When Rezart Rama arrived in Hamilton four years ago, not many people assumed he’d be here more than 100 games later.
“I didn’t think so either but there you go and the time has flown so fast and I have the very good luck of having so many memories in those 100 games. I feel very proud of myself in the player I’ve been and am so happy.”
Rama was honoured for crossing the CPL’s 100th game threshold at Friday’s 1-1 home draw with Inter Toronto, during which he made a big play to set up the tying goal.
And while the CPL honoured him for his 100th-plus game—accumulated over two stints here—he was holding his six-week-old daughter Lejla in his arms.
“It’s changed me, but only in a good way,” he says of the arrival of Lejla to him and his wife Erna. “I’m a bit more focused, I have more responsibility now. And of course every time I go on the field I think of her and I motivate myself to do more.”
Rama’s parents, who moved to Greece from Albania for better employment and so their children (Rezart has three brothers, including his twin) could have better opportunities in life, were at Friday’s game.
He first arrived in Hamilton four years ago as a rough-edged 21-year-old who had been fostered as a major prospect by two big-time international soccer clubs: Nottingham Forest of the English Premier League and Greece’s legendary Olympiacos. But he needed more senior-level playing time and flew to Canada in May of 2022 to meet with Bobby Smyrniotis, who had briefly coached Rezart’s older brother two decades earlier in the Olympiacos youth academy. It was his first trip across the Atlantic and he wasn’t fully committed to Hamilton… until he spent a few days here. It was a welcoming atmosphere, the facilities were impressive, and it was comforting that Greek was frequently spoken by Smyrniotis and some of his coaches.
Playing in the school-of-hard-knocks English system amplified the fierceness that has always been part of Rama’s on-field persona and he brought that to Forge.
“He’s been a real warrior for this club,” Smyrniotis said. “That’s the best way of putting it.”
After playing last season in Albania, making more money and helping Egnatia win the league, national club, and Supercup treble, Rama decided to come back to the stronger organization and better facilities at Forge.
In an article earlier this year on the Forge website, Rama concluded his interview by prophetically saying he didn’t think he could play a “softer” game as some CPL game officials had suggested he do.
He’s got a variety of technical skills on his palette—he was a U-15 and U-17 international, captaining both clubs for Albania—but Rama, self-admittedly, plays on the edge. He’s not overly big, but he’s physically challenging, gets in opponents’ faces, and tries to throw them off their game. He had 19 yellow cards over his first CPL seasons, but those never extended to a red until this year, when he’s had two suspensions—one of them after a controversial straight red for grabbing an opponent’s neck in Calgary. He was ejected, leaving Forge down to 10 men for the final 60 minutes, which cost them their 1-0 lead and eventually led to the pivotal 2-1 Cavalry win.
“Of course it’s the emotions of the game, it’s kind of my style of game,” he says, addressing his three-game suspension which ended last week. “I’m always thinking that maybe I have to think twice, but every time I try to calm myself a little more I have lost my aggressiveness. I would prefer to keep that.
“Unfortunately it’s happened twice this year that I got suspended. I’m not happy about it. It’s the worst thing leaving your team with only 10 players, but I’m an aggressive player, I hope I can improve myself each moment.
“If I could have that time back I would never touch the player. But to be honest, I just tried to push him away in the upper chest and they took a picture which looked like his throat was grabbed, but it was not really a choke, or however they want to call it. I didn’t want to leave my team at 30 minutes with only 10 players.”
Forge has only two wins in its last eight games (2-3-3) with a massive game next Tuesday against Supra for the right to advance to the Canadian Championship final.
“It’s part of the season,” Rezart says of Forge’s recent flat period of results, although they’ve always played well enough that they could have won. “Every team in every sport has its ups and downs. We’ve had a bit longer one but I think we’re going to come back stronger. I believe that a lot.”
He also believes in the way he plays the game and says he won’t be heeding referees who’ve suggested to him this year that he rein it in.
“Unfortunately they tried to approach me,” he says. “I’m not saying they’re doing a bad job but they’re trying to make my game a bit more soft. But it’s hard to do and I don’t know if I can be the same player if I do.”