Nik Ledgerwood announces his retirement

Nik Ledgerwood, who wore the Canada captain’s armband for his milestone 50^th international “A” appearance in 2017, has announced his retirement from football as an active player. The recent Cavalry FC captain represented Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team from 2007 to 2017 and played his professional club football in Canada, Sweden and Germany.

Ledgerwood represented Canada in three cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and three editions of the Concacaf Gold Cup. He also took part in one edition of Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying and two editions of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, including a quarterfinal finish at UAE 2003. From 2007 to 2017 with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, he made 50 international “A” appearances including the one start as Canada’s captain. He notably led Canada in minutes played in 2013.

He was 22 years old when he got his first call up and made his international “A” debut on 22 August 2007 in a 1:1 draw with Iceland. A fullback and midfielder for Canada, he scored his one international goal on 6 September 2016 in a 3:1 win over El Salvador in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers at BC Place in Vancouver.

At the professional level, Ledgerwood made the move from Calgary Storm to TSV 1860 München in Germany in 2002. He later played for SV Wacker Burghausen (on loan), FSV Frankfurt and Wehen Wiesbaden before moving to Sweden to join Hammarby IF. He then returned to Germany where he played for MSV Duisburg and Energie Cottbus before moving back to Canada to join FC Edmonton. He then played for Calgary Foothills SC and was an original member of Cavalry FC in 2019.

Ledgerwood, who was seven years old when he started playing soccer at Lethbridge SC Cosmos, earned his Canada Soccer Coaching Certificate B License in 2017.