Cavalry FC’s Wheeldon Jr. is making waves. So when will others take notice?

If there is any sense of bitterness, you wouldn’t know it talking to Tommy Wheeldon Jr.

The Cavalry FC head coach and general manager is coming off last Thursday’s historic victory over Liga MX powerhouse Pumas UNAM in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup fixture, and was candid when asked whether he had been approached by other clubs in bigger leagues following November’s Canadian Premier League championship win over long-time rivals Forge FC.

“The phone’s been quiet in the offseason, other than [last year’s] interview for the men’s [national team] job which I’ve always said I was flattered to be considered for … making it to the final round,” Wheeldon said.

“I mean no, the phone’s been very quiet so maybe we’re not being looked at. Whether it’s these competitions that take it to shake the interest, but I’d like to think that the work that I’m doing — and I’m sure Bobby [Smyrniotis, head coach of Forge FC] thinks the same — we’re doing on a fraction of the budgets of what everyone else is doing and putting on a great show. Fortunately, I’m happy in this league and I’m happy with the ownership that I’ve got and the players I have so I’m not in any rush to leave, but yeah, the phone’s been silent over the off-season.”

It was an off-season that saw two of the Canadian-based Major League Soccer teams searching for new head coaches, yet not a phone call to Wheeldon Jr. — a man who, along with Smyrniotis, has been one of the faces of the CPL since its inception in 2019.

Prior to hiring John Herdman in 2023, Toronto FC had seriously considered Smyrniotis for the top job, but following Herdman’s departure amidst the ‘Dronegate’ fiasco, it was clear that Robin Fraser had been the top choice from the get-go. 

In Vancouver, it appears sporting director Axel Schuster’s many European contacts made a Canadian hire unlikely, resulting in Denmark’s Jesper Sorensen replacing Vanni Sartini at the helm.

Both hirings are understandable and difficult to dispute. However, it is surely an indictment on the CPL’s standing that the head coach and general manager of the league champions was not deemed worthy of so much as a phone call.

Or is it blatant arrogance on the part of MLS?

Whatever the case, results such as Cavalry FC’s win in the Champions Cup last Thursday only serve to build the reputation of a league that has already beaten MLS clubs on more than one occasion in the Canadian Championship — including this past season when Cavalry beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 at BC Place, despite still crashing out over both legs on away goals.

“I’d like to think that’s creating some ripples, and in order to be a disruptor in the new world you’ve got to make some waves,” Wheeldon Jr. said.

Rivals Forge FC also featured in the Champions Cup last week, falling to another Liga MX giant — Monterrey — in a match played in frigid conditions in Hamilton, where Forge had every right to ask themselves how they came out 2-0 losers after several gilt-edged chances went awry.  

Yet, within CPL circles, there was a genuine sense of solidarity. Any animosity between clubs was put aside as the common refrain was that ‘any success in this tournament is success for the league as a whole.’ Pacific FC allowed Forge FC to play its fixture at its Starlight Stadium with the Canadian winter bringing any possibility of Calgary hosting the match into question. How many other leagues would see a rival club host such a match?

“I think every single club reached out — the head coaches, the club presidents — to [Cavalry club president] Ian Allison.” Wheeldon Jr. said. “What I liked as well is we were talking with [Pacific FC head coach] James Merriman and [Pacific FC managing director] Paul Beirne and they genuinely were going above and beyond to try and make sure the game was right, and we were ready if we were coming to their place.

“They were incredible hosts and you feel that support because you know that they know what it’s like. They know what it’s like to try and sell a ticket, to a season ticket, to lift a championship, to compete in these levels when you are five weeks into our pre-season and [Pumas are] five games into their Clausura season. That’s a huge difference, so to do what we’ve done is magnificent really, when you look at the grand scheme of things.”

It is off to Mexico City on Thursday for the second leg against Pumas, and then remarkably back to pre-season for the 2025 CPL season. Such is life playing professional soccer in Canada. For the first time, Cavalry will enter the season as defending champions. This is uncharted territory for the Calgary club, not that the coach doesn’t know exactly what to expect — another season-long battle with Smyrniotis and the four-time champions Forge.

“I think what’s magnificent about the two of us is we keep pushing each other and I think we keep raising a standard and we know that,” Wheeldon Jr. added. “When we face other CPL clubs, we know that we’re gonna have a target on our back, that gold stamp that you get from winning the last game of the season. We become a target, and you set the standard for everyone else so if we do nights like we did last Thursday, we know that we’re gonna be everybody else’s Pumas or Whitecaps, that they’re gonna aspire to try and beat us cause it’s a big result. That’s open to you guys as the journalists and the public to decipher between the two but we’ll take whatever. We know that we still have a few more trophies to win to take over to the trophy hall.”

Will that include a Concacaf Champions Cup? Is that what it will take for a CPL head coach to truly win respect outside the league? That is a tough ask, and probably a little unrealistic at this juncture, but if nothing else it should not come as any surprise if the phone starts to ring for the likes of Tommy Wheeldon Jr. in the not-so-distant future.

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