Kadeisha Buchanan from Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team
\u200bhas been named the 2020 Canadian Player of the Year presented by Allstate.
\u200bBuchanan wins the national award for the third time in six seasons after a year
\u200bin which she helped Canada qualify for the Olympic Games and she won three
\u200btrophies with her club Olympique Lyonnais including UEFA Women’s Champions
\u200bLeague.
Buchanan was named to the Best XI at the 2020 Concacaf
\u200bWomen’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in February when Canada qualified for
\u200btheir fourth consecutive Olympic Games and won a Concacaf medal for the ninth
\u200bconsecutive tournament. In France, Buchanan won her fourth UEFA Women’s
\u200bChampions League title, her fourth Championnat de France (the league title),
\u200band her third Coupe de France (the domestic cup). She also a year-end nominee
\u200bfor the UEFA Team of the Year.
Buchanan from Brampton, Ontario was honoured from a vote
\u200bshared by Canadian media and Canadian coaches. Buchanan shares the 2020
\u200bCanadian Players of the Year Award presented by Allstate with co-winner
\u200bAlphonso Davies from Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team.
“For Kadeisha to have played an integral part in her fourth
\u200bUEFA Champions League speaks to one of her many accomplishments and
\u200bcontributions to both club and country in which she should be very proud,” said
\u200bBev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “It has been a
\u200bfantastic season for Kadeisha and it has been great to see her performances and
\u200bthe goals she has scored, too.
“She has world-class qualities that any country would be
\u200bproud to have and she is a highly-valued member of the squad both on and off
\u200bthe pitch, so we are thrilled for her personally in receiving this
\u200bwell-deserved recognition. As a team, to know you have a centre back that
\u200bopposing forwards hate to play against, it fills the group with confidence.”
With Canada in 2020, Buchanan featured in six international
\u200b“A” matches from January through March before the global pause in football
\u200bbecause of the Covid-19 pandemic. She earned Canada’s Player of the Match
\u200bhonours against USA in the Final of the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying
\u200bChampionship, which was also her milestone 100th international “A” match. She
\u200balso had an assist in the match against Mexico and she was named the Canada
\u200bSoccer Player of the Month for February.
Buchanan won her second Canada Soccer Player of the Month
\u200bhonour in August after she helped Olympique Lyonnais win the 2019-20 UEFA
\u200bWomen’s Champions League title on 30 August 2020 in San Sebastián, Spain. From
\u200bJanuary through November, she featured in 17 club matches and scored three
\u200bgoals and was a major part of the team’s 20-match unbeaten streak across all
\u200bLeague, Cup and UEFA competitions from 12 January through 13 November (which in
\u200bits entirety ran 73 undefeated matches across three seasons starting on 26
\u200bAugust 2018).
Before this year, Buchanan previously won the Canadian
\u200bPlayers of the Year Award in 2015 and 2017. Still only 25 years old, Buchanan
\u200bhas won one Olympic Games bronze medal (Rio 2016), three Concacaf medals (2016,
\u200b2018, 2020), and represented Canada 101 times at the international “A” level.
Buchanan was just 14 years old when she made her debut in the Canadian youth program in 2010. She was 17 years old when she made her international “A” debut for Canada on 12 January 2013 and she scored her first goal on 8 May 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2020 Canada Soccer Player Awards
\u200bThis marks the 28th edition of the Canada Soccer Player Awards. Amongst women’s footballers, Kadeisha Buchanan finished first in voting ahead of runner up Christine Sinclair and top-five finishers Janine Beckie, Ashley Lawrence and Jordyn Huitema.
As part of the 2020 Canada Soccer Player Awards, Tajon
\u200bBuchanan and Jade Rose were named Canadian Youth International Players of the
\u200bYear while Mohamed Farsi was named Canadian Futsal Player of the Year. Maxime
\u200bCrépeau, meanwhile, was named the 2020 winner of the Allstate Canadian National
\u200bTeams Good Hands Award.
Beyond the Player Awards, Canada Soccer will announce the
\u200bCanada Soccer Nations Champions presented by Toyota on Monday 22 December, a
\u200bnew award that will honour individuals that have made a difference in their
\u200bcommunity at the grassroots level of the game. Nominations for the Canada
\u200bSoccer Nations Champions are open from 24 November through 13 December.
Past winners of the Canadian Players of the Year Award
\u200b2020 Kadeisha Buchanan & Alphonso Davies
\u200b2019 Ashley Lawrence & Jonathan David
\u200b2018 Christine Sinclair & Alphonso Davies
\u200b2017 Kadeisha Buchanan & Atiba Hutchinson
\u200b2016 Christine Sinclair & Atiba Hutchinson
\u200b2015 Kadeisha Buchanan & Atiba Hutchinson
\u200b2014 Christine Sinclair & Atiba Hutchinson
\u200b2013 Christine Sinclair & Will Johnson
\u200b2012 Christine Sinclair & Atiba Hutchinson
\u200b2011 Christine Sinclair & Dwayne De Rosario
\u200b2010 Christine Sinclair & Atiba Hutchinson
\u200b2009 Christine Sinclair & Simeon Jackson
\u200b2008 Christine Sinclair & Julian de Guzman
\u200b2007 Christine Sinclair & Dwayne De Rosario
\u200b2006 Christine Sinclair & Dwayne De Rosario
\u200b2005 Christine Sinclair & Dwayne De Rosario
\u200b2004 Christine Sinclair & Paul Stalteri
\u200b2003 Charmaine Hooper & Pat Onstad
\u200b2002 Charmaine Hooper & Jason deVos
\u200b2001 Andrea Neil & Paul Stalteri
\u200b2000 Christine Sinclair & Craig Forrest
\u200b1999 Geraldine Donnelly & Jim Brennan
\u200b1998 Silvana Burtini & Tomasz Radzinski
\u200b1997 Janine Helland & Mark Watson
\u200b1996 Geraldine Donnelly & Paul Peschisolido
\u200b1995 Charmaine Hooper & Alex Bunbury
\u200b1994 Charmaine Hooper & Craig Forrest
\u200b1993 Alex Bunbury