The Canadian Soccer Association announced today that Simeon Jackson has been named 2009 Canadian Player of the Year.
Jackson was selected for the award in a vote decided by the Canadian media (50%) and Canadian coaches who have taken the Canadian Soccer Association's national course at the B and A levels (50%).
"This is a fantastic achievement for Simeon," said Canadian national head coach Stephen Hart. "He had an excellent club season and performed admirably at the national level. Full congratulations to Simeon."
In 2009, the 22-year old striker helped Gillingham FC earn a promotion to League One in England. In the second half of the 2008-09 season, he scored nine goals in 25 League Two appearances, including three goals in the final two play- off matches to earn the Gills promotion.
It was on 23 May 2009 in front of 53,706 fans at Wembley Stadium that Jackson scored the winning goal in Gillingham's 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury to secure the promotion. Jackson heading home Josh Wright's corner to secure a win in the 91st minute.
Just one week later, he made his international debut with the Canadian national team in a 1-0 victory over Cyprus in Larnaka. Again, Jackson scored the lone goal of the match, this one the first of his international career.
Over the summer, Jackson represented Canada at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup helping Canada reach the quarter-final stage. He was called up again in November for a pair of friendly matches in Europe, thus earning him seven national appearances by year's end.
As for the start of the 2009-10 League One season, Jackson has been in fine form through the first half of the season. He has scored 10 goals including an opening-day hat trick against Swindon Town in the Gills 5-0 triumph.
He scored two additional goals in League Cup matches against Plymouth and Premiership opponents Blackburn. The 25 August goal against Blackburn was Jackson's second of the year against a Premiership opposition; his first being the Gills equaliser against Aston Villa in last season's FA Cup Round Three.
