2023 Valour FC season explained

Club:	Valour FC
Season:	2023
Stadium:	IG Field
Chrtitle:	President
Chairman:	Wade Miller
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Phillip Dos Santos
League:	Canadian Premier League
League Result:	8th
Cup1:	Canadian Championship
Cup1 Result:	Preliminary round
Highest Attendance:	4,036
Lowest Attendance:	2,665
Average Attendance:	3,220
Prevseason:	2022
Nextseason:	2024

The 2023 Valour FC season was the fifth season in the history of Valour FC. They played in the Canadian Premier League, which it co-founded and played in since the inception of both the club and the league. The club entered the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round.

Background

In Valour's preceding four seasons, it never reached the play-offs, for which the top-four qualified in those seasons. The club ended in sixth place in the first two seasons and fifth place in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, missing the play-offs by one and nine points, respectively. The club's entry in the domestic cup competition, led to a single win over its previous four seasons. It was the club's second full season with Phillip Dos Santos as head coach, since he took over midway through the 2021 campaign.

Current squad

As of August 17, 2023.

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Previous club
Goalkeepers
1	Darlington Murasiranwa		GK	December 31, 2023	FC London
99	Rayane Yesli		GK	December 31, 2023	Blainville
Defenders
2	Andy Baquero		RB / RW	December 31, 2023	Delfines del Este
3	Jordan Haynes		LB / LW	December 31, 2023	Pacific FC
4	Guillaume Pianelli		CB	December 31, 2023	UQTR Patriotes
5	Abdou Samake		CB	December 31, 2023	Pacific FC
18	Klaidi Cela		CB	December 31, 2023	Vaughan Azzurri
19	Eskander Mzoughi		RB	December 31, 2023	Oud-Heverlee Leuven U23
22	Matteo de Brienne		LB	December 31, 2023	Carleton University
35	Andrew Jean-Baptiste		CB	December 31, 2023	Umeå FC
			CB	December 31, 2023	Wisconsin Badgers
Midfielders
6	Dante Campbell		DM / CB	December 31, 2023	LA Galaxy II
7	Kian Williams		AM / CF	December 31, 2023	Keflavík
8	Diego Gutiérrez		RM / RB	December 31, 2023	Barnechea
10	Kevin Rendón		AM	December 31, 2023	Deportivo Pasto
20	Juan Pablo Sanchez	/	MF	December 31, 2023	Salgueiros
21	Marcello Polisi		CM / DM	December 31, 2023	HFX Wanderers
27	Raphael Ohin		CM	December 31, 2023	WSA Winnipeg
Forwards
9	Walter Ponce		CF	December 31, 2023	Barnechea
11	Jared Ulloa		RW / LW	December 31, 2023	Sporting Cristal
12	Ahinga Selemani		FW	December 31, 2023	One Knoxville SC
23	Anthony Novak		ST	December 31, 2023	Cavalry FC
24	Pacifique Niyongabire		LW / RW	December 31, 2023	Perth Glory
32	Jaime Siaj		ST	December 31, 2023	Finn Harps

Transfers

In

Transferred in

No.	Pos.	Player	From club	Fee/notes	Date	Source
3			Pacific FC	Free	December 5, 2022	^[1]
5			Pacific FC	Free	December 12, 2022	^[2]
24			Perth Glory	Free	December 19, 2022	^[3]
7			Keflavík	Free	December 21, 2022	^[4]
21			HFX Wanderers	Free	January 4, 2023	^[5]
			Oud-Heverlee Leuven	Free	January 18, 2023	^[6]
			Salgueiros	Free	January 18, 2023
32			Finn Harps	Free	January 25, 2023	^[7]
11		align=Ulloa, Jared	Jared Ulloa	Sporting Cristal	Free		^[8]
6			LA Galaxy II	Free	February 10, 2023	^[9]
1			FC Laval	Signed to a development contract	February 20, 2023	^[10]
4			UQTR Patriotes	Selected 5th overall in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft	March 6, 2023	^[11]
23			Cavalry FC	Free	March 9, 2023	^[12]
			Wisconsin Badgers	Free	April 6, 2023	^[13]
			Vaughan Azzurri	Free	April 27, 2023	^[14]
12			One Knoxville SC	Free	July 22, 2023	^[15]
			FC London	Free	August 17, 2023	^[16]

Draft picks

Valour FC selected the following players in the 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft. 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	Guillaume Pianelli		UQTR
2	12	DF	Samuel LaPlante		UQTR

Out

Transferred out

No.	Pos.	Player	To club	Fee/notes	Date	Source
17			FC Tulsa	Contract expired		^[17]
4				Contract expired
12				Contract expired
1			CF Montréal	End of loan
24			CF Montréal	End of loan
13			Detroit City	End of loan
14				Contract expired		^[18]
11				Contract expired
77			Umeå FC	Contract expired
7			FC Tulsa	Contract expired		^[19]
3			Vancouver FC	Contract expired		^[20]
16			Retired			^[21]
5			Sporting Kansas City II	Contract expired		^[22]
70			Toronto FC II	Undisclosed fee		^[23]

Pre-season and friendlies

Friendlies

Valour played three friendlies in as part of their preseason preparations.

Competitions

Canadian Premier League regular season

See main article: article.

Matches

Canadian Championship

See main article: article and 2023 Canadian Championship.

External links

• Official Site

Notes and References

1. Web site: Valour FC signs Canadian defender Jordan Haynes . . December 13, 2022 . December 5, 2022.
2. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian defender Abdou Samake . . December 13, 2022 . December 12, 2022.
3. Web site: Valour FC sign Burundian forward Pacifique Niyongabire . . December 19, 2022 . December 19, 2022.
4. Web site: Valour FC sign English forward Kian Williams . Canadian Premier League . December 21, 2022 . December 21, 2022.
5. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian midfielder Marcello Polisi . . January 4, 2023 . January 4, 2023.
6. Web site: Valour FC sign midfielder Juan Pablo Sanchez and defender Eskander Mzoughi . Valour FC . January 18, 2023 . January 18, 2023.
7. Web site: Valour Adds Jordanian Striker Jaime Siaj . Canadian Premier League . January 25, 2023 . January 25, 2023.
8. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian-Peruvian forward Jared Ulloa . valourfc.canpl.ca. Valour FC. February 2, 2023. February 2, 2023.
9. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian midfielder Dante Campbell . . February 10, 2023 . February 10, 2023.
10. Web site: Valour FC sign goalkeeper Jordan Tisseur to a USPORTS contract . Canadian Premier League . February 20, 2023 . February 20, 2023.
11. Web site: Valour FC sign defender Guillaume Pianelli to U SPORTS contract . Canadian Premier League . March 6, 2023 . March 6, 2023.
12. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian forward Anthony Novak to a contract . Valour FC . March 9, 2023 . March 9, 2023.
13. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian defender Matthew Chandler . Canadian Premier League . April 6, 2023 . April 6, 2023.
14. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian defender Klaidi Cela . Valour FC . April 27, 2023 . April 27, 2023.
15. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian forward Ahinga Selemani . Canadian Premier League . July 22, 2023 . July 22, 2023.
16. Web site: Valour FC sign Canadian goalkeeper Darlington Murasiranwa . Valour FC . August 17, 2023 . August 17, 2023.
17. Web site: FC Tulsa Inks 2022 Canadian Premier League Team of the Year Defender Brett Levis to Multi-Year Deal . FC Tulsa . November 15, 2022.
18. Valour FC. ValourFootball. 1602773086108950528. Thank you for your commitment to the crest. We're wishing Federico Peña, Stefan Cebara and Alessandro Riggi the best of luck in their future endeavours..
19. Web site: FC Tulsa Inks Coveted Canadian Premier League Striker Moses Dyer to Multi-Year Deal . FC Tulsa . December 22, 2022.
20. Web site: Vancouver FC signs Canadian defender Rocco Romeo . Canadian Premier League . January 16, 2023 . January 16, 2023.
21. Web site: "It was 20 years of emotions from all the mental and physical work I’ve put in and realizing, ‘That’s it.'" . Valour FC . January 20, 2023 . January 20, 2023.
22. Web site: Sporting KC II signs Algerian Canadian defender Nassim Mekideche . Sporting KC . January 23, 2023 . January 23, 2023.
23. Web site: Toronto FC II sign Matthew Catavolo and Jesus Batiz . Sporting KC . March 21, 2023 . March 21, 2023.