Tributes pour in for Forge captain Kyle Bekker
Bobby Smyrniotis, Cyle Larin and others paid tribute after the 36-year-old midfielder announced the end of a 14-season career.
· by Colin Radek · kyle bekker · retirement · forge fc · canadian premier league
Kyle Bekker's retirement announcement on Thursday morning closed the book on 14 seasons as a professional, and the reaction from inside and outside the Forge dressing room came quickly.
Bekker, 36, played in MLS with Toronto FC, FC Dallas and the then Montreal Impact, in the NASL with San Francisco Deltas and in USL with North Carolina FC. It was the eight years in Hamilton, from the Canadian Premier League's first season onward, that defined him: a CPL original and the captain who became the face of the competition's early history.
Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis summed him up in a single word, calling Bekker a "legend," and added that he had watched him grow from a teenager into a champion and a father before thanking him.
Cyle Larin, now with Southampton and a teammate of Bekker's in their Sigma FC academy days, offered his own tribute while with Canada ahead of Saturday's match against Peru. "You've done so much for soccer in Canada," Larin said, describing Bekker as a role model to him and to many others and saying he expected him to keep working to grow the game.
Bekker reflected on the Forge years in his announcement video. "We set out on this journey together back in 2019," he said. "It feels like a dream I just woke up from and eight of the best years of my life have simply flown by."
What comes next for Bekker has not been announced. For Forge, the business of the season carries on, with a league match against Halifax Wanderers at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday, October 3, and the Canadian Championship final against CF Montréal at Stade Saputo on Wednesday, October 21.