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History of Canadian Soccer
by Colin Jose
MANITOBA |
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Canada
Provinces |
Manitoba: The Early Years Players and officials from Manitoba of special interest: Alexander “Sandy” Archer – Born: West Ham, London, England, May 1, 1910, of Scottish parents. Club: Winnipeg Scottish. Moved to Winnipeg at the age of three where he learned to play soccer and hockey. Played soccer for the Manitoba All-Stars against the Welsh Football Association touring team in 1929 and the Scottish Football Association touring team in 1935, before returning to England to play hockey for the Wembley Lions in the British National Hockey League. He remained with the Wembley Lions for five seasons, picking up 82 goals and 77 assists. His selection to the British team in 1936 for the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen provoked strong protests from Canada, who claimed that he had not been released by the Canadian association. The protests were turned down, and he played seven games in the 1936 Olympics, picking up a gold medal. Two more gold medals followed in the 1937 and 1938 European Championships for a total of 14 goals and 10 assists in 24 games for his country. A fractured skull at Wembley in 1945 against Sweden ended his playing career. On retiring, he turned to coaching at Wembley, Nottingham and Murrayfield. He was a British League All-Star “A” team member for three consecutive seasons from 1937–38, and an All-Star “B” coach for 1946–47 and 1947–48, and was elected to the British Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993. He died in 1982. Edward Bailey Fisher – Born: Wallasey, England, in 1871. Died: Calgary, Alberta, April 17, 1946. Came to Canada in 1887 and lived in Minnedosa where he practised law. President of the Dominion of Canada Football Association in 1914. President of the Manitoba Football Association in 1914, 1915 and 1916. Moved to South America in the mid-1930s. Sam Davidson – Born: Ballymena, Northern Ireland, 1886. Died: Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 4, 1965. Emigrated to Canada in the early years of the century and went to live in Winnipeg. He was refereeing local soccer when John Easton, Dominion Football Association president, came looking for a secretary to run the game virtually full-time in the 1920s. A journeyman plumber, Sam quit his profession in 1923 to take the DCFA position full time. Carruthers Park had been built after World War One. Sam lived nearby, and he established an office in the wooden stands of the park. Carruthers Park became the home of the finals of the Canadian Challenge Cup for many years, the final going only occasionally to Toronto or Vancouver. Winnipeg supported the competition enthusiastically. Davidson led many touring teams from coast to coast in the period between the wars, earning valuable dollars for the association through his shrewd business sense. In World War Two, Davidson saw service in Canada with the Canadian Army. During this period, with soccer activity shut down, Carruthers Park stood forlorn and empty, and was eventually sold and demolished for taxes. At war's end, in 1946, Sam Davidson was in on the revival of the Dominion Football Association to aid his friend and colleague George Anderson, who for many years thereafter took over Davidson’s role as secretary. Sam Davidson was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000. John Easton – Born: Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1874. Died: Winnipeg, Manitoba, April 29, 1949. President of the Dominion of Canada Football Association in 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1925. Resigned part way through his final year over the issue of Sunday soccer. President during the turbulent years of the 1920s when the DCFA had to deal with the Canadian Football Association and an Eastern Canada Association which had broken away from the national body. A past president of the Winnipeg public parks board and of the Protestant orphans home of Manitoba. An Orangeman, he was past grand master of Manitoba and of British America. Douglas Alexander McMahon – Born: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Clubs: United Weston (Winnipeg), Wolverhampton Wanderers 1938–40, Chicago Maroons 1946, Montreal Carsteel 1948. Doug went to England for a month's trial with the famous Wolves in the fall of 1938, and was signed on October 11. He made his First Division debut against Blackpool on January 1, 1939, then went on a European tour with the team that spring, and scored a goal in each half against a Danish Select team in Copenhagen. Remained with Wolves after the start of World War Two, and played six games and scored nine goals in the Midland Regional League during the 1939–40 season. However, World War Two interrupted a very promising career, and he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve on June 19, 1941, and served until discharged on August 31, 1945. Following the war, he played for the Chicago Maroons in the newly formed North American Professional Soccer League in the 1946 season. Played for Eastern Canada against the Eastern United States in 1947, and won a Canadian championship medal with Montreal Carsteel in 1948, scoring two goals in the first game of the final and another in the third game. Coach of Montreal Sparta in 1956. His father, Sandy McMahon, was a well-known referee in Manitoba in the 1920s. Inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002. Sandy McMahon – Born in Scotland, he came to Canada in 1912. Before World War Two, he was one of Canada’s top referees, and refereed 15 National Challenge Cup final games between 1923 and 1935. He was also the referee of choice when touring teams played in Winnipeg, and handled the Corinthians game against United Weston in 1924, the Scottish Football Association against Manitoba in 1927, the Scottish Football Association against Hakoah Vienna also in 1927 and the Welsh Football Association against Manitoba in 1929. He was also past president and an honorary life member of the Civic Caledonian Curling Club and an honorary member of the Manitoba Curling Association. He died in Winnipeg, August 5, 1968.
Robert Walkinshaw "Bob" Harley
– Born: Renfrew, Scotland, September 8, 1888. Died: Winnipeg,
Manitoba, 1958. Captain of the Canadian team that toured Australia
in 1924. Grew up in Scotland and was an active and highly regarded
player as a youth, and was in the Glasgow Rangers youth programme
before he moved to Canada in 1911. In 1914, he served overseas with
the Fifth Battalion and was wounded in action at the front in 1916.
He sustained a very serious leg injury. He was decorated for his
service at the front for valour, and returned to Winnipeg where he
spent a year and a half recuperating in the Tuxedo Army hospital.
After a long period, he resumed his soccer career, playing for
Manitoba against the Scottish Football Association touring team in
1921 and also for Winnipeg against the same team. He went on to
captain the United Weston side that made several appearances in the
national final between 1924 and 1926. After the Australian tour, he
continued his playing career and played well into the 1950s. He put
on many clinics across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and became closely
involved with the local YMHA as a player and coach. He was later
honoured as a member of their Sports Hall of Fame. Of the 1924
tour, The Referee, one of the daily newspapers in Sydney,
Australia, said, "Bob Harley, captain of the Canadians, filled the
most difficult position on the field, centre half. Like the
majority of good halves, Harley graduated from the front line, and
feeding forwards was his forte. He was never guilty of kicking up
the field, like some halves do, in the hope that his comrades would
get the ball before the backs." Inducted into the Canadian Soccer
Hall of Fame in 2003.
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