Winner to be decided by club technical leadership and media voting, to be announced during 2024 CPL Awards ceremony on Nov. 7
Toronto, ON – The Canadian Premier League announced on Monday the nominees for the Coach of the Year award, honouring the best coach in the league during the 2024 regular season.
York United FC’s Benjamin Mora, Forge FC’s Bobby Smyrniotis and Cavalry FC’s Tommy Wheeldon Jr. are nominated for the award in 2024. The winner will be decided through voting by technical leadership from all eight CPL clubs as well as by select media members, representing local and national outlets, who consistently covered the 2024 CPL regular season. The winner will be revealed at an in-person ceremony in Calgary, Alta. on Thursday, Nov. 7 as part of the 2024 CPL Final festivities
The 2024 CPL Awards ceremony will be streamed on CBC Gem and cbcsports.ca and broadcast live on dedicated soccer channel OneSoccer, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT. The show will be hosted by Andi Petrillo with appearances by current and former CPL players and coaches, as well as special guests from the Canadian soccer community.
Voting for the CPL’s Coach of the Year award is based on performances during the 2024 CPL regular season, not including Canadian Championship, Concacaf Champions Cup or 2024 CPL Playoffs action
Mora, 45, galvanized his York United side after joining the team as head coach in early June. The native of Mexico made no secret of his aim to bring the Nine Stripes to another level through consistency and a willingness from everyone at all levels of the club to buy into the project. York finished the season in fourth place in the CPL standings, setting a new club record with 39 points over a 28-game calendar and earning a home playoff game for the first time in history. The club thrived at York Lions Stadium in particular. After posting the second-worst home record in the CPL in 2023, the Nine Stripes walked away from 2024 with the second-best record at home by any club in the league. This is Mora’s first nomination for Coach of the Year.
Smyrniotis, 45, earns his sixth Coach of the Year nomination in as many seasons after leading Forge FC to the regular season title and lifting the CPL Shield for the first time as regular season winners. Forge continued to excel at both ends of the pitch in 2024, scoring the most goals in the CPL (45) and conceding the second-fewest goals (31). Those solid offensive and defensive efforts ensured Forge captured the best goal differential in the league (+14). Forge once again made Tim Hortons Field a fortress during the 2024 regular season, by capturing 11 victories at home, the most in the league by a margin of four games. The 34 points Forge claimed on Hamilton soil set a new club record for points accumulated at home in a single season.
The reigning Coach of the Year winner, Wheeldon Jr., 45, finds himself nominated for the award for a fourth time in 2024, and for the first time in back-to-back seasons. Cavalry, the runners up in the 2024 regular season, excelled on the road this year, claiming a league-best record 25 points from away matches as the squad went 7-4-3 in those games. Defensively, the team conceded fewer goals than any other CPL side (27) in 2024, never giving up more than two goals in a single match. Cavalry’s solid defensive record, coupled with its 39 goals scored, earned the squad the second-best goal differential in the league (+12). As the season wore on, Cavalry’s numbers improved and the team was dominant down the stretch, going 4-1-0 in its final five matches and conceding just three goals.
The winner of the Coach of the Year award will receive a unique piece of Inuit soapstone art, conceptualized by artist Palaya Qiatsuq and carved by Ruben Komangapik. The Owl statue symbolizes wisdom, guidance and knowledge, while its heightened vision gives it the ability to see what others cannot. The Coach of the Year requires similar attributes to earn the honour.
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