Hamilton Thunder joined the
Canadian Professional Soccer League in 2002, which marked the return of professional soccer to the city of Hamilton since the folding of the
Hamilton Steelers of the original
Canadian Soccer League in 1991. The club played its first competitive match on May 11, 2002, in a friendly against the
Toronto Lynx of the
USL A-League. Toronto won the match in a 1–0 victory, but Hamilton managed to attract over 2000 spectators to Brian Timmis Stadium a relatively high number for CPSL standards. The club hired
Marko Maschke as head coach who previously coached professionally in Germany and China. Maschke brought in several players from the 2001
St. Catharines Wolves playoff champions roster, and signed promising players like
Ian Bennett,
Miles O'Connor,
Matthew O'Connor,
Orlin Chalmers, and young goalkeeping prospect Roberto Ferrari. In their debut match the Thunder wrecked the
Vaughan Sun Devils in 5–1 victory at home. Hamilton started off well with a three-game undefeated streak and had four players loaned out to the
Calgary Storm of the A-League - Orlin Chalmers, Matthew O'Connor,
Salvatore Borgh, and
Wojtek Zarzycki. After struggling for a bit the Thunder managed to recuperate and finish third in the Western Conference standings, but missed out at the postseason by losing 3–2 to the
Mississauga Olympians in a wildcard match. The 2002 season sparked numerous controversies within the club's organization. One incident occurred on September 20, 2002, where most senior players boycotted a match scheduled that day, due to reports of unpaid salaries to players and staff members, and unpaid rent fees for stadium use. The incident resulted in the resignation of head coach Maschke, and the release of several senior players. The CPSL chairman
Vincent Ursini responded that conditions will be applied to Hamilton owner Italo Ferrari. played earlier in his career with Hamilton Thunder. In 2003, Hamilton hired the services of
Duncan Wilde as the new head coach with coaching credentials from
England. Wilde signed several new additions to the squad - acquiring
Aaron Steele,
Sergio De Luca, and
Dave Simpson. The 2003 campaign started off well with a seven-game undefeated streak placing the Thunder on top of the Western Conference. Unfortunately Wilde announced his resignation as head coach after disagreements with team owner Italo Ferrari, and was replaced by
Ivan Marković. Further changes were made by the hiring of former
Canadian National Soccer League Commissioner Rocco Lofranco as the club's new CEO, and the signing of Croatian players
Petar Dajak,
Mario Zupetic, Vedran Bacek, and Zeljiko Dukic. After only two weeks of coaching Markovic decided to return to Croatia due to unexpected health concerns. His replacement was former
Portugal national football team and Benfica F.C. assistant coach
Manuel Gonçalves Gomes. Hamilton's situation improved under Gomes as he led them to a seven-game undefeated streak to retain their position on top of the standings in their conference. On the conclusion of the 2003 season Hamilton clinched their first trophy the Western Conference title and qualified for the postseason. Their playoff run came to a conclusion in the semi-finals against Vaughan Sun Devils losing to a score of 2–0. For the 2004 season, the organization brought in former Hamilton Italo Canadian soccer player and Hamilton Steelers VP Frank Riga to manage the team, and former Steelers player John Di Pasquale was hired to coach. They signed
Ottawa Wizards top goalscorer
Kevin Nelson, added
Charles Gbeke,
Blazenko Bekavac,
Saša Milaimović and Brazilian
Edmilson de Carvalho Barbosa to his roster. Team owner Italo Ferrari fired Di Pasquale in mid-season, and Frank Riga resigned. Italo then brought in former
North York Astros coach
Jorge Armua. Armua repeated Hamilton's previous success by once again claiming the Western Conference title and securing a playoff berth. In the postseason the Thunder faced
Toronto Croatia in the semi-finals, but were defeated by a score of 2–0. Armua resumed his duties as head coach for Hamilton for the 2005 season. Where he once again added more silverware to Hamilton's cabinet by successfully defending their Western Conference title for the third year in a row. The achievement allowed the Thunder Crew a bye to the semi-finals, where the club would face the
Oakville Blue Devils - unfortunately Hamilton were deprived of five core players from the starting lineup because the players were affiliated with the Woodbridge Azzuri which consequently discontinued their association with Hamilton resulting in a shortage of players for the club which led to their defeat to Oakville. Once more Hamilton was without controversy as the club was forced out of Brian Timmis Stadium due to unpaid rental fees with a debt over $26,074.21 over several years, which resulted in team to relocate to the
Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan. During the 2005 playoffs, the
Hamilton Spectator revealed that Italo Ferrari, thought to be the owner of the team, was involved in
personal bankruptcy proceedings with no assets, and debts of
$2 million; Ferrari claimed to in fact
not be the owner. Two weeks after the semifinal loss, the league announced the revocation of the franchise. On October 22, 2005, the CPSL Board of Governors revoked the franchise of the Hamilton Thunder Soccer Club as a member of the CPSL. Top sales rep of the franchise was Gerry Fonzo, now a successful Director of Business Development and Client Retention at the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. ==Head coaches==