George Gross Memorial Trophy
MVP award of the Canadian Championship
CountryCanada
Presented byCanada Soccer
First awarded2008 (2008)
Current holderUnited States Julian Gressel
(1st award)
Most awardsCanada Dwayne De Rosario
United States Justin Mapp
(2 awards each)

The George Gross Memorial Trophy is awarded to the most valuable player of the Canadian Championship. It is named after George Gross, a highly respected sports journalist who covered soccer for the Toronto Telegram and Toronto Sun.[1]

The inaugural recipient of the Trophy was Matt Jordan of the Montreal Impact, who was named MVP of the 2008 Canadian Soccer Championship after posting two clean sheets and only allowing two goals in four games, en route to Montreal's tournament victory.[2]

Dwayne De Rosario became the first Canadian winner of the Trophy in 2009 after scoring three goals in a 6–1 Toronto FC victory over Montreal in the final game of that year's tournament.[2] De Rosario became the first repeat winner in 2010.[3]

Joao Plata, an Ecuadorian Forward/Winger succeeded his former short-lived teammate and captain the following year after scoring the series-tying goal and then assisting on the championship winner in the second leg of the final, becoming the first South American trophy winner in 2011.[1][4]

Toronto FC's Ryan Johnson claimed the 2012 title scoring two of the club's four goals over the four matches.[5]

Montreal Impact's Justin Mapp was awarded the trophy in 2013 becoming the first non Toronto FC player since 2008, and the first winner of the MLS-version of Montreal.[6] Mapp became the second repeat winner during the 2014 tournament.[7]

Russell Teibert became the first Vancouver Whitecaps player to win the award in 2015.[8]

Since the award's creation, it has never been won by a player whose team did not end up winning the championship that season.

Winners

YearPlayerPositionNationalityTeam
2008 Matt Jordan Goalkeeper  United States Montreal Impact
2009 Dwayne De Rosario Attacking midfielder  Canada Toronto FC
2010 Dwayne De Rosario Midfielder  Canada Toronto FC
2011 Joao Plata Forward  Ecuador Toronto FC
2012 Ryan Johnson Forward  Jamaica Toronto FC
2013 Justin Mapp Left winger  United States Montreal Impact
2014 Justin Mapp Left winger  United States Montreal Impact
2015 Russell Teibert Midfielder  Canada Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2016 Benoît Cheyrou Midfielder  France Toronto FC
2017 Sebastian Giovinco Forward  Italy Toronto FC
2018 Jonathan Osorio Midfielder  Canada Toronto FC
2019 Ignacio Piatti Winger  Argentina Montreal Impact
2020 Not awarded[lower-alpha 1]
2021 Sebastian Breza Goalkeeper  Canada CF Montréal
2022 Ryan Gauld Attacking midfielder  Scotland Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2023 Julian Gressel Full-back  United States[lower-alpha 2] Vancouver Whitecaps FC
  1. ↑ Although the trophy wasn't awarded at the conclusion of the 2020 Canadian Championship, Canada Soccer named Forge FC's Tristan Borges the performer of the match of the final, the only match played in that year's tournament.[9]
  2. ↑ Julian Gressel was born in Germany but represents the United States in international soccer.

Winners by club

Team # of titles
Toronto FC7
CF Montréal5[lower-alpha 1]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC3
  1. ↑ Includes the award won by Matt Jordan while playing for the previous incarnation of the Montreal Impact.

References

  1. 1 2 "Plata wins 2011 George Gross Memorial Award". The Canadian Soccer Association. July 2, 2011. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "De Rosario wins George Gross Memorial Trophy". The Canadian Soccer Association. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ "De Rosario wins George Gross Memorial Trophy". The Canadian Soccer Association. June 2, 2010. Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  4. ↑ "TFC wins Canadian title". Toronto Sun. July 2, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Johnson Wins George Gross Trophy". Canadian Soccer Association. May 23, 2012. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Justin Mapp wins 2013 George Gross Trophy". Canadian Soccer Association. May 29, 2013. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Montreal's Mapp wins 2014 George Gross Memorial Trophy". Canadian Soccer Association. June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  8. ↑ Mall, Rattan (August 26, 2015). "Whitecaps win first-ever Voyageurs Cup: 'Caps defeat Montreal Impact 2-0 to win Amway Canadian Championship". Indo-Canadian Voice.
  9. ↑ @CanadaSoccerEN (June 5, 2022). "Tristan Borges with the Performance of the Match Powered by @GatoradeCanada" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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