The 20-year-old forward, who earlier this season put pen-to-paper on a contract extension with Crystal Palace, joined Carlisle for a half-season loan in January, aiming to help end their nine-year stay in England’s fourth tier.
Having scored on his professional debut against Newport County, Gordon would make 17 appearances during the regular season – eight of which were starts – scoring once more but adding plenty of threat to Carlisle’s attack while fulfilling a variety of roles.
In last week’s play-off semi-final, Gordon returned to start – and force the first goal – as Carlisle overturned a first-leg deficit to see off Bradford City at Brunton Park.
And his and Carlisle’s journey culminated in success under the Wembley arch on Sunday as Gordon played the first 78 minutes of a tight match which ended 1-1 after 90 and 120 minutes, before his team went on to win 5-4 on penalty kicks.
Gordon’s pace and trickery proved a constant menace throughout for Carlisle, with the striker often pulling out wide to tee up chances for his teammates.
He himself came close to opening the scoring inside the first-half, wriggling his way past two challenges and advancing on the penalty box, but his finish – under pressure – narrowly cleared the crossbar.
Stockport went on to take the lead through an unfortunate Jon Mellish own-goal after 34 minutes, but Gordon and Carlisle persisted, garnering a deserved equaliser on 84 minutes through Omari Patrick.
Going on to secure promotion from the penalty spot, Gordon was able to join in the jubilant scenes at Wembley when the final result was confirmed.
The forward joins fellow Palace Academy graduate Jake O’Brien in lifting silverware – the Irishman having won Belgian First Division B with RWD Molenbeek – while fellow loanee Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was named Charlton’s Player of the Year, and Killian Phillips and Scott Banks won Young Player of the Year for Shrewsbury and Bradford respectively.