Forge leads the pack with three wins; Gazdov, Klomp, Warschewski, Wright also honoured 

Calgary, AB – The Canadian Premier League announced the winners of the league’s end-of-year awards on Thursday, recognizing the top performances from the 2024 regular season, and introduced a new individual honour, the CPL Final MVP Fuelled by Gatorade, that will be awarded for the first time following Saturday’s 2024 CPL Final.

The end-of-year awards — which were largely voted on by media and club technical staff and based on performances during the 2024 regular season, not including Canadian Championship, Concacaf or playoff action — were handed out during an in-person ceremony in Calgary, Alta. ahead of Saturday’s sold-out match between Cavalry FC and Forge FC on ATCO Field at Spruce Meadows.

The inaugural CPL Final MVP Fuelled by Gatorade will be named following the CPL Final on Saturday and is intended to honour the player who has the most outstanding performance for his team during the game. 

“This year’s awards ceremony was a worthy celebration of all that it takes for these winners and nominees to reach the pinnacle of our league over the regular season,” said Costa Smyrniotis, Executive Vice President, Football, Canadian Premier League. “In a league as competitive as ours, standing out as an individual player is a significant feat and we congratulate all that were recognized tonight. We look forward to awarding another individual honour on Saturday as we recognize a CPL Final MVP for the first time.”

Regular season winners Forge FC took home three awards on Thursday night after capturing the CPL Shield as the best performing team over the 28-game calendar. Midfielder Tristan Borges earned top honours as the 2024 Player of the Year, collecting the award for the second time after previously taking home the inaugural statue in 2019. The Best Canadian U-21 Player nod went to Kwasi Poku, who accepted the award virtually from Belgium, where he is currently representing RWD Molenbeek following his league-record transfer to the European club in August. And it was sixth time the charm for Bobby Smyrniotis, who collected his first Coach of the Year award after earning nominations in each of the league’s seasons to date.

Cavalry FC centre-back Daan Klomp repeated as winner of Defender of the Year in 2024 after first capturing the award last year, while teammate Tobias Warschewski was officially celebrated for winning the Golden Boot award as the regular season’s top goalscorer. Pacific FC’s Emil Gazdov was honoured with the Golden Glove award as the CPL’s best goalkeeper, while York United FC’s Brian Wright took home the Players’ Player of the Year Award.

The winners of each award were honoured with a unique piece of Inuit soapstone art conceived of, and carved, by artists from Kinngait (Cape Dorset) and Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Nunavut.

The inaugural recipient of the CPL Final MVP Fuelled by Gatorade will be the first to receive a new soapstone sculpture, The Narwhal, conceptualized and carved by artist Ruben Kompagapik to embody the skill and intelligence of an MVP. The Narwhal, with its iconic tusk, is one of the most unique and elusive Arctic creatures. It stands out as a rare, remarkable performer who thrives in some of the harshest conditions in the world, symbolizing the endurance, adaptability, and toughness needed to excel in a championship setting. The award will be voted on by select media members who regularly covered the 2024 CPL regular season and playoffs and is intended to honour the player who has the most outstanding performance for his team during the CPL Final.

The 2024 CPL Final will kick off on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. MT/3 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast live on CBC, CBC Gem and dedicated soccer channel OneSoccer. Subscribers of OneSoccer can tune in at 12 p.m. MT/2 p.m. PT for an hour-long pregame show featuring live coverage from ATCO Field at Spruce Meadows. 

OneSoccer is available as an affordable streaming service through the OneSoccer.ca website, via Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV devices, on streaming service fuboTV Canada and with the OneSoccer app for iOS and Android devices. It is also available as a linear channel on Optik TV (Channel 980), the pay-TV service operated by TELUS. Channel 980 is currently available to all Telus Optik TV customers through a Free Preview, which runs from Monday, Oct. 14 to Wednesday, Nov. 20.