Here are the winners of the 2024 Canadian Premier League awards:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
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For the second time in his career, Tristan Borges has been named the Canadian Premier League’s Player of the Year.
The Forge FC midfielder was revealed as the winner of the award for the 2024 season at the CPL Awards ceremony on Thursday night in Calgary.
Borges was voted the league’s top player in the 2024 regular season by a panel of select media members and technical leadership from all eight clubs.
The 26-year-old Toronto native was a star in his fifth season with Forge, leading his team with eight goals — tied for fifth in the CPL — and contributing six assists, which was joint-second most in the league. He played 24 games in the regular season, helping lift the Hamilton club to a league-leading 50 points and the CPL Shield.
He also led the CPL with 0.74 goal contributions per 90 minutes, and created the third most chances in the league with 41.
COACH OF THE YEAR
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Bobby Smyrniotis of Forge FC was revealed as this year’s winner of the Owl statue on Thursday night at the CPL Awards show in Calgary. This is the first time he has won the honour, although he’s been nominated for Coach of the Year in all six CPL seasons.
The 45-year-old native of Scarborough, Ont. finally received the award after leading Forge to the 2024 regular season title, lifting the CPL Shield for the first time in club history.
The Hamilton side finished the campaign with 50 points, leading the league in goals scored (45) and goal differential (+14). Forge’s success was largely fuelled by an outstanding home record, as they went 11-1-2 at Tim Hortons Field and set a club record for both wins and points (34) on home turf.
Smyrniotis not only proved adept at guiding his team to overall dominance in the standings, but he also continuously got the best out of many of his players, leading to three of them — Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges and Alessandro Hojabrpour — earning nominations for Player of the Year, while Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson was nominated for Defender of the Year.
The Forge coach also made the decision early in the season to convert fullback Kwasi Poku into a centre-forward, and where Poku went on to have incredible success. He earned a CPL-record transfer to Belgian side RWD Molenbeek in August, and made his debut for the Canadian men’s national team. Poku, 21, was also nominated for the CPL’s Best U-21 Canadian Player award.
PLAYERS' PLAYER OF THE YEAR
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Brian Wright of York United has been named the 2024 Canadian Premier League Players’ Player of the Year, the league revealed on Thursday.
Voting for the award took place in early October and a total of 192 CPL players submitted their top three players, with five points awarded to their number one choice, three points for their second selection and one point for whomever they picked third.
Any player who played in the league in 2024 was eligible to vote and be included for consideration by the players. Players were not allowed to vote for anyone on their own team, and voting took place strictly based on how the players performed in the Canadian Premier League regular season.
In total, 46 players received votes during a process that saw players meet face-to-face with members of the Canadian Premier League office to give their choices. The results of the vote were revealed during Thursday evening’s 2024 CPL awards show in Calgary.
The Players’ Player of the Year is awarded the Muskox, a sculpture carved by Inuit artist Ruben Komangapik. The Muskox represents leadership, organization and defence of its most vulnerable members.
Wright finished with 290 points and was named on 92 of 192 ballots (48 per cent), receiving 30 first-place votes. He was not eligible to be named on 24 of them submitted by players from his own club.
U-21 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
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Former Forge FC striker Kwasi Poku has been named the winner of the Canadian Premier League’s Best Canadian U-21 Player award. He was honoured as the 2024 recipient of the award on Thursday at the CPL Awards in Calgary.
The 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont. had a standout campaign with the Hammers after transitioning from a left-back to a striker midseason, scoring eight times in 17 league appearances in total and adding a pair of assists. Poku earned a summer transfer — for a CPL record fee — to Belgian club RWD Molenbeek where he has continued to find the back of the net, and his incredible season continued when he made his first appearance for the Canadian men’s national team in October.
Poku was voted the 2024 Best Canadian U-21 Player by select media members and technical leadership from all eight CPL clubs, and voting was conducted based solely on 2024 regular season performance.
He is the only player in league history to be nominated for the award on more than one occasion, after he was also in contention for this award in 2023, losing to then-Valour FC (now Atlético Ottawa) left-back Matteo de Brienne.
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
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Pacific FC’s Emil Gazdov has been named the Canadian Premier League’s Golden Glove winner as the league’s best goalkeeper for the 2024 season.
The 21-year-old Gazdov kept seven clean sheets this season in 21 appearances, tied for second most in the league and 0.94 goals per 90 minutes, which ranked second among CPL goalkeepers with at least 10 starts.
He was also excellent coming off his line to cut out chances, making 29 clearances — the third most of any keeper. Gazdov finished with the third highest save percentage in the league of goalkeepers who made at least 10 appearances, with 72.31 per cent.
Gazdov was also nominated for the league’s Best U-21 Canadian Award for 2024.
DEFENDER OF THE YEAR
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For the second consecutive season, Cavalry FC’s Daan Klomp has been named the Canadian Premier League’s Defender of the Year. He was honoured as the 2024 recipient of the award on Thursday at the CPL Awards in Calgary.
Klomp played 90 minutes in all but one match for the Cavs this season, who allowed a league-low 27 goals in 28 matches for the second straight year.
The 26-year-old Dutch central defender played a key role in that strong defensive record. He finished first in the league in blocks with 23, second in aerial duels won (88), and won 59.13 per cent of his overall duels contested this season.
Klomp also played a significant role in Cavalry’s build-up from the back, completing 1412 passes, third most in the league. He added a career-high six goals as well.
GOLDEN BOOT
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Cavalry FC striker Tobias Warschewski was honoured as the league’s 2024 Golden Boot Award at the 2024 CPL Awards on Thursday.
Warschewski scored twice on the final matchday of the 2024 CPL regular season in a 2-1 victory over Valour to bring him to 12 on the season, as he finished at the top of what was a competitive race for the CPL scoring title. He beat out Atlético Ottawa’s Ruben del Campo (11 goals), Vancouver FC’s Alejandro Díaz (10 goals) and York United FC’s Brian Wright (nine goals) for the award.
He becomes the second Cavalry FC player to nab the award in as many years, after former Cavalry striker Myer Bevan finished as co-Golden Boot winner with Atlético Ottawa midfielder Ollie Bassett in 2023.
Cover photo graciously provided by Nora Stankovic of OneSoccer.
