By Canadian Press

Sixth time a charm as Forge FC’s Bobby Smyrniotis finally named CPL coach of the year

Nov 7, 2024 | 7:14 PM

CALGARY — 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.

Forge, which finished atop the regular-season standings at 15-8-5, carried away three of the six awards on offer.

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.

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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.

The awards were decided by a vote of all eight CPL club’s technical leadership and select media with the exception of the Players’ Player Award, which is chosen by the players.

“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,” said Costa Smyrniotis, the CPL’s executive vice-president and Bobby’s brother. “We look forward to awarding another individual honour on Saturday as we recognize a CPL Final MVP for the first time.”

Forge’s Smyrniotis had been the bridesmaid, never the bride, when it came to individual trophies despite a 72-39-29 league record in his six seasons at the helm.

“It’s always a nice thing,” Smyrniotis said after his latest nomination. “That’s the same thing I said to the players, it’s being recognized for the work that all of us do, all of the staff — not only just the coaches but everyone that’s in this room and the players. Because we try and help them look good. And sometimes they make us look very good as well. That’s not sometimes, that’s all the time with the (Forge) players.”

“But like I always say we’re much more interested in the team awards as opposed to the individual ones,” he added.

Under Smyrniotis, Forge led the league in goals (45) this season while conceding the second-fewest (31). Forge won 11 games at home, best in the league, and set a franchise record for the most points at home in a single season (34).

Success is expected at Forge, with Smyrniotis somehow able to replace talent as needed.

This season he had holes to fill with goalkeeper Triston Henry, defender Manjrekar James and attackers Woobens Pacius and Poku all moving on.

Borges, a 26-year-old attacking midfielder from Toronto, led all CPL players with 0.74 goal contributions per 90 minutes in 2024, finished tied for second with teammate Kyle Bekker for most assists in the league with six, and created the third-most chances with 41.

Forge teammates Alessandro Hojabrpour and Bekker, Cavalry’s Warschewski and York’s Wright were the other finalists.

Klomp finished first in the league in blocks (23), second in aerial duels won (88) and third in successful passes (1,412). The 26-year-old Dutch centre back also scored six goals.

Forge’s Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson and Valour FC’s Themi Antonoglou were the finalists for Defender of the Year.

Gazdov beat out Vancouver FC’s Callum Irving and York’s Thomas Vincensini for the top goalkeeper award.

The 21-year-old from North Vancouver finished tied for second with seven shutouts and conceded 0.94 goals per 90 minutes, which ranked second among CPL goalkeepers with at least 10 starts.

Poku made 17 regular-season appearances for Forge before his move to Belgium, creating a lot of offence after being moved up front because of injuries elsewhere. The 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont., scored eight goals, added two assists and created 14 chances.

A finalist for the award last year, Poku was tied this season for first in goals per 90 minutes (0.57) among CPL players with at least 350 minutes played and second in goal contributions per 90 minutes (0.72).

Poku accepted his award virtually from Belgium.

Wright, one of 10 nominees for the Players’ Player Award, scored a career-best nine goals, tied for fourth in the league, and tied for second in assists with six. His 15 goal contributions led the league while his 45 aerial duels won were the third most by a non-defender.

The others shortlisted were Forge’s Bekker, Borges, Hojabrpour and Beni Badibanga, Cavalry’s Klomp, Tobias Warschewski and Ali Musse, Atletico Ottawa’s Ruben del Campo and Halifax’s Lorenzo Callegari.

Cavalry’s Warschewski was honoured for winning the Golden Boot Award as the regular-season’s top scorer with 13 goals.

The winners received Inuit soapstone statues by artists from Kinngait (Cape Dorset) and Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Nunavut.

Canadian Premier League Award Winners

Player of the Year: Tristan Borges, Forge FC.

Players’ Player of the Year: Brian Wright, York United FC.

Golden Glove Award: Emil Gazdov, Pacific FC.

Defender of the Year: Daan Klomp, Cavalry FC.

Best Canadian U21 Player: Kwasi Poku, Forge FC.

Coach of the Year: Bobby Smyrniotis, Forge FC.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press