Thelonius "Theo" Bair (born August 27, 1999) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Swiss Super League club Lausanne-Sport, on loan from Ligue 1 club AJ Auxerre, and the Canada national team.
Bair started his youth career with Ottawa Royals, before joining Capital United FC and West Ottawa SC before his move to Vancouver.[1]
On July 24, 2018, Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced that it would be signing Bair to a multi-year MLS homegrown pre-contract beginning in 2019.[2] Bair made his Whitecaps FC and MLS debut on matchday 15 of the 2019 MLS season, coming off the bench in the 71st minute in a 2–1 home victory against FC Dallas.[3] On August 11 against the Portland Timbers, He scored his first professional goal.[4]
On August 6, 2021, Bair was loaned to Norwegian club HamKam for the remainder of the 2021 season.[5] In his first appearance on August 18, Bair scored a goal in a 2–0 victory over Jerv.[6] Bair would go on to make 17 appearances in the 1. divisjon, scoring 4 goals as HamKam were crowned champions and gained promotion to the 2022 Eliteserien.[7] In December 2021, upon his return to Vancouver, the Whitecaps announced they had exercised Bair's contract option, keeping him at the club through 2022.[8]
In January 2022, Bair was transferred to Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone for an undisclosed fee on a contract through the end of the 2023–24 season.[9] He made his debut on February 9 against St Mirren.[10] Bair scored his first goal for the club against Kilmarnock on October 5, 2022.[11] In May 2023, St Johnstone announced Bair would be made available for transfer.[12] On 4 July 2023, Bair and St Johnstone mutually agreed to terminate the contract.[13]
In August 2023, Motherwell announced the signing of Bair to a two-year contract.[14][15] He made his debut on August 5 against Dundee and scored a goal in an eventual 1–1 draw.[16]
On July 16, 2024, newly-promoted side Auxerre announced the signing of Bair to a four-year deal.[17] He made his debut for the club on August 18, starting Auxerre's first match of the season against Nice.[18]
In September 2025, Bair would be loaned to Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport, with an option to buy.[19]
Born in Canada, Bair is of Jamaican descent.[20] In 2018, he represented Canada at the U21 level at the 2018 Toulon Tournament.[21] He subsequently played for the Canadian U20 team at the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and, scoring a goal and two assists in five appearances.[21] Bair was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship on February 26, 2020,[22] and was named to the final squad ahead of the rescheduled tournament on March 10, 2021.[23]
In January 2020, Bair was called up to the Canada senior team ahead of friendlies against Barbados and Iceland.[24] He made his debut on January 7 in the first match against Barbados, and scored a goal in a 4–1 victory.[25]
In February 2024, Bair was named to the Canada national team provisional roster for the 2024 Copa América qualifying play-offs against Trinidad and Tobago.[26] In June 2024, Bair was named to Canada's squad contesting the 2024 Copa América.[27]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2019 | MLS | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 2 | ||
| 2020 | 16[c] | 1 | — | — | 1[d] | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||||
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 | |||
| HamKam (loan) | 2021 | Norwegian First Division | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 4 | ||
| St Johnstone | 2021–22 | Scottish Premiership | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 31 | 1 | |||
| Total | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 38 | 1 | |||
| Motherwell | 2023–24 | Scottish Premiership | 38 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 41 | 15 | |
| Auxerre | 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 2 | ||
| 2025–26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| Lausanne-Sport (loan) | 2025–26 | Swiss Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 157 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 167 | 25 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2020 | 2 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 5 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | January 7, 2020 | Championship Soccer Stadium, Irvine, United States |  Barbados |
4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
Individual
|  | |
