Justin Springer

Justin Springer (born 8 July 1993) is a former professional footballer and current coach, who serves as head coach of League1 Ontario club Guelph United FC. Born in Canada, he represented the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team.

Justin Springer
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-07-08) 8 July 1993
Place of birth Burlington, Canada
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Guelph Gryphons 54 (6)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 K–W United 26 (2)
2018 Vaughan Azzurri 9 (0)
2019 York9 11 (0)
2021 Guelph United 2 (0)
Total 48 (2)
International career‡
2015 Canada Universiade 5 (0)
2016–2019 Saint Kitts and Nevis 15 (0)
Managerial career
2018– Guelph Gryphons (assistant)
2021–2022 Guelph United (co-associate)
2023– Guelph United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 October 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 November 2019

University career

Springer began attending the University of Guelph in 2012, where he played for the men's soccer team. In his first season, he played all sixteen games and was named an OUA West First Team All-Star.[1] In his second season, he was once again named an OUA First Team All-Star[2] and was invited to play in the OUA Showcase in the spring.[3] He was once again named an OUA West First Team All-Star in both his third and fourth seasons.[4][5] In his fifth and final season, he captained the team and helped the team with the OUA championship and earn a third-place finish in the 2016 CIS Championship.[6][7] He was named an OUA First Team All-Star for the fifth consecutive year, while also being named a U Sports Second Team All-Canadian.[8][9]

Club career

Springer began playing for USL PDL club K–W United FC in 2015. In 2016, he made 13 appearances, scoring one goal and appearing in one playoff match.[10] In 2017, Springer made another 11 appearances for K–W, scoring one goal and making one playoff appearance.[11]

He then spent a couple months on trial with Toronto FC II.[12]

In 2018, Springer joined League1 Ontario club Vaughan Azzurri, making nine appearances in the regular season and appearing in Vaughan's first two playoff matches of the group stage.[13] He then played in the final against Woodbridge Strikers, winning the league championship.[14]

On 8 February 2019, Springer signed his first professional contract with Canadian Premier League side York9.[15][16] He made his debut for York9 in their inaugural match against Forge FC on April 27, 2019.[17] He played in 11 league matches in 2019.[18][19]

While serving as the Guelph United FC associate coach, he appeared in two matches, playing the full 90 minutes each time.[20]

International career

Springer was born in Canada to a Kittitian father.[21]

He represented Canada at the 2015 FISU Universiade.[22]

He made his debut for the Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team in a friendly 0–0 tie with Nicaragua on 31 August 2016.[23] In September 2019, he declined a national team call-up to pursue minute with his club team, but returned to the squad the for the next set of call-ups in October and November.[24]

Coaching career

He has served as the assistant coach of the University of Guelph Gryphons soccer team since 2018 and also serves as the Technical Manager of the youth Guelph Soccer Club.[25] In 2021, he was named as co-head coach of Guelph United F.C. in League1 Ontario, alongside Keith Mason.[26] In 2021, after Guelph United won the league title, he was named co-coach of the year with fellow Guelph Associate coach Keith Mason.[27] In 2023, he became the full-time head coach, with Mason becoming the General Manager.

Career statistics
Club Season League Playoffs Domestic Cup League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
K–W United 2015[28] Premier Development League 20———20
2016[10] 13110——141
2017[11] 11110——121
Total 262200000282
Vaughan Azzurri 2018[29] League1 Ontario 9030—40160
York9 FC 2019[30] Canadian Premier League 110—40—150
Guelph United FC 2021[20] League1 Ontario 2000——20
Career total 482504040612

    Honours

    K–W United

    Vaughan Azzurri

    Guelph United

    Individual

    • OUA First Team All-Star: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
    • U Sports Second Team All-Canadian: 2015

    References
    1. "Springer's & Agyemang receive all-star status". Guelph Gryphons. 31 October 2012.
    2. "Murphy, Springer & Flynn named OUA All-Stars". Guelph Gryphons. 30 October 2013.
    3. "Burlington's McKinty, Springer to play in OUA soccer showcase". Hamilton Spectator. 30 April 2014.
    4. "Three Gryphons named OUA All-Stars, Vyrostko named ROY". Guelph Gryphons. 28 October 2014.
    5. "MSCR: Springer, Danielli & Kotsopoulos Named OUA West Division All-Stars". Guelph Gryphons. 4 November 2015.
    6. "York9 FC brings on Emilio Estevez, Morey Doner and Justin Springer". York9 FC. 8 February 2019.
    7. "Burlington players help Guelph win first men's soccer title since 1990". Burlington Post. 7 November 2016.
    8. "MSCR: Four Gryphons Recognized as OUA Announces All-Stars". Guelph Gryphons. 1 November 2016.
    9. "MSCR: Justin Springer named 2nd Team All-Canadian". Guelph Gryphons. 9 November 2016.
    10. "Justin Springer 2016 PDL Stats". USL League Two.
    11. "Justin Springer 2017 PDL Stats". USL League Two.
    12. Davidson, Neil (18 November 2018). "Canadian defender Justin Springer proud to wear the colours of St. Kitts & Nevis". TSN.
    13. "Justin Springer 2018 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
    14. Cheng, Jonathan (20 October 2018). "Vaughan Beats Woodbridge To Win 2018 League1 Title And Book Spot In 2019 Canadian Championship". League1 Ontario.
    15. "York 9 signs St. Kitts & Nevis defender Justin Springer". Sportsnet. 8 February 2019.
    16. "Trending:York9 FC signs St. Kitts & Nevis international defender Justin Springer". SKN Pulse. 10 February 2019.
    17. Davidson, Neil (27 April 2019). "Forge FC, York9 FC tie in Canadian Premier League's entertaining opener". CBC Sports.
    18. Bedakian, Armen (8 October 2019). "Y9's Justin Springer, Emilio Estevez earn international call-ups". Canadian Premier League.
    19. Jacques, John (7 October 2019). "Justin Springer Gets Saint Kitts And Nevis Call-Up". Northern Tribune.
    20. "Justin Springer 2021 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
    21. Thompson, Marty (28 February 2019). "'We're proving it': Y9's Springer on verge of history with St. Kitts". Canadian Premier League.
    22. "Gryphons Well Represented on Canadian Men's Soccer Team at 2015 Summer Universiade". Guelph Gryphons. 5 July 2015.
    23. Bekavac, Ned (27 October 2016). "International duty for Gryphons soccer star". Guelph Mercury.
    24. Jacques, John (13 November 2019). "Justin Springer Gets Saint Kitts And Nevis Nod". Northern Tribune.
    25. Reid, Brady (19 April 2021). "'A family club': Strong sense of community spelling early success for Guelph United". League1 Ontario.
    26. "New, Semi-Pro Soccer Franchises Coming to Guelph in 2021". Guelph Gryphons. 4 February 2021.
    27. Jacques, John (23 December 2021). "Six Former CPL Talents Named In League1 Ontario Awards". Northern Tribune.
    28. "Justin Springer". National Football Teams. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
    29. "Justin Springer 2018 Stats". League1 Ontario.
    30. Justin Springer at Soccerway
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