RICHMOND, VA - (Tuesday, September 15, 2009) – The Richmond Kickers announced today that midfielder Mike Burke garnered his fifth consecutive Supporter’s Choice MVP award while USL-2 Defender of the Year, Yomby William claimed the Player’s Choice MVP honors.  Burke and William earn the team awards after contributing integral roles in the Kickers USL Second Division Championship run.

Repeating as Supporter’s Choice MVP for the fifth consecutive year, Burke finished his 10th season with the Kickers third on the team in scoring with 13 points.  Adding seven assists on the season, Burke leads the Kickers in the all-time assists category with 55 and narrowly missed taking the USL-2 Assist Leader award for the third straight season.  Garnering All-League First Team honors, Burke led the Kickers to a first place tie in the USL-2 standings and to their second USL-2 Championship title in four years.  The perennial fan favorite has also earned the Player’s Choice MVP award twice in his career (2006, 2008).

An advocate for youth player development, Burke also acts as a Technical Director with the Richmond Kickers Youth Soccer Club.  He oversees the Advanced Development Soccer League (ADSL) program while coaching Richmond Kickers U-11 Girls Elite and U-11 Boys Elite teams. 

Named the Most Valuable Player by his teammates, William earned the Defender of the Year title and USL-2 All-League First Team honors after helping guide the Kickers a first-place tie in the league with 39 points and a record of 11-3-6 after playing in 18 of 20 matches and contributing two assists.  With William anchoring the back line, Richmond finished with the fewest goals allowed in the league at 18, two better than Baltimore and five better than third-best Harrisburg.  The native of Cameroon signed with the Kickers from the Puerto Rico Islanders prior to the 2009 season and earned USL-2 Team of the Week honors seven times, more than any other Kickers player.

The Supporter’s Choice MVP dates back to the 2000 season when veteran defender Kevin Knight took the honors.  That year, USL First Division Defender of the Year Scott Cannon and current Toronto FC forward Dwayne DeRosario shared the Player’s Choice Award.  In 2001, former Kickers forward Kevin Jeffrey secured both awards while current FC Dallas Assistant Coach Marco Ferruzzi did the same in 2002.  The 2004 Defender of the Year Finalist Peter Luzak was honored as Player’s Choice MVP while goalkeeper Ronnie Pascale received the Supporter’s Choice award for the second consecutive year in 2004.  Concluding the 2005 season, Burke earned Supporter’s Choice MVP honors and Pascale garnered the Player’s Choice award.  After taking the USL-2 Championship MVP Award in 2006, Burke took both the Supporter’s Choice and Player’s Choice awards, earning the Supporter’s Choice honor again in 2007 while current Carolina RailHawks (USL-1) midfielder Matt Watson was voted Player’s Choice MVP.  Repeating as both Supporter’s Choice MVP and Player’s Choice MVP, Burke swept the honors for the second time in his career in 2008.   

Over the past 17 seasons, Richmond has qualified for postseason play 15 times.  Reaching the title match in 2009 for the fifth time in the past eight seasons, the Kickers claimed their fourth Championship title in franchise history with a 3-1 win over the Charlotte Eagles.  The Kickers last hosted the Championship in 2007, narrowly missing the league title after nine rounds of penalties.  Richmond has appeared in the USL League Championship on seven occasions (1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009), including winning the Premier League title in 1995, a shoot-out loss to Seattle in the USL First Division final in 2005 and taking the USL Second Division crown against Charlotte in 2006.