CPL Shield
| File:CPL Shield.jpg | |
| League | Canadian Premier League |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Finishing the regular season with the best record |
| History | |
| First award | 2023, 2019 (retroactively) |
| Most wins | Forge FC (3 titles) |
| Most recent | Forge FC (2025, 3rd title) |
The Canadian Premier League Shield or CPL Shield is a trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Premier League (CPL) club with the best regular season finish. Although this award does not signify a league championship, as that is decided during the Canadian Premier League Finals, the winning team is awarded an equal monetary prize to the eventual playoff champions, and a berth in the next season's CONCACAF Champions Cup.[1]
History
[edit | edit source]At the end of the 2022 season, the league announced that they would begin to recognize the regular season accomplishments of its member clubs to have more similarity with soccer competitions around the world, which put less emphasis on post-season results.[2] At the time, the CPL did not recognize a regular season winner. The CPL Shield was first unveiled near the end of the 2023 regular season.[3][4] Cavalry FC were the first team to hoist the trophy following their 2023 regular season championship. The CPL Shield was also awarded retroactively to the clubs with the best regular season records from all previous seasons, meaning that Cavalry FC were also the first de-facto winners of the trophy for their first place finish in the inaugural 2019 season. The 2019 season had a split season format with a 10 game spring season and an 18 game fall season, in which Cavalry FC led the league table in both phases. Due to the unconventional format used for a shortened season in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league did not retroactively award the trophy to any team for that year.[5]
Trophy
[edit | edit source]The trophy is a silver shield measuring about 46 centimetres (18 in) in diameter and weighing 9 kilograms (20 lb). The CPL Shield has 13 edges to represent each of the provinces and territories of Canada and features a gold CPL logo (which is a stylized maple leaf) in the centre.[3] The trophy sits on a removable wooden base.
Winners
[edit | edit source]† – Trophy awarded retroactively
| Season | Teams | Winner | Record | Playoff result | Coach | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Mar | PPG | |||||
| 2019 † | 7 | Cavalry FC | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 62 | 6 | 2.21 | Runner-up | England Tommy Wheeldon Jr. |
| 2020 | 8 | Not awarded | |||||||||
| 2021 † | 8 | Forge FC | 28 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 50 | 0[a] | 1.79 | Runner-up | Canada Bobby Smyrniotis |
| 2022 † | 8 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 2 | 1.75 | Runner-up | Spain Carlos González |
| 2023 | 8 | Cavalry FC (2) | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 55 | 13 | 1.96 | Runner-up | England Tommy Wheeldon Jr. (2) |
| 2024 | 8 | Forge FC (2) | 28 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 50 | 2 | 1.79 | Runner-up | Canada Bobby Smyrniotis (2) |
| 2025 | 8 | Forge FC (3) | 28 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 51 | 2 | 2.07 | Second semifinal | Canada Bobby Smyrniotis (3) |
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- ^ 1st tiebreaker: total wins (+2)
Records
[edit | edit source]Shield wins by club
[edit | edit source]| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Year(s) won | Year(s) runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forge FC | 3 | 3 | 2021, 2024, 2025 | 2019, 2022, 2023 |
| Cavalry FC | 2 | 2 | 2019, 2023 | 2021, 2024 |
| Atlético Ottawa | 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2025 |
Winner's records in the CONCACAF Champions Cup
[edit | edit source]Starting in 2023, the CPL Shield winner earned a berth to represent Canada in the following year's CONCACAF Champions Cup.[4]
| Year | Club | Starting round | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Forge FC[a] | Round of 16 | Round of 16 |
| 2024 | Cavalry FC | Round one | Round one |
| 2025 | Forge FC | Round one | Round one |
| 2026 | Forge FC | Round one | TBD |
See also
[edit | edit source]- Maurice Podoloff Trophy, an NBA trophy having the same function as the CPL Shield.
- NWSL Shield, an NWSL trophy with the having function as the CPL Shield.
- Presidents' Trophy, an NHL trophy having the same function as the CPL Shield.
- Supporters' Shield, an MLS trophy having the same function as the CPL Shield.
- Wooden Spoon awards, an award given to a team with the worst regular season record.
References
[edit | edit source]- Notes
- ^ Although Forge was the regular season champion in 2021, they qualified to the Champions League due to their placement in the 2021 CONCACAF League, as the CPL Shield berth was only first awarded in 2023.[6]
- Sources
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