Major League Soccer has announced that Chicago Fire forward Mike Magee was voted the Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player for the 2013 season.
Magee is set to receive the award and be presented to media in the Kansas City area today at approximately 4:30 p.m. CT.
Magee’s story is one for the history books.
After coming to the Fire in a May 25th trade from the LA Galaxy for Robbie Rogers, Magee scored 15 goals and tallied four assists for his hometown club.
Before arriving in Chicago, Magee’s fire had already been stoked, scoring six goals for the LA Galaxy. Ending the season with 21 goals to his name, Magee slashed his previous goal-scoring high of seven goals during his 2003 rookie season with the MetroStars.
Despite missing out on the league scoring record (Vancouver forward Camilo Sanvezzo had 22), Magee has received a number of accolades in this breakout season including MLS Player of the Month in March and June, his first career MLS All-Star nomination and his first career MLS Best XI.
The MVP award was voted on by media, MLS players and MLS club management based on regular season performance. The other two finalists were Galaxy forward Robbie Keane and Montreal Impact forward Marco Di Vaio.
Below is a breakdown of the votes, courtesy of the Chicago Fire’s official website.
Player (Club) | % of Club Votes | % of Media Votes | % of Player Votes | Weighted Total |
Mike Magee (CHI) | 34.69 | 37.33 | 26.79 | 98.81 |
Robbie Keane (LA) | 22.45 | 24 | 12.11 | 58.56 |
Marco Di Vaio (MTL) | 14.29 | 10.67 | 10.46 | 35.42 |
Tim Cahill (NY) | 12.25 | 12 | 6.42 | 30.67 |
Magee’s coup marks the first time in MLS history that a Chicago Fire player has won the award.
In ProSoccerTalk’s MLS Awards, Magee was a shoe-in across the board for a position on the MLS Best XI while only the talented Richard Farley had the Fire man as the MVP.