Samuel Salter
Canadian soccer player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Salter (born September 8, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for GAIS in the Swedish Allsvenskan.
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Salter in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | September 8, 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Laval, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2013–2016 | Montreal Impact | ||
| 2016–2017 | Étoiles de l'Est | ||
| 2018–2019 | ASPTT Dijon | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017 | Dawson Blues | 9 | (9) |
| 2019 | Cal State Northridge Matadors | 16 | (3) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018 | CS St-Hubert | 12 | (4) |
| 2020 | AS Blainville | 8 | (8) |
| 2021–2022 | HFX Wanderers | 48 | (14) |
| 2023–2025 | Atlético Ottawa | 83 | (31) |
| 2026– | GAIS | 0 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of October 27, 2025 | |||
Early life, family and education
Salter was raised in Laval, Quebec,[1] and played in the Montreal Impact Academy from 2013 until 2016.[2][3] Afterwards, he played with CS Étoiles de l'Est.[4]
He attended high school at the ecole secondaire Antoine de Saint-Exupery where he was coached by Sandro Grande.[2] He played for the Quebec provincial team, helping them to win a national bronze in 2017.[5]
In 2018, he moved to France to join ASPTT Dijon in France's top U19 league.[2][6] He also had a two-week trial with the U19 team RC Lens.[1]
College career
After graduating high school, he attended Dawson College in Quebec, in 2017, where he was the CCAA - ACSC Men's Soccer All-Canadian for the 2017, the RSEQ Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and led the conference in scoring with nine goals in nine games.[2][7] He was named the school's Athlete of the Year.[8]
In 2019, he decided to attend California State University, Northridge in the United States, playing for the men's soccer team.[8] He scored two goals, including the game-winning goal, in his debut on August 30, 2019, in the season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes.[9][10] earning him Big West Conference Freshman of the Week honours.[10] At the end of the season, he was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.[11] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was unable to return in-person to the school for his second year, eventually deciding to pursue a professional career and completing his degree online at a Canadian university.[12]
Club career
In 2018, he played for CS St-Hubert in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec.[6]
In 2020, he returned to the PLSQ, playing with AS Blainville, helping them to the league title and finishing as the league's leading scorer, including two hat-tricks in back-to-back games.[13][14]
In February 2021, Salter signed a one-year contract with club options for 2022 and 2023 with Canadian Premier League side HFX Wanderers.[15][16] He scored his first professional goal on July 17 against Cavalry FC.[17] In January 2022, HFX announced they had exercised the forward's contract option, keeping him at the club for the upcoming season.[18] He finished as the team's top scorer in 2022, with 11 league goals.[19]
On February 16, 2023, Salter joined fellow CPL side Atlético Ottawa for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year deal, with a club option for 2025.[20][21] This was the league's first ever intra-league transfer to command a fee.[20][21] On May 13, 2023, he scored his first goal for the club in a victory over Vancouver FC.[22][23] After the 2024 season, the club picked up his option for the 2025 season.[24][25] On May 10, 2025, he set a league record, scoring four goals in one match, in a 5-2 victory over Valour FC.[26][27][28] On August 30, 2025, he set the league record for the most goals in a single season, breaking the record of 14 by Alejandro Díaz, scoring his 15th in a match against Vancouver FC.[29] He won the 2025 Golden Boot as the league's top scorer, scorer a league single-season record of 19 goals.[30] He was also named the league's Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year, as selected by the players in the league.[31]
In October 2025, he signed a pre-contract with Swedish Allsvenskan club GAIS to join the club upon the opening of the transfer window in January 2026 on a four-year contract, upon the expiry of his contract with Atlético Ottawa at the end of 2025.[32][33]
Career statistics
- As of match played on November 9, 2025[34]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | Domestic Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| CS St-Hubert | 2018[35] | Première ligue de soccer du Québec | 12 | 4 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | ||
| AS Blainville | 2020[35] | Première ligue de soccer du Québec | 8 | 8 | — | — | — | 8 | 8 | |||
| HFX Wanderers | 2021 | Canadian Premier League | 21 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 3 | ||
| 2022 | 27 | 11 | — | 2 | 1 | — | 29 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 15 | ||
| Atlético Ottawa | 2023 | Canadian Premier League | 27 | 7 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 29 | 7 | ||
| 2024 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 33 | 6 | |||
| 2025 | 28 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | — | 35 | 24 | |||
| Total | 83 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 37 | ||
| Career total | 152 | 57 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 169 | 64 | ||