Bobby Smyrniotis, shut out in five previous nominations, finally has a Coach of the Year Award to go with his four Canadian Premier League titles.
The 45-year-old Forge FC head coach and technical director beat out Cavalry FC’s Tommy Wheeldon Jr., who won the award in 2019 and ’23, and York United FC’s Benjamin Mora in voting by all eight CPL clubs’ technical leadership and select media.
The winners were announced Thursday evening ahead of the CPL championship game between No. 1 Forge and No. 2 Cavalry on Saturday at ATCO Field.
Tristan Borges was named the CPL Player of the Year for a second time while Kwasi Poku, sold by Forge to Belgium’s RWD Molenbeek for a league-record transfer in August, was chosen Best Canadian U-21 Player.
Cavalry’s Daan Klomp won Defender of the Year honours for the second season in a row while Pacific FC’s Emil Gazdov claimed the Golden Glove Award as the league’s top goalkeeper. York forward Brian Wright won the Players’ Player Award.
WATCH | 2024 CPL Awards from Calgary:
Watch as the best in the CPL head to the Bella Concert Hall in Calgary for the 2024 Canadian Premier League Awards.