# 2023 Valour FC season

The 2023 Valour FC season was the fifth season in the history of Valour FC. They played in the Canadian Premier League, which it co-founded and played in since the inception of both the club and the league. The club entered the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round.

## Background

In Valour's preceding four seasons, it never reached the play-offs, for which the top-four qualified in those seasons. The club ended in sixth place in the first two seasons and fifth place in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, missing the play-offs by one and nine points, respectively. The club's entry in the domestic cup competition, led to a single win over its previous four seasons. It was the club's second full season with Phillip Dos Santos as head coach, since he took over midway through the 2021 campaign.

## Current squad

As of August 17, 2023.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Previous club |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Darlington Murasiranwa | | GK | (2001-02-07)February 7, 2001 (aged 22) | FC London |
| 99 | Rayane Yesli | | GK | (1999-10-12)October 12, 1999 (aged 24) | Blainville |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Andy Baquero | | RB / RW | (1994-08-17)August 17, 1994 (aged 29) | Delfines del Este |
| 3 | Jordan Haynes | | LB / LW | (1996-01-17)January 17, 1996 (aged 27) | Pacific FC |
| 4 | Guillaume Pianelli | | CB | (1998-05-01)May 1, 1998 (aged 25) | UQTR Patriotes |
| 5 | Abdou Samake | | CB | (1996-10-07)October 7, 1996 (aged 27) | Pacific FC |
| 18 | Klaidi Cela | | CB | (1999-07-16)July 16, 1999 (aged 24) | Vaughan Azzurri |
| 19 | Eskander Mzoughi | | RB | (2003-02-06)February 6, 2003 (aged 20) | Oud-Heverlee Leuven U23 |
| 22 | Matteo de Brienne | | LB | (2002-05-22)May 22, 2002 (aged 21) | Carleton University |
| 35 | Andrew Jean-Baptiste | | CB | (1992-06-16)June 16, 1992 (aged 31) | Umeå FC |
| | Matthew Chandler | | CB | (2000-02-07)February 7, 2000 (aged 23) | Wisconsin Badgers |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 6 | Dante Campbell | | DM / CB | (1999-05-22)May 22, 1999 (aged 24) | LA Galaxy II |
| 7 | Kian Williams | | AM / CF | (2000-01-07)January 7, 2000 (aged 23) | Keflavík |
| 8 | Diego Gutiérrez | | RM / RB | (1997-02-18)February 18, 1997 (aged 26) | Barnechea |
| 10 | Kevin Rendón | | AM | (1993-01-08)January 8, 1993 (aged 30) | Deportivo Pasto |
| 20 | Juan Pablo Sanchez | / | MF | (2003-04-18)April 18, 2003 (aged 20) | Salgueiros |
| 21 | Marcello Polisi | | CM / DM | (1997-01-24)January 24, 1997 (aged 26) | HFX Wanderers |
| 27 | Raphael Ohin | | CM | (1995-05-25)May 25, 1995 (aged 28) | WSA Winnipeg |
| Forwards ||||||
| 9 | Walter Ponce | | CF | (1998-03-04)March 4, 1998 (aged 25) | Barnechea |
| 11 | Jared Ulloa | | RW / LW | (2002-06-08)June 8, 2002 (aged 21) | Sporting Cristal |
| 12 | Ahinga Selemani | | FW | (1996-03-15)March 15, 1996 (aged 27) | One Knoxville SC |
| 23 | Anthony Novak | | ST | (1994-03-27)March 27, 1994 (aged 29) | Cavalry FC |
| 24 | Pacifique Niyongabire | | LW / RW | (2000-03-15)March 15, 2000 (aged 23) | Perth Glory |
| 32 | Jaime Siaj | | ST | (1995-12-16)December 16, 1995 (aged 28) | Finn Harps |

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

| No. | Pos. | Player | From club | Fee/notes | Date |
| 3 | DF | Jordan Haynes | Pacific FC | Free | December 5, 2022 |
| 5 | DF | Abdou Samake | Pacific FC | Free | December 12, 2022 |
| 24 | FW | Pacifique Niyongabire | Perth Glory | Free | December 19, 2022 |
| 7 | MF | Kian Williams | Keflavík | Free | December 21, 2022 |
| 21 | MF | Marcello Polisi | HFX Wanderers | Free | January 4, 2023 |
| | DF | Eskander Mzoughi | Oud-Heverlee Leuven | Free | January 18, 2023 |
| | MF | Juan Pablo Sanchez | Salgueiros | Free | January 18, 2023 |
| 32 | FW | Jaime Siaj | Finn Harps | Free | January 25, 2023 |
| 11 | MF | Jared Ulloa | Sporting Cristal | Free | February 2, 2023 |
| 6 | MF | Dante Campbell | LA Galaxy II | Free | February 10, 2023 |
| 1 | GK | Jordan Tisseur | FC Laval | Signed to a development contract | February 20, 2023 |
| 4 | DF | Guillaume Pianelli | UQTR Patriotes | Selected 5th overall in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft | March 6, 2023 |
| 23 | FW | Anthony Novak | Cavalry FC | Free | March 9, 2023 |
| | DF | Matthew Chandler | Wisconsin Badgers | Free | April 6, 2023 |
| | DF | Klaidi Cela | Vaughan Azzurri | Free | April 27, 2023 |
| 12 | FW | Ahinga Selemani | One Knoxville SC | Free | July 22, 2023 |
| | GK | Darlington Murasiranwa | FC London | Free | August 17, 2023 |

#### Draft picks

Valour FC selected the following players in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft. 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 | 5 | DF | Guillaume Pianelli | France | UQTR |
| 2 | 12 | DF | Samuel LaPlante | Canada | UQTR |

### Out
#### Transferred out

| No. | Pos. | Player | To club | Fee/notes | Date |
| 17 | MF | Brett Levis | FC Tulsa | Contract expired | November 15, 2022 |
| 4 | DF | Tony Mikhael | | Contract expired | November 15, 2022 |
| 12 | DF | Jonathan Esparza | | Contract expired | November 15, 2022 |
| 1 | GK | Jonathan Sirois | CF Montréal | End of loan | November 30, 2022 |
| 24 | FW | Sean Rea | CF Montréal | End of loan | November 30, 2022 |
| 13 | FW | Billy Forbes | Detroit City | End of loan | November 30, 2022 |
| 14 | DF | Stefan Cebara | | Contract expired | December 13, 2022 |
| 11 | MF | Alessandro Riggi | | Contract expired | December 13, 2022 |
| 77 | MF | Federico Peña | Umeå FC | Contract expired | December 13, 2022 |
| 7 | FW | Moses Dyer | FC Tulsa | Contract expired | December 22, 2022 |
| 3 | DF | Rocco Romeo | Vancouver FC | Contract expired | January 16, 2023 |
| 16 | FW | Daryl Fordyce | Retired | | January 20, 2023 |
| 5 | DF | Nassim Mekideche | Sporting Kansas City II | Contract expired | January 23, 2023 |
| 70 | MF | Matthew Catavolo | Toronto FC II | Undisclosed fee | March 21, 2023 |

## Pre-season and friendlies
### Friendlies

Valour played three friendlies in as part of their preseason preparations.
Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions

| 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 regular season | April 16, 2023 | October 6, 2023 | — | 8th | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 021.43 |
| Canadian Championship | April 19, 2023 | April 19, 2023 | Preliminary round | Preliminary round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 29 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 26 | 41 | −15 | 020.69 |
Last updated: December 29, 2023 Source: Competitions

### Canadian Premier League regular season
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Playoff qualification |
| 1 | Cavalry (S) | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 46 | 27 | +19 | 55 | First semifinal |
| 2 | Forge (C) | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 42 | First semifinal |
| 3 | HFX Wanderers | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 42 | Quarterfinal |
| 4 | Pacific | 28 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 40 | Play-in round |
| 5 | York United | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 35 | 44 | −9 | 38 | Play-in round |
| 6 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 36 | |
| 7 | Vancouver | 28 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 50 | −22 | 29 | |
| 8 | Valour | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 26 | |
* 1 2 Tie resolved by away goal differential; Forge: +4, Wanderers: −2

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### Canadian Championship

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures