2019 HFX Wanderers FC season
# 2019 HFX Wanderers FC season

The 2019 HFX Wanderers FC season was the first season in the club's history having been founded on 5 May 2018, as well as the first season in Canadian Premier League (CPL) history. Stephen Hart was the club's first manager, with the team playing at Wanderers Grounds. The season covers the period from 1 November 2018 through to 31 October 2019. Hart, like his peers in the CPL, built a squad from the ground up, and made use of all available mechanisms for player recruitment: the CPL Open Trials, the U-Sports Draft, and benefiting from his domestic and international connections, particularly from his native Trinidad & Tobago.

## Overview

The first ever player signed by the team was Canadian defender Zachary Sukunda on 29 November 2018, followed by a quartet of Trinidad & Tobago players in the new year. A contingent of Canadians followed before Hart turned his attention to signing three players from the CPL Open Trials: Kouamé Ouattara, Kodai Iida, and Mohamed Kourouma. Hart also signed all three U-Sports draft picks, and added some veteran attacking options in Luis Alberto Perea and Juan Diego Gutierrez. As the season approached and during the season, Hart raided League 1 Ontario club Vaughan Azzurri three times to round out his squad, signing Tomasz Skublak, Matthew Arnone and eventually, Duran Lee.

A short pre-season in April in the Dominican Republic saw HFX play only two matches, before playing its first ever competitive fixture on 28 April 2019, away at Pacific FC and losing 1–0. Following the defeat, HFX returned home to a raucous Wanderers Grounds on 4 May 2019, picking up its first win in history, defeating eventual champions Forge FC 2–1 with forward Akeem Garcia, scoring the team's first ever goal in the 30th minute. HFX would finish the Spring Season a respectable fourth place. In the Canadian Championship, HFX dispatched Vaughan Azzurri and Valour FC.

The Fall Season began optimistically on 6 July 2019 with the team recording a 1–0 win over York 9 FC and preparing to face Ottawa Fury FC of the United Soccer League Championship in the third preliminary round of the Canadian Championship. However, a congested fixture schedule would take its toll on the team, playing seven matches in eighteen days in July. HFX would lose all of them, bar one draw away to the afore-mentioned Ottawa Fury FC, which was insufficient to progress in the Canadian Championship. Throughout the year, HFX had had difficulty mustering much offense, which contributed to the slump. Improved defensive performances in September resulted in an uptick of form, but without much goalscoring, HFX could only muster six consecutive draws (a league record), surrendering the lead late on a number of occasions along the way. Combined with suggestions of locker room discord and Hart commenting on his players learning what it meant to be a professional, the Fall Season was difficult for HFX, finishing last which also “earned” the team the proverbial wooden spoon for 2019 as a whole. However, the year would end on a positive note, with Hart and company earning their first and only away win, 2–0 against York 9 FC. The Privateers 1882's supporter's group player of the year award went to centre-back, Matthew Arnone.

Off the pitch, the club was a tremendous success, the supporters regularly packing Wanderers Grounds to its limits and making it a difficult place to play for visiting teams. Indeed, in league play Cavalry FC was the only team to ever win at Wanderers Grounds all year. The boisterous atmosphere was the envy of the league and even attracted the notice of Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley who hoped his team would play there in the Canadian Championship.

A last place finish, however, was always going to mean high player turnover. Instead of announcing a list of players released at the end of the season, the club instead would announce returning players only over the course of the off-season.

## Current squad

    As of October 19, 2019

| No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (age) | Previous club |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 21 | Jan-Michael Williams | GK | (1984-10-26)October 26, 1984 (aged 35) | Sacachispas |
| 50 | Christian Oxner | GK | (1996-07-29)July 29, 1996 (aged 23) | Saint Mary's Huskies |
| Defenders ||||||
| 3 | André Bona | RB / CB | (1990-01-19)January 19, 1990 (aged 29) | UQAM Citadins |
| 4 | Chakib Hocine | CB | (1991-08-08)August 8, 1991 (aged 28) | Ekenäs |
| 6 | Chrisnovic N'sa | CB / CM | (1999-01-28)January 28, 1999 (aged 20) | Montreal Impact Academy |
| 16 | Duran Lee | CB | (1995-05-09)May 9, 1995 (aged 24) | Vaughan Azzurri |
| 20 | Ndzemdzela Langwa | LB | (1998-03-05)March 5, 1998 (aged 21) | Socuéllamos |
| 23 | Matthew Arnone | CB | (1994-02-28)February 28, 1994 (aged 25) | Vaughan Azzurri |
| 24 | Alex De Carolis | LB / CB | (1992-09-24)September 24, 1992 (aged 27) | Umeå FC |
| 25 | Zachary Sukunda | RB | (1995-06-24)June 24, 1995 (aged 24) | Northcote City |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 5 | Elton John | CM / CB | (1987-04-08)April 8, 1987 (aged 32) | San Juan Jabloteh |
| 7 | Juan Gutiérrez | LW / RW / AM | (1992-04-28)April 28, 1992 (aged 27) | Sport Rosario |
| 8 | Elliot Simmons | CM | (1998-02-05)February 5, 1998 (aged 21) | Dalkurd |
| 9 | Kodai Iida | AM | (1994-12-06)December 6, 1994 (aged 25) | Washington Premier FC |
| 12 | Mohamed Kourouma | LW | (1990-08-04)August 4, 1990 (aged 29) | Miami City |
| 13 | Kouamé Ouattara | CM | (1991-08-06)August 6, 1991 (aged 28) | CS Dieppe |
| 15 | Scott Firth | CM | (2001-03-02)March 2, 2001 (aged 18) | Suburban FC |
| 18 | Andre Rampersad | CM | (1995-02-02)February 2, 1995 (aged 24) | Santa Rosa |
| 22 | Abd-El-Aziz Yousef | RW / AM | (1999-10-05)October 5, 1999 (aged 20) | Cambuur |
| Forwards ||||||
| 10 | Luis Perea | ST | (1986-09-03)September 3, 1986 (aged 33) | La Equidad |
| 11 | Akeem Garcia | CF / RW | (1996-09-11)September 11, 1996 (aged 23) | Santa Rosa |
| 14 | Vincent Lamy | CF | (1999-07-10)July 10, 1999 (aged 20) | Montreal Impact Academy |
| 17 | Tomasz Skublak | ST | (1997-12-08)December 8, 1997 (aged 22) | Vaughan Azzurri |

## Transfers

### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 25 | DF | Zachary Sukunda | Northcote City | Free Transfer | November 29, 2018 |
| 21 | GK | Jan-Michael Williams | Sacachispas | Free Transfer | January 10, 2019 |
| 5 | DF | Elton John | Queen's Park CC | Free Transfer | January 10, 2019 |
| 18 | MF | Andre Rampersad | FC Santa Rosa | Free Transfer | January 10, 2019 |
| 11 | FW | Akeem Garcia | FC Santa Rosa | Free Transfer | January 10, 2019 |
| 4 | DF | Chakib Hocine | Ekenäs | Free Transfer | January 16, 2019 |
| 14 | FW | Vincent Lamy | Montreal Impact Academy | Free Transfer | January 22, 2019 |
| 8 | MF | Elliot Simmons | Dalkurd | Free Transfer | January 22, 2019 |
| 15 | MF | Scott Firth | Suburban FC | Free Transfer | January 30, 2019 |
| 20 | DF | Ndzemdzela Langwa | Socuéllamos | Free Transfer | February 5, 2019 |
| 6 | DF | Chrisnovic N'sa | Montreal Impact Academy | Free Transfer | February 5, 2019 |
| 50 | GK | Christian Oxner | Saint Mary's Huskies | Selected 19th overall in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft | February 20, 2019 |
| 24 | DF | Alex De Carolis | Umeå FC | Free Transfer | February 20, 2019 |
| 13 | MF | Kouamé Ouattara | CS Dieppe | Free Transfer | February 21, 2019 |
| 9 | MF | Kodai Iida | Washington Premier FC | Free Transfer | February 21, 2019 |
| 10 | FW | Luis Alberto Perea | La Equidad | Free Transfer | February 25, 2019 |
| 7 | MF | Juan Diego Gutiérrez | Sport Rosario | Free Transfer | February 25, 2019 |
| 2 | DF | Peter Schaale | CBU Capers | Selected 5th overall in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft | March 29, 2019 |
| 3 | DF | André Bona | UQAM Citadins | Selected 10th overall in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft | March 29, 2019 |
| 12 | MF | Mohamed Kourouma | FC Miami City | Free Transfer | April 4, 2019 |
| 22 | MF | Abd-El-Aziz Yousef | SC Cambuur | Free Transfer | April 4, 2019 |
| 17 | FW | Tomasz Skublak | Vaughan Azzurri | Free Transfer | April 9, 2019 |
| 23 | DF | Matthew Arnone | Vaughan Azzurri | Free Transfer | May 1, 2019 |
| 16 | DF | Duran Lee | Vaughan Azzurri | Free Transfer | August 13, 2019 |

**Draft picks**

HFX Wanderers selected the following players in the 2018 CPL–U Sports Draft on November 12, 2018. Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.

| Round | Selection | Pos. | Player | Nationality | University |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | DF | Peter Schaale | Germany | CBU Capers |
| 2 | 10 | DF | André Bona | France | UQAM Citadins |
| 3 | 19 | GK | Christian Oxner | Canada | Saint Mary's Huskies |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date | Source |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | DF | Peter Schaale | CBU Capers | Developmental Contract expired | August 15, 2019 | |

## Competitions

Match times are Atlantic Daylight Time (UTC−3).

### Canadian Premier League

**Spring season**

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Cavalry | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 24 | 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals |
| 2 | Forge | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 19 | 2019 CONCACAF League preliminary round |
| 3 | FC Edmonton | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 14 | |
| 4 | HFX Wanderers | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 11 | |
| 5 | Pacific | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 11 | |
| 6 | York9 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 11 | |
| 7 | Valour | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 9 | |

* ↑ As winner of home and away matches between FC Edmonton, Forge FC, and Valour FC

**Spring season**

**Results summary**

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |

Last updated: July 1, 2019. Source: canpl.ca

**Spring season**

**Results by match**

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ground | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | W | L | L | D | W | L | D | W | L |
| Position | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |

**Fall season**

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Cavalry | 18 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 12 | +23 | 38 | 2019 Canadian Premier League Finals |
| 2 | Forge | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 19 | +11 | 37 | |
| 3 | York9 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 23 | |
| 4 | Pacific | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 31 | −7 | 20 | |
| 5 | Valour | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 37 | −15 | 19 | |
| 6 | FC Edmonton | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 24 | −5 | 18 | |
| 7 | HFX Wanderers | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 24 | −11 | 17 | |

**Fall season**

**Results summary**

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |

Last updated: October 19, 2019. Source: canpl.ca

**Fall season**

**Results by match**

| Match | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ground | H | H | A | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | D | D | D | D | D | D | L | L | W |
| Position | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

## Statistics

### Squad and statistics

As of October 19, 2019

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | CPL Spring season | CPL Spring season | CPL Fall season | CPL Fall season | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 3 | DF | FRA | André Bona | 31 | 1 | 8+2 | 0 | 14+1 | 0 | 5+1 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | ALG | Chakib Hocine | 6 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | TRI | Elton John | 21 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 | 11+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | CAN | Chrisnovic N'sa | 21 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 9+3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | PER | Juan Diego Gutiérrez | 22 | 2 | 2+2 | 0 | 12+3 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | CAN | Elliot Simmons | 17 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | JPN | Kodai Iida | 25 | 1 | 8+2 | 0 | 4+6 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | COL | Luis Alberto Perea | 17 | 5 | 3+0 | 2 | 9+3 | 1 | 2+0 | 2 |
| 11 | FW | TRI | Akeem Garcia | 28 | 8 | 8+1 | 3 | 15+0 | 4 | 4+0 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | GUI | Mohamed Kourouma | 32 | 4 | 6+2 | 1 | 16+2 | 0 | 6+0 | 3 |
| 13 | MF | CIV | Kouamé Ouattara | 7 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | CAN | Vincent Lamy | 7 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | CAN | Scott Firth | 9 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | CAN | Duran Lee | 8 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 7+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | CAN | Tomasz Skublak | 25 | 4 | 6+1 | 0 | 9+5 | 1 | 3+1 | 3 |
| 18 | MF | TRI | Andre Rampersad | 30 | 1 | 5+3 | 1 | 17+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | CAN | Ndzemdzela Langwa | 24 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | TRI | Jan-Michael Williams | 15 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | SOM | Abd-El-Aziz Yousef | 0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CAN | Matthew Arnone | 28 | 2 | 8+0 | 0 | 16+0 | 2 | 4+0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | CAN | Alex De Carolis | 21 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 11+2 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | CAN | Zachary Sukunda | 21 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 5+7 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 50 | GK | CAN | Christian Oxner | 21 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 13+2 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| Players who left during the season: |||||||||||
| 2 | DF | GER | Peter Schaale | 22 | 1 | 10+0 | 1 | 7+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Nat. | Player | Pos. | CPL Spring season | CPL Fall season | Canadian Championship | TOTAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Akeem Garcia | FW | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | | Luis Alberto Perea | FW | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | | Mohamed Kourouma | MF | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | | Tomasz Skublak | FW | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | | Matthew Arnone | DF | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | | Juan Diego Gutiérrez | MF | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | | André Bona | DF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | | Kodai Iida | MF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | | Andre Rampersad | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | | Peter Schaale | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 8 | 13 | 11 | 32 |

Updated to match played October 19, 2019 Source: Canadian Premier League

### Top assists

| Rank | Nat. | Player | Pos. | CPL Spring season | CPL Fall season | Canadian Championship | TOTAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Mohamed Kourouma | MF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | | Kodai Iida | MF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | | Peter Schaale | DF | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | | Tomasz Skublak | FW | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | | Matthew Arnone | DF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | | Juan Diego Gutiérrez | MF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | | Elton John | MF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | | Luis Alberto Perea | FW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | | Andre Rampersad | MF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | | Elliot Simmons | MF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 4 | 6 | 7 | 17 |

Updated to match played October 19, 2019 Source: Canadian Premier League

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Nat. | Player | CPL Spring season | CPL Fall season | Canadian Championship | TOTAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Christian Oxner | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | | Jan-Michael Williams | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 |

Updated to match played October 19, 2019 Source: Canadian Premier League

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | CPL Spring season | CPL Spring season | CPL Fall season | CPL Fall season | Canadian Championship | Canadian Championship | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | | Jan-Michael Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | | Peter Schaale | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | | André Bona | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Chakib Hocine | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | | Elton John | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | | Chrisnovic N'sa | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | | Juan Diego Gutiérrez | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Elliot Simmons | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | | Kodai Iida | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | | Luis Alberto Perea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | | Akeem Garcia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | | Kouamé Ouattara | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | | Duran Lee | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Tomasz Skublak | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | | Andre Rampersad | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | | Ndzemdzela Langwa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | | Matthew Arnone | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | | Alex De Carolis | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 50 | GK | | Christian Oxner | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 18 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 62 | 1 |

Updated to match played October 19, 2019 Source: Canadian Premier League

