Sat November 26, 2016 League 1 Ontario--FC London's Gigolaj Named
2016 League1 Ontario Men's MVP (from League 1 Ontario website)

FC London's Gigolaj Named 2016 League1 Ontario Men's MVP
11/26/2016, 4:15pm EST
By League1 Ontario staff

In the final announcement of a set of ten daily League1 Ontario 2016 Awards 
announcements leading up to the L1O Awards banquet on Sunday November 27, 
the 2016 League1 Ontario Men's MVP has been revealed.

This award winner was selected by a committee comprised of technical staff 
from each team in the league, as well as league officials, and decisions 
were based on an overall assessment of the player's technical attributes, 
individual achievements and key contributions to his team's success.

2016 League1 Ontario Men's Division MVP - Elvir Gigolaj (FC London)

24 year-old central forward Elvir Gigolaj led the line for FC London 
in their first League1 Ontario season, and he did so literally - missing 
only one fixture of the 22 match league season, Gigolaj played virtually 
every minute for the Southern Ontario powerhouse club.

Registering 24 goals over his 21 matches, Gigolaj nailed down the 
Golden Boot slowly but surely. With just five matches with multiple 
goal hauls, the London based striker instead relied on a deadly 
efficiency, consistently knocking away a goal a game on sixteen 
other occasions.

In fact, only four of the sixteen League1 clubs (Oakville, Toronto FC, 
Kingston and Sigma on two occasions) could find a defensive solution 
for the big centre-forward's ease of touch, fluent movement and lethal 
instinct around the net. Win, lose or draw - Gigolaj virtually 
always found the net. 

But it wasn't just Gigolaj's goal-scoring that captured attention.

The striker's pedigree was previously known (having already turned 
professional and made six appearances for NASL team FC Edmonton 
in 2012-13 and then spending a spell with Bundesliga club 
Hertha Berlin's reserve side in the ten months leading up to the 
2016 League1 season), but it was his intelligent movement to create 
space for teammates and calm demeanour that quickly turned heads. 

Gigolaj could not be ruffled by overly aggressive defensive tactics, 
and his single caution throughout the season spoke volumes of his 
composure in all situations.

An important element in the free-flowing, high-pressing style that 
head coach and fellow Croatian Mario Despotovic put into effect 
at FC London in 2016, Gigolaj was a key ingredient in the recipe 
that ultimately brought the club a Men's West Division title, 
and thus took them to the 2016 Men's Championship Final.

Although the team would lose to Vaughan 4-2 in the final, Gigolaj 
was there to be relied upon once again, opening up space for 
teammate Reza Nafar to score a late second half goal that threatened 
a comeback, before dispatching one of his own minutes later. 

Congratulations to Elvir Gigolaj on being named the 2016 League1 
Ontario Men's Division MVP! 

back to 2016 League 1 Ontario Men's index

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