Overview:
Brooklyn FC Men’s midfielder CJ Olney has been voted the 2026 USL Championship Fans’ Choice mid-season young player of the year, recognition for a standout first half of the campaign, it was announced on Tuesday.
Brooklyn FC Men’s midfielder CJ Olney has been voted the 2026 USL Championship Fans’ Choice mid-season young player of the year, recognition for a standout first half of the campaign, it was announced on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old, on loan from the Philadelphia Union, earned the honor through league-wide fan voting that closed earlier this week, edging a four-player shortlist for the award.
Olney has recorded one goal and four assists across 13 league appearances in 12 starts and 1,062 minutes logged. His four assists rank tied for third in the USL Championship at the midpoint of the season.
The award follows a Team of the Week bench selection earlier in June, continuing a strong run of individual recognition in his debut season at Maimonides Park.
Brooklyn FC returns to action following a bye week on Saturday, July 4, for a 7 p.m. ET clash against the defending champion Pittsburgh Riverhounds, streaming live on ESPN+.
Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 28 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.