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Brantford Galaxy

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.

Full nameBrantford Galaxy Soccer Club
Nickname(s)Galaxy
FoundedFebruary 24, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-02-24)
Dissolved2021 (merged with Hamilton City)
StadiumHeritage Field
Hamilton, Ontario
Capacity2,000+
PresidentBoško Borjan
Head coachSaša Vidović
LeagueCanadian Soccer League
2020Regular season: 5th
Playoffs: Did not qualify
Websitehttp://www.brantfordgalaxy.ca/

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.

History

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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]

 
Brantford Galaxy celebrating their 2010 CSL Championship.

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]

Players

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First Division roster

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As of October 5, 2020[55]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Canada  CAN Georgi Jovicic
3 MF Montenegro  MNE Uros Terzic
4 DF Bosnia and Herzegovina  BIH Zeljko Dokic
5 DF Canada  CAN Miljan Milovic
6 DF Canada  CAN Donart Beqiri [56]
8 DF Serbia  SRB Boris Milicic
9 MF Bosnia and Herzegovina  BIH Saša Vidović
10 MF Serbia  SRB Dragan Milovic
11 MF Serbia  SRB Zoran Cvijetic
14 MF Bosnia and Herzegovina  BIH Radomir Lazarovic
16 MF Montenegro  MNE Adolfo Alvarado
17 DF Bosnia and Herzegovina  BIH Marko Djukic
18 MF Serbia  SRB Camilo Veloza
19 DF Serbia  SRB Bojan Samardzija
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF Canada  CAN Slavko Knezevic
24 MF Canada  CAN Adam Villela [57]
35 MF Canada  CAN Marko Ilic
- MF Bosnia and Herzegovina  BIH Jeffrey Alves
- MF Canada  CAN Miroslav Čabrilo
- MF Serbia  SRB Petar Dordevic [58]
- MF Canada  CAN Aleksa Marković
- MF Serbia  SRB Nikola Milošević
- FW Canada  CAN Aleksandar Mitic [59]
- MF Serbia  SRB Radomir Lazarevic
- MF Canada  CAN Andrej Prpa
- MF Canada  CAN Marko Tejin
- MF Serbia  SRB Uroš Vidović

Head coaches

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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

Honours

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Seasons

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ http://canadiansoccerleague.ca/news_archive.php?news_id=249509[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Professional team in town". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  3. ^ "February 24, 2010 CSL launches teams in Hamilton, Brantford and Milton (from CSL news release)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  4. ^ "Pro soccer coming to Brantford". The Hamilton Spectator. 2010-02-11. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
  5. ^ "BICS U-21 side to bolster Galaxy". Brant News. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  6. ^ News, Brant. "CSL okays Lions Park for league play". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ News, Brant. "Upgrades for Galaxy approved". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Lazo is in charge". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  9. ^ News, Brant. "Galaxy imports ready to go". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ News, Brant. "Giusti named Galaxy captain". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ "Canadian Soccer League". 2011-02-28. Archived from the original on 2011-02-28. Retrieved 2016-10-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ "May 16, 2010 CSL details of Sunday's games (from CSL website)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  13. ^ News, Brant. "Galaxy opener ends in tie". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Galaxy opener is a night of firsts". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  15. ^ Glover, Robin. "October 17, 2010 CSL--Serbian White Eagles vs Brantford Galaxy (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  16. ^ "October 17, 2010 CSL--details of Sunday games (from CSL website)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  17. ^ Glover, Robin. "October 22, 2010 CSL--Portugal FC vs Brantford Galaxy (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  18. ^ "October 22, 2010 CSL--Portugal FC vs Brantford Galaxy (from CSL website)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  19. ^ "Brantford Galaxy CSL Champs......Fazlagic hits two in decisive win at well-attended game in Toronto". 2010-10-31. Retrieved 1 November 2010.[permanent dead link]
  20. ^ Glover, Robin. "October 31, 2010 CSL--Hamilton Croatia vs Brantford Galaxy (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  21. ^ "Galaxy shines in CSL title victory". The Hamilton Spectator. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  22. ^ O'Leary, Ed. "Galaxy title out of this world". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  23. ^ Glover, Robin. "October 31, 2010 CSL Finals--Award Winners (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  24. ^ "October 31, 2010 CSL Final--Hamilton Croatia vs Brantford Galaxy (from CSL website)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  25. ^ Kennedy, Tom (13 January 2011). "BICS votes in new name". Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  26. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Galaxy putting together pieces for new season". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  27. ^ "Brantford Galaxy SC --- Brantford, Ontario". 2011-09-25. Archived from the original on 2011-09-25. Retrieved 2016-10-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  28. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Galaxy: Ready for kickoff!". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  29. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Galaxy show coach red card". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  30. ^ News, Brant. "Galaxy wrap up season". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-11. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  31. ^ Allen, Sean. "Fresh start for Galaxy in 2012". www.brantnews.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  32. ^ Allen, Sean. "Brantford Galaxy unveil new coach, new philosophy". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  33. ^ "May 2, 2012 CSL Announcements at Press Conference held in Toronto. (from CSL website)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  34. ^ "Canadian Soccer League". 2012-06-06. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2016-10-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  35. ^ Allen, Sean. "Despite success, Galaxy replace head coach". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  36. ^ Smart, Darryl G. "Former Galaxy coach 'shocked' and 'confused'". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  37. ^ Glover, Robin. "August 5, 2012 CSL--Brampton City United vs Brantford Galaxy (by Rocket Robin)". www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  38. ^ Smart, Darryl G. "Galaxy ends season with a loss". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-13. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  39. ^ Allen, Sean. "Galaxy end tumultuous season". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  40. ^ Smart, Darryl G. "Brantford Galaxy leaves CSL to 'regroup'". Brantford Expositor. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  41. ^ Allen, Sean. "Galaxy to go on hiatus". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  42. ^ nurun.com. "Brantford Galaxy return to CSL for 2015 season". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  43. ^ Marion, Michael-Allan. "Galaxy set for return". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  44. ^ Smiley, Brian. "Galaxy taking shape". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  45. ^ Allen, Sean. "Building a future for soccer in Brant". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  46. ^ Allen, Sean. "Galaxy return from hiatus". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  47. ^ Peeling, Mike. "New Galaxy owners aim to build another semi-pro team, open academy". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  48. ^ "Brantford Galaxy SC | Canadian Soccer League". 2015-10-06. Archived from the original on 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2016-10-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  49. ^ Shypula, Brian. "Galaxy miss playoffs with loss". www.brantnews.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  50. ^ "2015 Second Division Awards | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-10-14. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  51. ^ "Brantford Galaxy SC | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  52. ^ "2016 First Division Standing | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  53. ^ Adamson, Stan (16 October 2016). "UKRAINE UNITED, SERBIAN EAGLES ADVANCE……..CSL playoffs continue Sunday | Canadian Soccer League". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  54. ^ Adamson, Stan (August 9, 2021). "A New Beginning to Kickoff a New Season - ProSound Cup starts Saturday". Canadian Soccer League.
  55. ^ "Brantford Galaxy SC – Canadian Soccer League". 17 July 2017. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  56. ^ "Canada Soccer". canadasoccer.com. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  57. ^ "Cardinals dominate HWCAA boys' soccer". www.hwcdsb.ca. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  58. ^ "FK Sumadija 1903 Kragujevac". srbijafudbal.com. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  59. ^ "Ontario Colleges Athletic Association". Ontario Colleges Athletic Association. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  60. ^ "2010 CSL Season" (PDF). canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 23, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  61. ^ a b c d e f g h "CSL First Division Standings". canadiansoccerleague.ca. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
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