Meet The Canadian Premier League’s Player Of The Year Nominees

The Canadian Premier League has announced four nominees for the league’s coveted Player of the Year award, which honours the best athletes of the season based on their performances throughout the 2024 CPL season.

The winner of the coveted award will receive a beautiful Inuit soapstone carving of the Inukshuk, representative of their ability to guide their teammates home whilst pointing up to the North Star. The winner of the award will be unveiled at the 2024 CPL Awards Ceremony on November 7, with the event beaing streamed live on CBC Gem and OneSoccer at 8:00PM EST / 6:00PM MT.

Without further ado, here are your 2024 CPL Player Of The Year nominees:

Cavalry FC – Tobias Warschewski

Warschewki’s returnreturn to Canada has been an exceptional coup for Cavalry: finishing as the golden boot winner with a brace to close out the regular season, Tobias has scored an immense 14 goals in one campaign – and just think what that tally would be if he didn’t hit the post six times.

Capable of producing moments of absolute magic, Tobias Warschewski using his big frame to create exceptional goals, cementing himself as one of the best and brightest attackers ever to grace CPL pastures – something he teased when he led the league for assists back with a struggling Eddies side.

Forge FC – Alessandro Hojabrpour

Burnaby’s Alessandro Hojabrpour has been an absolute rock in a defensive midfield role for the hammers this year. Appearing in all but one regular season match, we’ve seen Hojabrpour lock down midfield with fiery tenacity, finishing second in the league for successful passes in the opposition half and second amongst the league’s midfielders for duels won.

The 24-year-old – who has won the league with both Pacific and Forge – has grown into a staple league star. Having won the league’s Best Canadian U-21 Player award previously, can he now take the mantle of best overall?

Forge FC – Kyle Bekker

The de facto face of captaincy and leadership in the CPL continues to be an absolute engine for Hamilton’s Forge FC. At 34, Kyle Bekker produced yet another exemplary season, tallying six assists and two goals whilst pulling strings from midfield. Showing strength and determination to continually raise his standard, this comes as his second-ever nomination for the award.

Forge FC – Tristan Borges

When it comes to the Canadian Premier League, Tristan Borges is always one to watch. The Forge veteran produced an incredible eight goals (tied for fourth) and six assists (tied for second) this year, with his fast footwork and eye for a beautiful pass routinely tripping up opposition defenses from coast-to-coast.

Having led all the league’s athletes in goal contributions per 90 minutes with an incredible 0.74, this comes as his second POTY nomination. When he got his first, he took the award – amongst many others – after an incredible 2019 campaign.

York United FC – Brian Wright

While Wright had a quiet second half of the campaign, there was a large swath of the season where the Nines Stripes striker was unstoppable: tallying nine goals (fourth-most in the league) and six assists (tied for second in the league), no other athlete stacked up to his combined goal contributions throughout the campaign.

Certainly, the 29-year-old striker has enjoyed a prolific season that he touchingly dedicated to the late Dylon Powley.

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With three athletes from Forge FC gracing the list, the hammers are favourites to have one of their own claim the honour – though the stellar performances of Tobias Warschewski and Brian Wright leave that far from a certainty.

Following the CPL Awards Ceremony on November 7, the ultimate winner of the league’s playoff championship will be determined in Calgary on Saturday, November 9, with the final being broadcast on CBC Sports along with OneSoccer, fuboTV, and Telus Optik.