Gloucester Celtic win Challenge Trophy for the fourth time
Hosts Gloucester Celtic won the 2026 National Championships at Julian de Guzman Park
Gloucester Celtic won their fourth national title in 14 years, but it was their first on home turf as the Ottawa-based club won 3:1 over Vancouver ICSF Columbus FC at Julian de Guzman Park. Joey Kewin, Cristopher Malekos and Luca Piccioli were the first-half goalscorers before Matteo Polisi scored for the 10-men Vancouver side in second half.
A packed crowd of more than 1,000 fans were in attendance at Julian de Guzman Park, located behind the historic Maple Leaf - Almrausch clubhouse near Carlsbad Springs. The 2026 National Championships featured both the men's and women's amateur Canadian Finals on Thanksgiving Monday, with Gloucester Celtic lifting the Challenge Trophy and then Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC lifting the women's Jubilee Trophy.
In the morning Canadian Final, Kewin opened the scoring after he was played in by Kelvin Asabre in the fifth minute. Kewin later would have had a break into the penalty area, but was pushed down by defender Ali Azarminoo who was shown a direct red card in the 16th minute. Centre back Cristopher Malekos then made it 2-0 in the 29th minute when he scored on a header from a Luca Piccioli corner kick.
Near the end of the first half, Piccioli scored on a penalty kick to make it 3-0. Vancouver's Polisi then scored his fourth goal of the tournament on a penalty in the 65th minute.
Kewin was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament after he scored three goals in three matches (two against Winnipeg and one against Vancouver). The London, ON-born forward, who moved to Ottawa in 2009, has three Canadian titles with Gloucester from 2022, 2024 and 2026 (he missed the title run in 2013 because of school commitments with Carleton University).
Gloucester Celtic are the sixth club to win Canada Soccer's national amateur title four times. Kewin, Kelvin Asabre, Cameron Butterfield and Milosh Stojanovic have all won three of those titles with Gloucester, which matches former striker Bezick Evraire who won titles in 2013, 2022 and 2024. Gloucester goalkeeper Anton Favre also won his third Canadian title (one with West Ottawa and two with Gloucester Celtic).
Four-time national amateur champions Columbus FC were playing in their seventh national title since 1964. National winners in 1964, 1969, 1977 and 1978, they have finished as runners up in 1968, 2007 and 2026.
2026 MEN'S FINAL RANKING:
1. Gloucester Celtic FC - Challenge Trophy winners
2. Vancouver ICSF Columbus FC - silver medal
3. CS Dieppe - bronze medal
4. Suburban FC (Bedford, NS)
5. Panathinaikos Toronto FC
6. CS Trident Ouest de Québec
7. Winnipeg Lucania FC
8. Holy Cross FC
9. Calgary Rangers SC
2027 MEN'S PRE-COMPETITION RANKING:
1. Ontario - to be seeded as "A1" in Group A
2. British Columbia
3. New Brunswick
4. Nova Scotia
All other provinces to be drawn into groups in 2027.
2026 AWARD WINNERS:
Challenge Trophy - Gloucester Celtic FC
Most Valuable Player - Joey Kewin, Gloucester Celtic FC
Judi Kelloway Spirit Award - Jake Warren, Holy Cross FC
2026 NATIONAL AMATEUR CHAMPIONS: Joey Kewin (captain), Nicholas Aramouni, Kelvin Asabre, Cristian Aviles-Molina, Cameron Butterfield, Justin Earle, Anton Favre, Raphaël Garcia, Willem Grant, Adam Malekos, Cristopher Malekos, Tony Mikhael, Robbie Murphy, Luca Piccioli, Diego Politis, Sebastian Rodriguez, Andres Sanchez, Milosh Stojanovic, Devyn Viegas, Alessandro Vivolo, Blake Williams.
As Canada Soccer's premier event for adult amateur clubs, the National Championships were hosted in the nation’s capital of Ottawa for the first time. This year’s competition featured a new format with a return to the five-day schedule.
The opening three days featured the battle to win your group: three group winners in each division were guaranteed a medal, but the best-ranked group winner got a bye into the Canadian Final with an extra day of rest. Four of the six group winners posted two wins for six points, while two group winners had five points from a win in regulation time and a win in penalties. There was little room for error if you wanted to win a medal at this year’s National Championships.
As the best-ranked group winner, Gloucester Celtic rested while Vancouver ICSF Columbus FC had to win a Sunday playoff over bronze-medal winners CS Dieppe (Vancouver's Polisi scored twice in a 4:1 win). With the way the schedule worked out, Gloucester Celtic were incidentally the first men’s amateur champions since 1972 with two or more days rest before the Canadian Final.
Of significance, the new format (whereby most teams played three matches) featured a notable reduction in the number of missed matches because of injury. Sixteen of the 18 teams played just three matches, including both national winners in the men's and women's divisions.
This year, there were only 15 missed matches because of injuries across 28 matches (including two players who missed all matches because of a pre-competition injury. By comparison, there were 27 missed matches in 2025 when all teams played four matches (across 32 matches) and 56 missed matches in 2026 when most teams played five matches (across 37 matches).
As Canada Soccer’s largest national event featuring clubs from coast to coast to coast, the National Championships provide a meaningful week-long soccer experience for host cities and participating teams, as well as the players, coaches, support staff, officials, and volunteers. Soccer is the nation’s most accessible sport and this year we had 730 teams competing in league and cup competitions on the road to the National Championships.