Forge FC Bobby Smyrniotis named Forge FC technical director and head coach

Smyrniotis brings a lot of knowledge of local talent through his time at Sigma. But the Sigma co-founder says while the academy will be “under the Forge umbrella,” he won’t be involved with Sigma on a daily basis.

“Bobby and his team at Sigma have created one of the best soccer development institutions in North America,” Forge FC co-founder Bob Young said in a statement. “They have done it by developing talented Canadians from southern Ontario into outstanding national-calibre soccer players, many of whom are now professionals playing here and in Europe.

“We have great aspirations for Forge FC. The success of Bobby’s work with Sigma is a perfect fit for the vision of the Canadian Premier League, and specifically with our goals for Forge FC.”

The 39-year-old Smyrniotis wasted little time jumping into the fray with some 220 would-be CPL players attending Hamilton’s open tryouts Monday.

“It’s great to see … The levels are all a little bit different as it normally is (at such tryouts). But there’s also some good players on the field,” he said.

Smyrniotis, as head coach of the Sigma FC first team in League 1 Ontario, led the academy’s top squad to a 28-2-8 record over the last two regular seasons.

“You couldn’t have picked a better man for the job,” said Bekker, who plays for the North Carolina Courage.

Prior to Sigma FC, Smyrniotis worked in the youth academy of Greek Super League team Olympiacos FC. Smyrniotis, who played collegiate soccer for the College of Charleston and York University, is currently completing his UEFA coaching licence.

The seven-team CPL is set to kick off in spring 2019.

Smyrniotis completes the inaugural CPL coaching class, joining Michael Silberbauer (Pacific FC), Jeff Paulus (FC Edmonton), Tommy Wheeldon Jr. (Cavalry FC), Rob Gale (Valour FC), Jim Brennan (York 9) and HFX Wanderers FC (Stephen Hart).

“I think it’s going to be the single-most important thing that’s happened in Canadian soccer in I can’t say how many years,” Smyrniotis said of the new pro men’s league.

“In working with young players, this is going to be their springboard,” he added. “We’re not going to have to look beyond borders, beyond different places for players to get their start. And really get to play at a professional level and play meaningful minutes.

“Again, nothing’s going to get handed to them. But we’ve got a lot of talent in this country and we’ve been losing a lot of it over the years in different places. So I think this will bring it to a whole different level. At the end of the day, not only will it be positive for the league but the eventual benefactor will be our Canadian men’s national program.”

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Forge FC Bobby Smyrniotis named Forge FC technical director and head coach

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