Forge FC Re-Signs Captain Kyle Bekker

As we reported last month, Kyle Bekker is sticking with Forge FC – and the three-time CPL champions have now confirmed as such.

The Forge team captain has inked a new contract with the club, having helped them to four straight finals and three North Star Shield wins. Bekker has been an indominable engine with the hammers, accruing 17 appearances, fifteen goals, and thirteen assists…along with a team-leading three red cards.

“Since day one, Kyle has been such an important leader of our club both on and off the field,” says Forge FC Director of Football and Business Costa Smyrniotis. “His unwavering commitment to our club and growing the game in our community is so strong. We look forward to continued success together for years to come.”

The 32-year-old remains the club’s all-time appearance leader some four years after he was introduced as the team’s first-ever signing alongside Chris Nanco. A tireless force in midfield, he’s earned three player of the year nominations and took home the trophy for such in 2020.

He’s donned the armband as the side made history as the first CPL team to feature in continental competition and, later on, even the Champions League heights he’d dreamt of. Similarly, he also saw the side become the first CPL club in a Canadian Championship Final against his former side TFC.

Bekker had come to the Canadian Premier League having featured for MLS teams Toronto FC, FC Dallas, and CF Montreal after the former picked him up in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft. He also spent time with USL side North Carolina FC before a title-winning campaign with the San Francisco Deltas.

The Forge captain has also featured for Canada 18 times from 2012-2017, recording two assists for Les Rouges. Born and raised in Oakville, Bekker is a Hamilton stalwart through-and-through, even to the point where he was a Sigma FC graduate before starting his college career.

Forge FC are set to enjoy a kit launch party this Friday, with the team’s preseason plans seeing them embark on a multi-week trip to Costa Rica before squaring off against local sides back in Ontario.

Bekker’s return means that the club has re-signed nearly all of its title-winning roster from the previous season, with Daniel Krutzen proving the highlight departure.

Much to the delight of Hamiltonians, Bekker says he’s ‘looking forward to two more years in Hamilton’, revealing a multi-year structure to his new contract.