The Canadian Premier League (CPL) announced Thursday that 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. Forge FC have won three of the league’s end-of-year awards, recognizing the top performances from the 2024 regular season, including Kwasi Poku as U-21 Canadian Player of the Year, Tristan Borges as CPL Player of the Year, and Bobby Smyrniotis as Coach of the Year. The CPL also 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.
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. Borges led all CPL players with 0.74 goal contributions per 90 minutes in 2024, finished the season tied for second with teammate Bekker for most assists among all CPL players with six, and created the third most chances among players in the league with 41. His contributions up front were key to Forge capturing the CPL Shield.
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. Poku went on to score eight goals, adding two assists and 14 chances created in CPL regular season play. One of the most prolific attackers of the 2024 regular season, despite playing his final match for Forge on August 8, Poku finished the year tied for first in goals per 90 minutes (0.57) among CPL players with at least 350 minutes played and ranked second in goal contributions per 90 minutes (0.72) among all CPL players. After not earning the award after a nomination in 2023, Kwasi can now add this incredible honour to his ever-rising resume.
After six years and six nominations, Bobby Smyrniotis collected his first Coach of the Year award. Under the tutelage of Smyrniotis, 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), ensuring 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 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, Alberta 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.