Lukas MacNaughton has gone from Pacific FC purple to seeing red. As in the Reds. The anchor of the PFC backline for three seasons in the Canadian Premier League, the six-foot-three MacNaughton is making the move up to Major League Soccer with Toronto FC in what has been a steady rise in the game from League1 Ontario.
The 26-year-old MacNaughton, little known when he came to the Island, emerged to be considered the best defender in the CPL. He impressed in not only Pacific FC’s three-year climb to the 2021 CPL championship, but also specifically in the 2-1 PFC loss to TFC in the Canadian Championship semifinals that got him noticed at BMO Field, which is now fittingly to become his home. His deal with the Reds will see him through the 2023 MLS season with options through to 2025.
“Lukas played a key role in Pacific FC’s CPL championship in 2021 and we are very excited that he will now join Toronto FC,” TFC head coach Bob Bradley said in a statement.
PFC will receive a CPL-record transfer fee of $175,000 plus future incentives from Toronto FC, according to Manuel Veth of Transfermarkt. It is the first time in the three-year history of Island-based PFC that the club has received a transfer fee for a player.
“It’s a fantastic moment for myself, PFC and the CPL,” said MacNaughton, from the TFC training camp in California.
Pacific FC also gets rising 21-year-old central defender Luke Singh on loan from TFC for the 2022 CPL season. The six-foot-two dual citizen from Brampton, Ont., has played six MLS games for the Reds with a goal and has represented Trinidad and Tobago in U-17 and U-20 and is targeted for its senior national team in future CONCACAF competitions and World Cup qualifying.
MacNaughton is the second CPL-to-MLS transfer in history following the transfer this month of 23-year-old midfielder and Langley-native Joel Waterman from Calgary’s Cavalry FC of the CPL to head coach Thierry Henry’s CF Montreal of MLS. According to Transfermarkt, that transfer fee was $91,000.
“It has the potential to be the first and second transfers of many for the CPL,” said MacNaughton.
McNaughton, dangerous in moving up into the opposition box on PFC corner kicks, had two goals and an assist in 29 games for the Tridents in 2021. But it is his dominant presence on the back line for which he is wanted by the Reds. His 53 career games for PFC are the fourth most in club history and he scored five goals for the Tridents in that stretch.
“Despite the uncertainties caused by the pandemic, it was a great three years at Pacific that I will always remember and never forget. I enjoyed the Island on and off the pitch,” he said.
“And to finish it off with the high of winning the league championship was truly special for ourselves and our great fans who have always supported us. But the highlight of the season was beating the Vancouver Whitecaps [of MLS] in the Canadian Championship tournament. That showed we had something special going and that we could compete against the big brother on the Mainland and that we’re for real.”
MacNaughton is a Canadian who was born in New York City and raised in Belgium before playing in U Sports for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and later in League1 Ontario for North Toronto Nitros and Alliance United. He can scarcely believe what has happened to him in just three years.
“I was told growing up in Belgium that if you haven’t signed pro in football by 16 or 17, it’s over for you,” said MacNaughton.
“That’s what I had accepted when I came to sa国际传媒 to play university. But the CPL has been able to take overlooked players and late bloomers like me and give them a second chance and a second look.”
Even in departure, MacNaughton may just be the poster boy for the CPL.
