History of Canadian Soccer      
 1876-1940                       

by Colin Jose                    
 

 OVERSEAS TOURS 

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     Great Britain 1888
     Great Britain
        1891 /1892

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Overseas Tours by Canadian Teams:
Great
Britain Tour, 1888 

Biographies of Canadian players who made the tour:

Harry Bewell – Norwood High School.  Half Back.  Pupil at Galt Collegiate Institute in 1882–83–84.  Later, a teacher at GCI in 1891–92.  Original home between Uxbridge and Port Perry.  Living in Renfrew in 1927 and Regina in 1929.

Harry P. Bingham – Berlin Rangers.  Forward.  Living in Prescott, Ontario, in 1929.  Married to the sister of teammate Carl Kranz.

Walter Wells Bowman – Born: Waterloo, Ontario, August 11, 1870.   Died: Butte, Montana.  Forward, Berlin Rangers.  A-Internationals 2.  Clubs: Accrington 1892, Ardwick 1892–94, Manchester City 1894 to 1900.  Also a member of the Canadian-American team that toured Britain in 1891 and early 1892.  Bowman remained in England after the rest of the team returned to North America and signed with Accrington, one of the original members of the Football League.  He played five games and scored three goals for the club late in the 1892 season.  On August 25, 1892, he was signed by the Manchester club, Ardwick, recently admitted to the new Division Two of the Football League.  When Ardwick went bankrupt in 1894 and Manchester City was formed and took its place in Division Two, Bowman remained with the club, making a total of 47 appearances and scoring three goals for the two clubs between 1892 and 1900.   While with Accrington (the name Stanley was added later), Bowman probably became the first Canadian-born player to play in the Football League.  Last heard of living in Butte, Montana, in 1929.

Solomon Brubacher – Born: Berlin, Ontario, c.1864.  Died: Berlin, Ontario, August 29, 1915.  A-Internationals 2.  Berlin Rangers.  Full Back.  Graduated from Berlin Collegiate and Vocational School in 1880.  A partner and secretary of the Dominion Button Manufacturers in Berlin for 34 years, he died tragically of a mishap in his home.  A member of the Canadian team that played in the United States in 1885. 

Dr. William Burnet – Born: Branchton, Ontario, 1868.  Died: Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, November 15, 1942.  Club: Galt F.C.  Half Back.  A dentist by profession, he participated in some sort of sport ever since he was a boy.  During his life, he was a good curler, bowler, golfer, baseball pitcher, hunter and fisherman in addition to his abilities as a soccer player.  At the time of his death, he was away from his home in Ingersoll on a hunting trip in the Sturgeon Falls area, and when taken ill, had to be moved three-and-a-half miles through the bush, and then taken 25 miles by boat from the camp.  He lived much of his life in Galt, where he attended high school, and served four years on city council from 1923 on.  He was an elder of First United Church for many years, a member of Waterloo Lodge I.O.O.F. and a past master of Galt Lodge A.F. and A.M.

David Forsyth – Born: Perthshire, Scotland, December 15, 1852.  Died: Beamsville, Ontario, September 13/14, 1936.  A founding member of the Dominion Football Association in 1878, the Western Football Association in 1880 and the Ontario Football Association League in 1901.  Secretary and President of the Western Football Association and Secretary of the Ontario Football Association League and a life member of the Dominion Football Association.  David Forsyth played for the Canadian team that defeated the United States in Newark, New Jersey, in 1885, and was on the losing team in the same fixture played one year later.  He organized the Canadian tour to Britain in 1888, and was the secretary during the trip as well as playing in the occasional game.  He was originally involved in the organization of the 1891 tour to Britain, but resigned in the weeks leading up to the team’s departure.  Regarded as the "Father of Canadian Soccer,” Forsyth came to Canada with his parents when he was only a year old, and received his primary education in Lynden, Ontario.  In 1865, he entered Dundas High School, and after his parents moved to Galt in 1867, the famous "Tassies School,” the Galt Collegiate Institute.  There he matriculated in 1869 with scholarship standing in mathematics.  In 1875, he graduated from the University of Toronto, taking a silver medal in mathematics.  In 1876, he became master of mathematics and science at the old Berlin High School, and it was here that his involvement in soccer really began.  During the following years, Berlin High School became a power in Canadian soccer, producing many fine players, who formed the nucleus of the Canadian teams of 1885, 1886 and 1888.  Later, this team became known as the Berlin Rangers.  In addition to his involvement in soccer, his work away from the playing field brought him many honours in the fields of mathematics and science.  Many years later, he retired to live in Beamsville.  A member of the Grand River Lodge, No 151, A.F. & A.M. of the Masons.  Inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000.

Alexander Noble Garrett – Born: Biddulph Township (near St. Mary’s), Ontario, 1865.  Died: Toronto, Ontario, January 17, 1941.  Goalkeeper.  Attended the University of Toronto in 1884 and 1885, taking an Arts course, but did not graduate.  Also toured Britain with the Canadian-American team in 1891.  Sports editor of the Toronto Daily World for 25 years.  Considered one of this country's best-known sports writers.  In addition to being an outstanding soccer player, he also excelled at baseball, and played cricket and football as well as being a curler and a lawn bowler.  A member of the Toronto Granite Club and a Mason.

Alex Gibson – Born: Berlin, Ontario, 1865.  Berlin Rangers.  Forward.  Clerk in a hardware store in 1885.  Left Berlin in 1893 for Birmingham, Alabama, where he practised as a veterinary surgeon.  Still living in Birmingham in 1929.

Thomas "Tom" Gibson – Born: Glen Allen, Ontario, 1863.  Died: Red Deer, Alberta, November 1948.  Club: Berlin Rangers.  Forward.  A member of the publishing firm of Eaton, Gibson and Co. of Toronto and Buffalo, New York, in 1885.  Living and playing in Chicago in 1893, and played for the Chicago team that played Galt, Berlin Rangers and Toronto Varsity.  Living in Rumsey, Alberta, in 1929, and in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, for two years before his death.  Older brother of Alex and John.

 
©
2007 by Colin Jose

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