HFX Wanderers FC fire coach Stephen Hart, who has led CPL team since inception

Stephen Hart is pictured on the touch line ahead of his team's World Cup qualifier against St. Kitts and Nevis in Toronto on Tuesday November 15, 2011. Hart, HFX Wanderers' first and only head coach, is leaving the Canadian Premier League team.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

HALIFAX — HFX Wanderers FC have fired Stephen Hart, the Canadian Premier League team's first and only coach, in the wake of an 8-15-5 season

The Halifax side finished seventh in the eight-team league this year.

“I met with Stephen yesterday and informed him that I felt it was time for new leadership at our football club," Derek Martin, the club's founder and president, said in a statement. “Stephen handled this conversation with the same class and dignity he has displayed while representing our club for the past five years, and I am forever grateful to him for helping our club get off the ground and for his immense contributions to the sport in Atlantic Canada.”

Hart, who has coached both the Canadian and Trinidad and Tobago national teams, was named the first head coach in Wanderers history in 2018 ahead of the inaugural CPL season. In 2020, he was named CPL Coach of the Year after leading Halifax to the final of the Island Games.

Hart, who signed a three-year extension before the 2021 season, had a 23-33-28 record in league play with HFX.. 

HFX says the search for a new head coach has begun.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2022

The Canadian Press

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