Tofa Fakunle is currently the assistant General Manager at Canadian Premier League cub, Cavalry FC.
Before this current role, he was the football operations manager at the same club, and then before that, a professional player.
Based in Calgary, Cavalry FC are one of 8 teams that compete in CPL, which is a relatively new league, having only started in 2019. The league is the only professional league in Canada, which offers a lot of potential to grow, especially with the World Cup arriving in 2026.
In this conversation we speak about how Tofa has to look after and manage the clubs’ budgets, the rules set by the leagues around squad building, and how Tofa and his team source players, for free, from all over the World.
We touch on data, the MLS, and a bit more on the overall football landscape within Canada.
Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:28 - Tofa joins and gives some background
3:47 – Transitioning from player to front office, roles & responsibilities
7:55 – Transfer window and season timeline
10:41 – Access to data and spending rules
14:56 – Recruiting players from around the World
18:26 – The landscape of football in Canada & North America
24:25 – Cavalry FC squad profile
28:18 – Rules around building a roster
31:57 – Networking and working with agents
33:38 – Team culture
35:40 – Trading players for profit, thinking long-term
42:59 – Future thoughts on soccer in Canada
46:24 – Summary and wrap up
You can also see more of Chris chatting to analytics professionals over on his podcast too, right here: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisgill_UK
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Tofa Fakunle is currently the assistant General Manager at Canadian Premier League cub, Cavalry FC.
Before this current role, he was the football operations manager at the same club, and then before that, a professional player.
Based in Calgary, Cavalry FC are one of 8 teams that compete in CPL, which is a relatively new league, having only started in 2019. The league is the only professional league in Canada, which offers a lot of potential to grow, especially with the World Cup arriving in 2026.
In this conversation we speak about how Tofa has to look after and manage the clubs’ budgets, the rules set by the leagues around squad building, and how Tofa and his team source players, for free, from all over the World.
We touch on data, the MLS, and a bit more on the overall football landscape within Canada.
Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:28 - Tofa joins and gives some background
3:47 – Transitioning from player to front office, roles & responsibilities
7:55 – Transfer window and season timeline
10:41 – Access to data and spending rules
14:56 – Recruiting players from around the World
18:26 – The landscape of football in Canada & North America
24:25 – Cavalry FC squad profile
28:18 – Rules around building a roster
31:57 – Networking and working with agents
33:38 – Team culture
35:40 – Trading players for profit, thinking long-term
42:59 – Future thoughts on soccer in Canada
46:24 – Summary and wrap up
You can also see more of Chris chatting to analytics professionals over on his podcast too, right here: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisgill_UK
Episode 53: Nikos Overheul, formerly Vancouver Whitecaps, Statsbomb, Brentford FC
Analytics FC Podcast
54 minutes 7 seconds
8 months ago
Episode 53: Nikos Overheul, formerly Vancouver Whitecaps, Statsbomb, Brentford FC
Nikos Overheul is an experienced football scouting and strategy professional who has spent time working with various clubs around the world.
Nikos was actually involved with Brentford FC in the early days of their data revolution and since then, spent time with Statsbomb, and Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS.
As well as this, Nikos has also operated as a consultant, aiding teams in their recruitment and alignment towards longer term goals.
In this conversation I ask Nikos about some of the intricacies that come with working in the MLS, how he thinks about risk and reward, and I pitch him a hypothetical job to try to better understand Nikos’ thought process when working with a new club.
Analytics FC Podcast
Tofa Fakunle is currently the assistant General Manager at Canadian Premier League cub, Cavalry FC.
Before this current role, he was the football operations manager at the same club, and then before that, a professional player.
Based in Calgary, Cavalry FC are one of 8 teams that compete in CPL, which is a relatively new league, having only started in 2019. The league is the only professional league in Canada, which offers a lot of potential to grow, especially with the World Cup arriving in 2026.
In this conversation we speak about how Tofa has to look after and manage the clubs’ budgets, the rules set by the leagues around squad building, and how Tofa and his team source players, for free, from all over the World.
We touch on data, the MLS, and a bit more on the overall football landscape within Canada.
Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:28 - Tofa joins and gives some background
3:47 – Transitioning from player to front office, roles & responsibilities
7:55 – Transfer window and season timeline
10:41 – Access to data and spending rules
14:56 – Recruiting players from around the World
18:26 – The landscape of football in Canada & North America
24:25 – Cavalry FC squad profile
28:18 – Rules around building a roster
31:57 – Networking and working with agents
33:38 – Team culture
35:40 – Trading players for profit, thinking long-term
42:59 – Future thoughts on soccer in Canada
46:24 – Summary and wrap up
You can also see more of Chris chatting to analytics professionals over on his podcast too, right here: https://www.youtube.com/@chrisgill_UK
