Former Canada captain David Edgar retires from active play

David Edgar, a former captain with Canada Soccer’s Men’s
​National Team and a two-time winner of the Canadian Premier League’s North Star
​Shield, has announced his upcoming retirement from football as an active
​player. Edgar is scheduled to leave the playing field at the conclusion of Forge FC
​Hamilton’s 2020 schedule, which includes the upcoming Scotiabank Concacaf
​League Quarterfinals set for Tuesday 1 December.

“I had the privilege to work with David Edgar in my first
​camp with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team and I learned very quickly that
​he was a real leader of men,” said John Herdman, Canada Soccer’s Men’s National
​Team Head Coach. “What stood out was his selflessness and willingness to
​support those young players coming through the system, but at the same time to
​give everything he had on and off the field to be ready to compete for his
​country.”

Edgar represented Canada in three cycles of FIFA World Cup
​Qualifiers, two editions of the Concacaf Gold Cup, and one edition of Concacaf
​Nations League Qualifying. He finished as high as third in voting as a nominee
​for the Canadian Player of the Year Award in 2014. From 2011 to 2018 with
​Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, he made 42 international “A” appearances
​including five starts as Canada’s captain.

He got his first call up in August 2007 and he made his full
​international “A” debut on 9 February 2011 against Greece. He scored
​international goals against Cuba, Jamaica, Uzbekistan and El Salvador, with
​both of the goals against Cuba and El Salvador scored in FIFA World Cup
​Qualifiers. His first goal was scored on 12 October 2012 in Toronto, a 3:0 win
​at BMO Field.

At the professional level, Edgar played his club football in
​Canada, England, USA and Wales, including appearances in Concacaf Champions
​League and Concacaf League. He led Forge FC Hamilton to back-to-back Canadian
​Premier League titles in 2019 and 2020. He notably made his professional debut with
​Newcastle United FC (where he also dressed in UEFA Cup competition) and made
​more than 100 appearances for Burnley FC.

In Europe, he made 23 appearances in the Premier League and
​128 appearances in the Championship. A second generation player at Newcastle
​United FC, he was just 19 years old when he became the seventh Canadian to
​feature in the Premier League with his Boxing Day debut on 26 December 2006
​against Bolton. He scored his first goal less than a week later on 1 January
​2007, a New Year’s Day 2:2 draw with Manchester United FC.

At the international youth level, Edgar was a Canadian U-20
​Player of the Year Award winner in 2006. He was 15 years old when he made his
​debut in the Canadian youth program with coach Ray Clark and he was the first
​Canadian selected to three FIFA U-20 World Cups, starting with UAE 2003 when
​Canada reached the Quarter-finals. On his 19thbirthday on 19 May
​2006, he scored a memorable opening goal in a 2:1 win over Brazil in Edmonton,
​Canada’s first ever victory at the men’s youth level against the South American
​giants.

Edgar, who was three years old when he started playing
​soccer at the Kitchener Minor Soccer Association, was most recently enrolled in
​the National Teams Education Program, an innovative program to support the
​coach education of its current and former National Team Program players with a
​unique, online and combined Canada Soccer C/B Licence opportunity.