After seven years, it's the end of an era in Calgary.
Goalkeeper, captain, and CPL original Marco Carducci will be departing Cavalry FC this off-season following the expiry of his contract, he and the club announced in tandem on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Calgarian has been a pillar of the club since it first kicked a ball, having played 193 matches between the goalposts for the Cavs. Carducci, who was named captain in 2023, has helped steer Cavalry to a CPL Shield and North Star Cup title, as well as impressive journeys in the Concacaf Champions Cup and Canadian Championship.
"It's been a crazy journey," Carducci told CanPL.ca. "It's been seven years representing the club, and I look back at the last three seasons as captain of the team. It's no secret, my connections to the city, as someone who's born and raised here in Calgary.
"It's by no means an easy decision, but I think it's the right time in my career to look for a new challenge and opportunity."
Carducci had been a face of Cavalry since becoming one of their first ever signings in late 2018. Since then, he won two Golden Glove awards as the CPL's top goalkeeper (and was nominated for an additional three), and played in four CPL Finals with the Cavs.
He has always been an icon for Cavalry. In fact, of the 214 matches the club has played in its history, Carducci was absent just once: a single game in September 2019 when he was away with the Canadian men's national team.
Even in 2022, when Carducci didn't play the first three matches of the season as he recovered from treatment for testicular cancer, he was still technically available off the bench the whole time.
He is the CPL's all-time leader in regular season wins, with 85, and clean sheets, with 52.
Prior to coming home to Calgary, Carducci had sought a place in the pro game elsewhere; he played in the Vancouver Whitecaps system for years, and had a brief stint in Texas with the Rio Grande Valley Toros before returning to play for the PDL-era Calgary Foothills and, the following year, the Cavs in their inaugural season.
"The thought of playing in a domestic Canadian league for my hometown team was just not something that even crossed my mind," Carducci said. "That ultimately leading me to come back home, playing for my hometown club and having the privilege to captain the squad was so special."
He added: "To have joined the Cavs at the beginning of the CPL in 2019, and to have done what we've done — there's a lot of and downs in that journey as well — but there's no way I could have imagined it. It's been really special, whether it was lifting trophies, competing in Concacaf, finally winning the North Star Cup at home, especially right in front of our fans. There were really special moments along the way that I'm not sure I could have even imagined."
Carducci's not sure what's next for him in his career. He is weighing a variety of options, and genuinely hasn't landed on anything yet, but what's clear to him is it's time for a new challenge.
He explained that, after seven seasons in Calgary, he felt it was the right time for a change. At 29 years old, Carducci hopes he still has his best years ahead of him, so he's ambitious about his possibilities for the future.
Wherever he ends up, though, Carducci wants to reassure fans that he won't soon forget his time at ATCO Field. After all, Calgary remains a very special place for him.
"This is the close of a chapter, but I certainly know it's not the end of a story here in Calgary for me," he said. "I'm born and raised here, my roots are here, this is my home. I don't know where the next step of my career is going to take me just yet and what lies ahead, but I know Calgary will always be home."
