Thelonius "Theo" Bair (born August 27, 1999) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a forward for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

and the Canada national team.

Club career

Youth

Bair started his youth career with Ottawa Royals, before joining Capital United FC and

West Ottawa SC West Ottawa Soccer Club was a Canadian women's semi-professional soccer club based in Kanata, Ontario, just west of Ottawa that competed in the women's division League1 Ontario. The club continues to operate as a youth club. History The club wa ...

before his move to Vancouver.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On July 24, 2018,

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

announced that it would be signing Bair to a multi-year MLS homegrown pre-contract beginning in 2019. Bair made his Whitecaps FC and

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

debut on matchday 15 of the 2019 MLS season, coming off the bench in the 71st minute in a 2–1 home victory against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. On August 11 against the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

, He scored his first professional goal. On August 6, 2021, Bair was loaned to Norwegian club HamKam for the remainder of the 2021 season. In his first appearance on August 18, Bair scored a goal in a 2–0 victory over Jerv. Bair would go on to make 17 appearances in the

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

, scoring 4 goals as HamKam were crowned champions and gained promotion to the

2022 Eliteserien The 2022 Eliteserien was the 78th season of top-tier football in Norway. This was the sixth season of Eliteserien after rebranding from Tippeligaen. Molde were crowned the champions at the end of the season, winning their 5th Norwegian league titl ...

. In December 2021, upon his return to Vancouver, the Whitecaps announced they had exercised Bair's contract option, keeping him at the club through 2022.

St Johnstone

In January 2022, Bair was transferred to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club St Johnstone for an undisclosed fee on a contract through the end of the 2023–24 season. He made his debut on February 9 against St Mirren. Bair scored his first goal for the club against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on October 5, 2022. In May 2023, St Johnstone announced Bair would be made available for transfer. On 4 July 2023, Bair and St Johnstone mutually agreed to terminate the contract.

Motherwell

In August 2023,

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

announced the signing of Bair to a two-year contract. He made his debut on August 5 against

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and scored a goal in an eventual 1–1 draw.

Auxerre

On July 16, 2024, newly-promoted side

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

announced the signing of Bair to a four-year deal. He made his debut for the club on August 18, starting Auxerre's first match of the season against

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. England won the tournament for the third successive year beating Mexico 2–1 i ...

. He subsequently played for the Canadian U20 team at the

2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (27th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted at United States betw ...

and, scoring a goal and two assists in five appearances. Bair was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association footbal ...

on February 26, 2020, and was named to the final squad ahead of the rescheduled tournament on March 10, 2021.

Senior

In January 2020, Bair was called up to the Canada senior team ahead of friendlies against

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. He made his debut on January 7 in the first match against Barbados, and scored a goal in a 4–1 victory. In February 2024, Bair was named to the Canada national team provisional roster for the 2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. In June 2024, Bair was named to Canada's squad contesting the 2024 Copa América.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

Honours

Individual *

PFA Scotland Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foo ...

: 2023–24 Premiership

References

External links

Theo Bair
at

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bair, Theo 1999 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent Soccer players from Ottawa Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Hamarkameratene players St Johnstone F.C. players AJ Auxerre players Major League Soccer players Norwegian First Division players Scottish Premier League players Ligue 1 players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in France Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Norway West Ottawa SC players Motherwell F.C. players 2024 Copa América players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen