Full name | Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | Galaxy | ||
Founded | February 24, 2010 | ||
Dissolved | 2021 (merged with Hamilton City) | ||
Stadium | Heritage Field Hamilton, Ontario | ||
Capacity | 2,000+ | ||
President | Boško Borjan | ||
Head coach | Saša Vidović | ||
League | Canadian Soccer League | ||
2020 | Regular season: 5th Playoffs: Did not qualify | ||
Website | Club website | ||
Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club was a semi-professional Canadian soccer club based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, with their home venue located in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Field Turf. The club competes in the Canadian Soccer League, a league not sanctioned by a FIFA-recognized body. The Galaxy were formed in 2010 as an expansion franchise. In their first season Brantford recorded a milestone by becoming the first expansion franchise in CSL history to claim a CSL Championship in their debut season. After their championship season the club faced several problems ranging from change of ownership, to philosophical differences within team management, and to a lack of commitment from feeder clubs resulting in the team missing the postseason in two straight years.
The ownership in 2013 decided to take a year of absence in order to regroup. In late 2014, former head coach Tomo Dančetović spearheaded the relaunching of the club by acquiring the name and franchise rights from the old ownership, and the Galaxy returned to the league to participate in the 2015 season. In 2021, they merged with Hamilton City to form BGH City.
Brantford Galaxy SC was announced as an expansion franchise in the Canadian Soccer League's 2010 season on February 24, 2010. [1] [2] [3] [4] Bosko Borjan, Gerry Crnic along with European investors were primarily responsible for returning professional soccer to the city since the 1930s/1940s where several Brantford clubs competed in the Canadian National Soccer League. Lions Park located at Steve Brown Sports Complex was announced as the Galaxy's home venue after receiving CSL approval. [5] [6] [7] Lazo Džepina was appointed the club's first head coach and assembled a roster with a majority of imports from Europe with several local talent. [8] [9] The notable acquisitions for the 2010 season were Miodrag Anđelković, Ranko Golijanin, Patrick Gerhardt, Patryk Misik, Haris Fazlagić, Nenad Begović, Dražen Gović, Zoran Roglić, Drazen Vukovic, and Marco Giusti was named the club captain. [10] [11]
Brantford made their debut on May 16, 2010 in a well-attended crowd against Portugal FC which resulted in a 3-3 draw with goals coming from Golijanin, Andelkovic, and Vukovic. [12] [13] [14] Brantford clinched a postseason berth by finishing seventh in the overall standings and recording the third best offensive record. In the first round of the playoffs their opponents were the Serbian White Eagles, and advanced to the semi-finals by defeating the White Eagles by a score of 1-0 with the lone goal from Zvonko Bakula. [15] [16] In the second round the Galaxy faced Portugal FC and won the match by a score of 5-3 with Golijanin recording a hat trick, and the rest coming from Andelkovic, and Kyle Grootenboer. [17] [18] In the CSL Championship final at the Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto, the club faced Hamilton Croatia, and with goals coming from Fazlagic, and Golijanin the Galaxy claimed their first championship by a score of 3-0. [19] [20] [21] [22] At the conclusion of the season, Jesse Castillo received the CSL Reserve Division Goalkeeper of the Year award. [23] [24]
In preparations for the 2011 season, Brantford's feeder club the Brantford Inter-City Soccer club announced that it will change its name to the Brantford Galaxy Youth Soccer Club in an effort to further align it with the CSL club. [25] [26] After the departure of several key players, head coach Džepina brought in imports from the former Yugoslavian countries, and appointed Golijanin as the team captain. His notable signings included Chilean international Cristián Gómez, Rade Novković, Dalibor Mitrović, Saša Vidović, Vladimir Markotić, and Ferid Idrizovic. [27] [28] On July 9, 2011, after a string of poor performances, Džepina was sacked as head coach to be replaced by assistant coach Tomo Dančetović. [29] Dančetović managed to achieve better results, but unfortunately the Galaxy failed to clinch the final postseason berth by finishing ninth in the overall standings. [30]
The following season, Brantford saw a change in the ownership with Borjan and Crnic becoming sole owners after losing their European backers resulting in a smaller budget, and further reliance on community support. [31] The organization hired the services of Ron Davidson a CSL Coach of the Year with Hamilton Croatia in 2010. [32] [33] Davidson reduced the amount of European imports by signing several local and Greater Toronto Area players. The notable additions to the roster were Dave Simpson, Preston Corporal, Logan Alexander, Jeremy Shepherd, Melford James Jr, and Damion Scott. [34] Midway through the season, Davidson managed an 8-3 record and a fourth-place position, but despite his impressive run he was sacked from his position due to ideological differences with the club's administration. [35] In protest to the dismissal, the Galaxy lost eight players who were in solidarity with Davidson. [36] [37] Tomo Dančetović was once more appointed to the position on an interim basis with Golijanin returning to serve as assistant coach. Disaster struck Brantford as they lost seven of their remaining matches and tied one and failed for the second straight season in securing a postseason berth by finishing thirteenth in the standings. [38] [39]
On April 1, 2013, Brantford announced a year of absence in order to regroup. [40] [41] On December 30, 2014, with Brantford's franchise rights about to expire Tomo Dančetović assisted with volunteers Andrew Pilkington and Jim Turnbull acquired the name and franchise rights from the old ownership and reinstated the club for the 2015 season. [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] Dančetović brought in several imports from Europe and domestic players which included Luka Bešenić, Haris Redžepi, Stefan Vukovic, Zdenko Jurčević, Dejan Ristić, Aleksa Marković, and Boris Miličić. [48] On October 4, 2015, the Galaxy faced Milton SC the final match of the season. The game was significant because the victor would secure the final postseason berth, unfortunately for Brantford they suffered a 4-3 defeat. [49] At the CSL awards banquet, Brantford's reserve team won several awards like Nikola Miokovic winning the CSL Golden Boot, Arsenije Japalak the MVP, Namanjar Sudar the Defender of the Year, and Zach Kingma with the Rookie of the Year award. [50]
In preparations for the 2016 season, Dančetović retained the majority of the roster with Bojan Stepanović, Krum Bibishkov, and Nenad Nikolić as the notable additions to the roster. [51] Throughout the regular season, Brantford clinched their first postseason berth since the 2010 season by finishing seventh in the standings. [52] Their opponents in the playoffs were FC Ukraine United, but were eliminated by a score of 3–0. [53]
Ahead of the 2021 season, they merged with Hamilton City SC to form BGH City FC. [54]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Years | Name | Nation |
---|---|---|
2010–2011 | Lazo Džepina | Croatia |
2011 | Tomo Dančetović | Serbia |
2012 | Ron Davidson | Canada |
2012-2016 | Tomo Dančetović | Serbia |
2017 | Saša Vuković | Serbia |
2017- | Aleksandar Pešić | Serbia |
2018-2020 | Milan Prpa | Serbia |
2020- | Saša Vidović | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Canadian Soccer League (First Division) | 13 | 9–5–10 | 7th | Champions | [60] |
2011 | 14 | 9–3–14 | 9th | did not qualify | [61] | |
2012 | 16 | 8–1–13 | 13th | did not qualify | [61] | |
2015 | 12 | 7–3–12 | 11th | did not qualify | [61] | |
2016 | 8 | 3–9–9 | 7th | Quarterfinals | [61] | |
2017 | 8 | 6–0–8 | 5th | Quarterfinals | [61] | |
2018 | 9 | 3–2–11 | 8th | Quarterfinals | [61] | |
2019 | 10 | 2–2–14 | 10th | did not qualify | [61] | |
2020 | 5 | 1–0–7 | 5th | did not qualify | [61] |
London City Soccer Club is a Canadian soccer team founded in 1973. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Academy of Soccer League. The team plays their home games at the Milton Community Sports Park in the town of Milton, Ontario. The team's colours are red, black and white. Formed on Valentine's Day of 1973 by Markus Gauss in order to field a London entry for the National Soccer League after the departure of German Canadian FC. The Gauss family ran and provided the city of London a professional team for 38 years. Under their tutelage the club was most notable for providing an opportunity for young players to develop in a professional environment.
The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Canada. The team's colours were orange and black. The club was originally named North York Atletico Argentina Soccer Club, and witnessed instant success in its initial stages. After a merger with North York Talons, and a relocation to Scarborough the team was eventually renamed the North York Astros. The Astros were a founding member of the Canadian National Soccer League's successor league the Canadian Professional Soccer League in 1998.
Jeremy Shepherd is a Canadian former soccer player who played as a forward.
Nenad Begović is a Serbian former football player who played in the First League of Serbia and Montenegro, Second League of Serbia and Montenegro, Ligue 1, Kazakhstan Premier League, Russian Premier League, Azerbaijan Premier League, Israeli Premier League, Canadian Soccer League, Serbian First League, and the Indonesia Super League.
Ranko Golijanin is a retired professional footballer who played in the First League of FR Yugoslavia, Segunda División, USL A-League, and the Canadian Soccer League.
The 2010 Canadian Soccer Leagueseason was the 13th since its establishment where a total of 24 teams from Ontario and Quebec took part in the league. The season began on Saturday May 8, 2010, and ended on October 31. Brantford Galaxy SC won their first championship in their inaugural season with a 3–0 win over Hamilton Croatia in the CSL Championship Final at the Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto on October 31, 2010. The CSL administration restructured the league by combining both the International & National divisions to form the CSL First Division with a single table structure. The regular season title was claimed by the York Region Shooters, while the Serbian White Eagles Res. won their first reserve league championship.
The 2011 Canadian Soccer League season was the 14th since its establishment where a total of 28 teams from Ontario and Quebec took part in the league. The season began on Saturday 6 May 2011, and concluded on 29 October 2011. Toronto Croatia won their fourth championship in a 1–0 victory over Capital City F.C. in the CSL Championship final at Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto. The regular season saw SC Toronto claim their second regular season title, while Mississauga Eagles FC B won their first Second Division championship. The season saw an increase in membership to 14 teams the largest number since the 2002 season. The new entries saw the return of professional soccer to the communities of Windsor, Mississauga, and Ottawa.
Mississauga Eagles FC were a Canadian professional soccer team founded in 2010 that played in the Canadian Soccer League for two seasons. The Eagles were owned and operated by the Erin Mills Soccer Club and played at the Mississauga Hershey Field in the city of Mississauga, Ontario. In 2013, Erin Mills SC withdrew their franchise from the league after the CSA no longer decided to sanction the CSL.
The 2013 Canadian Soccer League season was the 16th since its establishment where a total of 21 teams from Ontario took part in the league. The season began on May 3, 2013, and concluded on November 3, 2013. SC Waterloo captured their first championship in a 3–1 victory over regular season champions Kingston FC in the CSL Championship final at Kalar Sports Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Waterloo became the first club to win both the First and Second Division championships in one season. While Toronto Croatia B won the second division regular season title.
Halton United are a Canadian soccer club based in Milton, Ontario, and is a member of the Canadian Academy of Soccer League. The club was formed in 2013 and became a member of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) under the name Burlington SC. They played their home matches at Nelson Stadium in Burlington, Ontario. After three seasons in the CSL the club disbanded their CSL senior team in order to become one of the founding members of the CAF Supergroup Open Division. After a brief sabbatical from the CSL, Burlington returned for the 2017 season to play in the Second Division.
Nenad Nikolić is a Serbian former footballer who played as a defender.
Stefan Vukovic is a Canadian former soccer player and assistant coach for Hamilton City SC in the Canadian Soccer League.
Alvin Hudson is a Canadian former soccer player who played in the USL A-League, Premier Development League, Brisbane Premier League, and Canadian Soccer League.
Preston Corporal is a Liberian former footballer who played in the Liberian Premier League, Malaysian Super League, National Football League, National Premier League, and the Canadian Soccer League.
Lazo Džepina is a Croatian Serb businessman, football manager, and former player.
Haris Fazlagić is a former Bosnian-Herzegovinian footballer who played as a midfielder.
Milton SC is a Canadian soccer club formed in 2014. The team is currently a member of the Canadian Academy of Soccer League. Their home venue is located at Milton Community Sports Park in the town of Milton, Ontario.
The Canadian Soccer League Awards is an annual awards ceremony for several individual performances at the end of the season. The event was established in 1998, when the Canadian National Soccer League merged with the stillborn Ontario Professional Soccer League to form the Canadian Professional Soccer League. The ceremony has been traditionally held at awards banquet at the end of the season with the exception in 2008, 2009, and 2010 where they were given out before the CSL Championship final. In 2010, the league began distributing awards to the Second Division for the first time.
Zvonko Bakula is a former Bosnian footballer who played as a defender.
{{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (help){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)