SUPPORTERS CLUB AWARDS
As well as the Player of the Year Award presented to Alfie Kilgour by Peter and Matt Dunford last Saturday, Supporters Club Director Helen Wigmore presented awards to Fabrizio Cavegn, Kofi Balmer and Kian Hill.
Fabrizio was voted Young Player of the Year in the poll conducted by the Supporters Club, which completed a remarkable first season in English football for the Swiss born striker who joined Rovers in August of last year.
A Romansch speaker from a small town 100 miles from the Italian border, he was a surprise signing.
The younger brother of Schleuin Ilanz striker Marino Cavegn, he had risen through the ranks in Swiss football and scored nine times in 11 games for Switzerland at U-18 level before winning two U-21 caps against Finland and Montenegro.
From second tier Chur, he featured heavily for the reserve side at St Gallen, scoring 42 times in 53 games, including a hat trick against FC Bulle in October 2022, and added a goal for the first team in the Swiss Cup.
Moving across the border to Liechtenstein, Cavegn made his name with Vaduz, scoring 37 goals in 86 games in all competitions. In addition to scoring freely in the Swiss Challenge League, he won successive Liechtenstein Cups with that side; in May 2024 they defeated Triesenberg 5-0 in the final and, with Cavegn having scored three times in the opening 20 minutes of a 10-0 thrashing of the same opposition in the quarter finals.
The May 2025 final was won 3-2 against Balzers, Vaduz recovering from being two goals behind, with Cavegn scoring after 65 and 79 minutes. He opened the 2025/26 season by playing in Vaduz’s opening League fixture, a 2-1 victory over Yverdon, and against Dungannon Swifts in the Europa Conference League. before making his first appearance for Rovers at Fleetwood Town.
He made his Rovers league debut in our 2-1 defeat against Fleetwood Town on 9th August and scored his first league goal for us in our 2-1 home win against Barrow on 13th September, having already opened his goal account with two against Spurs U-21’s in the Vertu Trophy tie at The Mem on 26th August. His first hat trick for Rovers arrived on New Year’s Day in a 3-0 win at Shrewsbury.
There’s just one game for him to add to his goal tally of 15 in all competitions (11 league, three Trophy, one FA Cup) for the season, but he can look back with a great deal of pride in his first campaign wearing the blue and white quarters of Bristol Rovers.
Tomorrow we’ll bring you news of Kofi Balmer’s Award.
