Former Canada coach Stephen Hart to run HFX Wanderers FC, Halifax’s new CPL team

Former national team coach Stephen Hart is back in the frontline of Canadian soccer.

The 58-year-old Hart has been named head coach and general manager of HFX Wanderers FC, Halifax’s entry in the new Canadian Premier League.

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Hart has long made Halifax his Canadian home. He played for the Saint Mary’s Huskies and played for and coached a top amateur side, Halifax King of Donair, before serving as technical director of Soccer Nova Scotia from 1993 to 2001.

“That was a big part of the consideration, of course. Being a part of the landscape here for so long,” Hart said in an interview. ” So yes, it’s special. It takes on a different significance.”

The 58-year-old Hart, who moved to Canada when he was 20, won seven caps for Trinidad and Tobago. He served as Trinidad and Tobago coach from 2013 to 2016, taking the team to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying. But he parted ways with the program after a new president was installed.

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Hart has been an instructor in the Canadian Soccer Association coaching development program since 1992. He officially joined the CSA in late 2001 and went on to serve two stints as men’s head coach as well as an age-grade coach and the association’s technical director.

Hart was interim men’s coach in 2006 and 2007 before taking over the national team full time in 2009. He quit in the wake of Canada’s 8-1 loss in Honduras in October 2012, a defeat that ended Canada’s World Cup qualifying bid at the time.

His record at the Canadian men’s helm was 20-15-10 in his two stints.

“Stephen brings an incredible wealth of international experience and as a respected member of our community, he will serve as an amazing ambassador and the face of our team,” said Derek Martin, president of Sports & Entertainment Atlantic which owns the franchise. “His leadership will be vital in our formative years, and his passion will set the standard for our identity on and off the pitch for years to come.”

Hart will coach an Atlantic U-23 Selects side against Germany’s Fortuna Duesseldorf at Wanderers Grounds in a July 28 exhibition game. The match will serve an opportunity to scout and recruit Atlantic Canadian players.

“I think we in this region have always had talent but suffer from the talent leaving at a young age or just giving up on the game really, because of a lack of opportunity,” Hart said. “But this would provide me an opportunity to give everyone a fair shake to prove that they can make it in the new professional league.”

Valour FC, Winnipeg’s CPL team, named former Canadian under-20 coach Rob Gale as its coach and GM earlier this week.

The Halifax and Winnipeg franchises will join suburban Toronto’s York 9 FC, Calgary’s Cavalry FC, FC Edmonton and other founding clubs including Hamilton and Victoria when the men’s pro soccer league debuts in the spring of 2019.

The CPL is expected to have 10 members by the end of the year with eight taking part in the 2019 season. Ottawa is widely expected to be among those joining the lineup.

Hart is optimistic about the new league, the latest attempt to knit pro soccer into the Canadian sports scene.

“Everything seems to be right,” he said. “In all fairness we need to get it right because I think this is the last opportunity for Canada to have a pro league.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press