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.
Also nominated for the 2024 award were Pacific FC goalkeeper Emil Gazdov and York United FC defender Noah Abatneh.
Poku joins former Forge FC teammates Tristan Borges (2019) and Alessandro Hojabrpour (2021, then with Pacific FC) as winners of this award, as well as Mo Farsi (2020 with Cavalry FC) and Sean Rea (2022 with Valour FC).
The Defender of the Year is awarded the Polar Bear, an Inuit soapstone sculpture carved by artist Taqialuk Nuna.