Hayden Fitzwilliams (born January 31, 1975) is a Trinidadian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

and played at the international level with the

Trinidad and Tobago national football team The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed the "Soca music, Soca Warriors", represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago F ...

Playing career

Youth career

Fitzwilliams began playing football at the youth level with St Clair Coaching School in his native Trinidad. He also played at the college level with the

University of New Haven The University of New Haven (UNH) is a private university in West Haven, Connecticut, United States. History The University of New Haven was founded in 1920 as the New Haven YMCA Junior College, a division of Northeastern University, which sha ...

Early career

In 2002, he went abroad to Canada to play in the Canadian Professional Soccer League with the

Mississauga Olympians Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on September 18, 2002, against

St. Catharines Wolves St. Catharines Roma Wolves (also known as St. Catharines Wolves or simply Roma Wolves), are a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1967. The team currently plays in the semi-professional League1 Ontario in both the men's and women's divisions. The c ...

, which included a hattrick. Within five matches he would score six goals. He helped Mississauga secure a postseason by recording the winning goal against Hamilton Thunder in a 3-2 victory. The Olympians were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs to the

North York Astros The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Ca ...

. He resumed his career in the CPSL by signing with league rivals

Metro Lions Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

in the Eastern Conference. He recorded his first goal for the Lions on July 11, 2003, in a 1-0 victory over London City. He participated in the 2003 Open Canada Cup where he contributed a goal against St. Catharines in the semifinal and advanced the Lions to the final. The Metro Lions would face London in the tournament final but were defeated in a penalty shootout. The following season he finished as the club's top goalscorer with nine goals and helped his team reach the postseason by finishing second in the Western Conference. They were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs to the

Vaughan Shooters Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

Toronto Croatia

After the relocation of the Metro Lions to Oakville in 2005 he was picked up by defending champions

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

. He finished as the club's top goal scorer and assisted in securing a playoff berth. Toronto was eliminated in the semifinals to Vaughan. He re-signed with the Croats for the 2006 season. Throughout the 2006 season, he was named to the CSL All-Star team that faced

Clyde F.C. Clyde Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional football club who play in . Formed in 1877 at the River Clyde in Glasgow, the club host their home matches at New Douglas Park, having played at Broadwood Stadium from 1994 until 2022. The ...

For the second consecutive season, he finished as the club's top goalscorer. In 2007, he assisted Toronto in qualifying once more for the postseason. He featured in the

CSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports le ...

final and contributed a goal against the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club (/''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian semi-professional Association football, soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a Non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanct ...

in the first round. The Croats would clinch the championship title in the second match by drawing with the Serbs. He would re-sign with Croatia for the 2008 season. For the third time in his career, he finished as the club's top goal scorer with 11 goals. He would help Toronto secure a postseason berth. He also played with Real Toronto in the 2008

Ontario Cup The Ontario Cup is a soccer tournament for clubs based in the province of Ontario in Canada. It began play in 1901 under the Ontario Football Association League, now known as the Ontario Soccer Association, and is the oldest soccer competition i ...

tournament and recorded a goal against AEK London in the finals which clinched the title for Toronto. Unfortunately, the decision was reversed after Toronto used an ineligible player as a result the title was given to London. The following season the Croats once more secured a playoff berth with Fitzwilliams scoring goals in the opening round matches against Brampton Lions which advanced Toronto to the next round. In the second round, Croatia was eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Serbian White Eagles. The 2011 season proved would be a notable one for the midfielder as he provided goals against Mississauga Eagles and

York Region Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

in the opening rounds of the playoffs. As a result, the Croats reached the championship final where Fitzwilliams scored the single winning goal against

Capital City A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

. He added more silverware to his portfolio in 2012 by claiming the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

with Toronto, by winning the First Division title, and his third CSL Championship. In 2014, he played his fourth championship final against York Region where they were defeated in a penalty shootout. He re-signed with Croatia in 2015 for his eleventh and final season. He finished his tenure in Toronto with a fourth championship title by defeating

SC Waterloo Region SC Waterloo Region was a Canadian soccer team based in Waterloo, Ontario. The club competed in various divisions in the Canadian Soccer League. The club was formed in 2011 under KW United FC and initially competed in the league's second division. ...

. After the conclusion of the 2015 season Toronto Croatia departed from the league and played his final season with York Region Shooters in 2016.

International career

Fitzwilliams made his national team debut on March 26, 2003 in a

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

Qualifier match against

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. He would appear in the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers, and in total he appeared in five matches for his country. He played against

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

on June 13, 2004, in the

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF second round This page provides the summaries of the CONCACAF second round matches for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. The 14 top-ranked teams from the FIFA ranking for CONCACAF in May 2007 competed, along with the 10 winning teams from the first round ...

Achievements

Toronto Croatia *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

First Division: 2012 * Croatian World Club Championship: 2007, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzwilliams, Hayden 1975 births Living people Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Trinidad and Tobago men's footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate men's footballers Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers Toronto Croatia players Durham Storm players Brampton City United FC players York Region Shooters players Men's association football forwards People from Tobago Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Canada