2021 Canadian Premier League season

The 2021 Canadian Premier League season will be the 3rd season of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer. Forge FC are defending champions, after defeating HFX Wanderers FC in the 2020 final.[1]

Canadian Premier League
Season2021
← 2020
2022 →

The season is planned to commence on May 22 pending the approval of government authorities and the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[2] The amount of playing time teams must give to players aged 21 years or younger will increase from 1,000 to 1,500 minutes for this season.[3]

Overview

Teams

The eight clubs that participated in the 2020 Canadian Premier League season are set to complete in this season. York United FC will play under their new brand for the first time in 2021, having previously been known as York9 FC.

Personnel and sponsorship
Team Head coach Captain(s) Shirt sponsor Kit manufacturer
Atlético Ottawa Mista OneSoccer Macron
Cavalry Tommy Wheeldon Jr. WestJet
FC Edmonton Alan Koch Swoop
Forge Bobby Smyrniotis Kyle Bekker Tim Hortons
HFX Wanderers Stephen Hart Volkswagen
Pacific Pa-Modou Kah
Valour Rob Gale OneSoccer
York United Jimmy Brennan Macron

Coaching changes
Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment
FC Edmonton Jeff Paulus Resignation[4] September 21, 2020 Pre-season Alan Koch November 24, 2020[5]

Player transfers
Main article: List of 2021 Canadian Premier League transfers

U Sports Draft
Further information: 2021 CPL–U Sports Draft

The 2021 CPL–U Sports Draft was held virtually on January 29. Draftees will be invited to team preseason camps, with an opportunity to earn a developmental contract and retain their U Sports men's soccer eligibility. FC Edmonton selected Thomas Gardner with the first overall pick. Two players were selected by each returning CPL team, with a total of 16 players being drafted including 12 Canadians.[6]

Foreign players

Canadian Premier League teams may sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five can be in the starting line-up for each match. Starting this season, teams must carry a minimum of four international players, either signed through or approved by the league's scouting partner, 21st Club.[7] The following players are considered foreign players for the 2021 season. This list does not include Canadian citizens who represent other countries at the international level.[8]

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7
Atlético Ottawa Viti Martínez Vashon Neufville
Cavalry José Escalante Richard Luca Tom Field Matías Roskopf Daan Klomp
FC Edmonton Jeannot Esua Ramón Soria Raúl Tito Sharly Mabussi
Forge Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson Elimane Cissé
HFX Wanderers Akeem Garcia Andre Rampersad Peter Schaale Alex Marshall João Morelli Eriks Santos Cory Bent
Pacific Alejandro Díaz
Valour José Galán Andrew Jean-Baptiste Amir Soto Moses Dyer Ronny Maza Néstor Monge
York United Álvaro Rivero Nicholas Hamilton Julian Ulbricht Mateo Hernández William Wallace Lisandro Cabrera Sebastian Gutierrez

Players in italic denote players new to their respective clubs for the 2021 season, sorted chronologically by their announcement.

References
  1. "Forge FC beats HFX Wanderers FC in Island Games final to repeat as CPL champions". Canadian Premier League. 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  2. Davidson, Neil (19 January 2021). "Canadian Premier League set to open 3rd season on Victoria Day weekend". CBC. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  3. "CPL increasing U-21 minutes threshold to 1,500 for 2021 season". Canadian Premier League. January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  4. "Jeff Paulus steps down as FC Edmonton coach - Sportsnet.ca". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  5. John Molinaro (24 November 2020). "FC Edmonton names Alan Koch new coach, Director of Football Operations". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  6. "FC Edmonton take UBC's Thomas Gardner 1st overall in CPL-U SPORTS Draft". Canadian Premier League. 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  7. @plattoli (10 November 2020). "One interesting feature of this CanPL offseason: clubs are now being required to carry at least four international players, all of whom must either come through or be approved by the league and the 21st Club's centralized scouting" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. "CPL 2020 roster tracker: How all eight teams are shaping up". Canadian Premier League. March 11, 2020. Retrieved May 30, 2020.


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