 26 | Santiago Frias | CB | (2003-06-20)June 20, 2003 (aged 18) | Sigma FC |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 8 | Elimane Oumar Cissé | CM | (1995-03-12)March 12, 1995 (aged 26) | Diambars FC |
| 10 | Kyle Bekker | AM / CM | (1990-09-02)September 2, 1990 (aged 31) | North Carolina FC |
| 12 | Sebastian Castello | MF | (2003-10-08)October 8, 2003 (aged 18) | Sigma FC |
| 13 | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | DM | (1996-04-17)April 17, 1996 (aged 25) | IFK Värnamo |
| 19 | Tristan Borges | RW / LW / AM | (1998-08-26)August 26, 1998 (aged 23) | OH Leuven |
| 24 | Paolo Sabak | AM | (1999-02-10)February 10, 1999 (aged 22) | NEC Nijmegen |
| 27 | Johnny Son | CM | (2003-05-30)May 30, 2003 (aged 18) | Sigma FC |
| Forwards ||||||
| 7 | David Choinière | LW / RW | (1997-02-07)February 7, 1997 (aged 24) | Montreal Impact |
| 9 | Kosi Nwafornso | CF | (1997-09-19)September 19, 1997 (aged 24) | Colorado Pride Switchbacks |
| 11 | Chris Nanco | ST / RW / LW | (1995-02-15)February 15, 1995 (aged 26) | Bethlehem Steel |
| 14 | Emery Welshman | ST | (1991-11-09)November 9, 1991 (aged 30) | Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. |
| 17 | Woobens Pacius | FW | (2001-05-11)May 11, 2001 (aged 20) | CF Montréal Academy |
| 18 | Molham Babouli | CF / RW / LW | (1993-01-02)January 2, 1993 (aged 28) | FC Ukraine United |
| 21 | Marcus Caldeira | FW | (2004-10-14)October 14, 2004 (aged 17) | Sigma FC |
| 25 | Joshua Navarro | CF | (1999-03-11)March 11, 1999 (aged 22) | Pérez Zeledón |
| 28 | Robbie Cleary | CF | (2003-05-15)May 15, 2003 (aged 18) | Sigma FC |
| 99 | Omar Browne | CF / RW / LW | (1994-05-03)May 3, 1994 (aged 27) | Independiente |

## Transfers
### In
#### Transferred in

| No. | Pos. | Player | From club | Fee/notes | Date |
| 3 | DF | Dejan Jakovic | Los Angeles FC | Free | May 13, 2021 |
| 9 | FW | Kosi Nwafornso | Colorado Pride Switchbacks | Free | June 23, 2021 |
| 23 | MF | Garven-Michée Metusala | Concordia Stingers | Selected 8th overall in the 2021 CPL–U Sports Draft | June 23, 2021 |
| 26 | DF | Santiago Frias | Sigma FC | Signed to a development contract | June 24, 2021 |
| 27 | MF | Johnny Son | Sigma FC | Free | June 24, 2021 |
| 28 | FW | Robbie Cleary | Sigma FC | Signed to a development contract | June 24, 2021 |
| 12 | MF | Sebastian Castello | Sigma FC | Signed to a development contract | July 30, 2021 |
| 21 | FW | Marcus Caldeira | Sigma FC | Signed to a development contract | July 30, 2021 |
| 17 | FW | Woobens Pacius | CF Montréal Academy | Free | August 8, 2021 |
| 29 | GK | Christopher Kalongo | Sigma FC | Signed to a development contract | September 11, 2021 |
| 14 | FW | Emery Welshman | Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. | Free | September 14, 2021 |
| 16 | DF | Klaidi Cela | Sigma FC | Free | October 8, 2021 |

#### Loans in

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned from | Fee/notes | Date |
| 19 | MF | Tristan Borges | OH Leuven | Season-long loan | March 5, 2021 |
| 25 | FW | Joshua Navarro | Pérez Zeledón | Season-long loan | June 15, 2021 |
| 99 | FW | Omar Browne | Independiente | Season-long loan | June 16, 2021 |
| 16 | DF | Klaidi Cela | Sigma FC | Short term replacement player | August 4, 2021 |
| 33 | GK | Corey Marques | Sigma FC | Short term replacement player | September 3, 2021 |

#### Draft picks

Forge FC selected the following players in the 2021 CPL–U Sports Draft on January 29, 2021. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.
| Round | Selection | Pos. | Player | Nationality | University |
| 1 | 8 | MF | Garven-Michée Metusala | Canada | Concordia Stingers |
| 2 | 9 | DF | José Maria Ribeiro da Cunha | Portugal | CBU Capers |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | To club | Fee/notes | Date |
| 14 | DF | David Edgar | Retired | | December 8, 2020 |
| 23 | FW | Anthony Novak | Clube Condeixa | Contract expired | February 12, 2021 |
| 9 | FW | Marcel Zajac | Watra Białka Tatrzańska | Contract expired | March 17, 2021 |
| 16 | DF | Klaidi Cela | Sigma FC | Contract expired | June 24, 2021 |
| 17 | FW | Kadell Thomas | Sigma FC | Contract expired | June 24, 2021 |
| 20 | FW | Gabriel Balbinotti | FC Lanaudière | Contract expired | June 24, 2021 |
| 21 | DF | Jordan Dunstan | | Contract expired | June 24, 2021 |

## Competitions

Matches are listed in Hamilton local time: Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4) until November 6, and Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) otherwise.

### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Canadian Premier League | June 27 | November 16 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 28 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 39 | 24 | +15 | 057.14 |
| CPL Playoffs | November 21 | December 5 | Semi-finals | Runner-up | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
| CONCACAF League | August 12 | December 1 | Preliminary round | Semi-finals | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 037.50 |
| Canadian Championship | September 15 | October 27 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 40 | 21 | 7 | 12 | 57 | 35 | +22 | 052.50 |
Last updated: December 5, 2021 Source: Competitions

### Canadian Premier League
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Forge (S) | 28 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 39 | 24 | +15 | 50 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Cavalry | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 50 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | Pacific (C) | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 45 | Advance to playoffs |
| 4 | York United | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 36 | Advance to playoffs |
| 5 | Valour | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 35 | |
| 6 | HFX Wanderers | 28 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 28 | 34 | −6 | 35 | |
| 7 | FC Edmonton | 28 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 34 | 41 | −7 | 28 | |
| 8 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 26 | |

#### Results by match

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Result | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | L | L |
| Position | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Playoff matches
### CONCACAF League
#### Semi-finals
### Canadian Championship
## Statistics
### Squad and statistics

As of December 5, 2021
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Canadian Premier League | Canadian Premier League | CPL Playoffs | CPL Playoffs | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship | CONCACAF League | CONCACAF League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | CAN | Triston Henry | 34 | 0 | 22+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | CAN | Jonathan Grant | 25 | 1 | 15+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | CAN | Dejan Jakovic | 5 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | CAN | Dominic Samuel | 37 | 0 | 21+5 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | BEL | Daniel Krutzen | 27 | 3 | 18+1 | 3 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | CAN | Kwame Awuah | 35 | 2 | 23+1 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 8+0 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | CAN | David Choinière | 33 | 5 | 14+8 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 5+3 | 1 |
| 8 | MF | SEN | Elimane Oumar Cissé | 37 | 1 | 21+5 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | CAN | Kyle Bekker | 37 | 5 | 23+3 | 3 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 2 |
| 11 | FW | CAN | Chris Nanco | 24 | 2 | 7+11 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | CAN | Sebastian Castello | 6 | 1 | 1+5 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | SWE | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | 36 | 1 | 23+2 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | CAN | Emery Welshman | 17 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | CAN | Maxim Tissot | 18 | 0 | 4+8 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | CAN | Klaidi Cela | 6 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | CAN | Woobens Pacius | 27 | 7 | 12+6 | 5 | 1+1 | 1 | 1+0 | 1 | 2+4 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | CAN | Molham Babouli | 29 | 10 | 16+5 | 7 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+2 | 3 |
| 19 | MF | CAN | Tristan Borges | 34 | 4 | 18+6 | 3 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 1 |
| 22 | DF | CAN | Monti Mohsen | 8 | 0 | 2+6 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CAN | Garven Metusala | 32 | 2 | 20+4 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | BEL | Paolo Sabak | 29 | 1 | 16+7 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | CRC | Joshua Navarro | 32 | 6 | 11+9 | 2 | 1+1 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 4+4 | 3 |
| 26 | DF | CAN | Santiago Frias | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | CAN | Johnny Son | 7 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | CAN | Robbie Cleary | 5 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | CAN | Baj Maan | 6 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | PAN | Omar Browne | 15 | 3 | 3+4 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 4+1 | 1 |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Nat. | Player | Pos. | Canadian Premier League | CPL Playoffs | Canadian Championship | CONCACAF League | TOTAL |
| 1 | | Molham Babouli | FW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | | Woobens Pacius | FW | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | | David Choinière | FW | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | | Joshua Navarro | FW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | | Kyle Bekker | MF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | | Tristan Borges | MF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | | Omar Browne | FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | | Daniel Krutzen | DF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | | Chris Nanco | FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | | Garven Metusala | DF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | | Kwame Awuah | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | | Jonathan Grant | DF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | | Elimane Oumar Cissé | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | | Sebastian Castello | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | | Paolo Sabak | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 39 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 57 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Nat. | Player | Canadian Premier League | CPL Playoffs | Canadian Championship | CONCACAF League | TOTAL |
| 1 | | Triston Henry | 8 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
| 2 | | Baj Maan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 16 |

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Canadian Premier League | Canadian Premier League | CPL Playoffs | CPL Playoffs | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship | CONCACAF League | CONCACAF League | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| 1 | GK | | Triston Henry | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | | Jonathan Grant | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | Dejan Jakovic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Dominic Samuel | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Daniel Krutzen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Kwame Awuah | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Elimane Oumar Cissé | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Kyle Bekker | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | | Chris Nanco | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Emery Welshman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | | Maxim Tissot | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | | Klaidi Cela | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Woobens Pacius | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | | Molham Babouli | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 19 | MF | | Tristan Borges | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Garven Metusala | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | | Paolo Sabak | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | | Joshua Navarro | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | | Johnny Son | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | | Baj Maan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | | Omar Browne | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 67 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 89 | 1 |

## Honours
### Canadian Premier League Awards

| Name | Award | Status |
| Kyle Bekker | Player of the Year | Nominated |
| Triston Henry | Golden Glove | Nominated |
| Bobby Smyrniotis | Coach of the Year | Nominated |

### CONCACAF League Awards

| Name | Award | Source |
| Molham Babouli | Team of the Tournament | |