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History of Canadian Soccer
by Colin Jose
ONTARIO |
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Canada
Provinces |
Ontario: The Early Years Notable and interesting people from Ontario: Edward Hagarty Parry – Born: Toronto, Ontario, April 24, 1855. Died: West Bridgford, Nottingham, England, July 19, 1931. The first Canadian-born player ever to play in an international game. However, he played, not for Canada, but for England. The younger son of Edward St. John Parry and Lucy Susanna Hagarty, he was baptized in St. James Cathedral, Toronto, on June 10, 1855. His grandfather, Thomas Parry, a former missionary, once served as the Bishop of Antigua. He appears to have been taken to England by his parents at a young age. He went to school there, and later studied at Charterhouse School and Oxford University, where he captained the soccer team in 1877, the year that Oxford played in the F.A. Cup Final. Parry thus became the first Canadian-born player to play in an F.A. Cup Final. Oxford were beaten 2–1 in extra time by the Wanderers. He was back in the F.A. Cup Final again in 1881, leading the Old Carthusians — former students of Charterhouse — to victory over the Old Etonians, and thus became the first Canadian to win an F.A. Cup winner’s medal and the first player born outside of the United Kingdom to captain an F.A. Cup winning team. The second such player to do this was Eric Cantona of France, when he led Manchester United to victory in 1996. Before that, Parry became the first Canadian-born player to win an international cap when he played for England against Wales in 1879. The only other Canadian to play for England is Owen Hargreaves, who is currently a member of the England squad. Parry played for England again in 1882 against Wales and Scotland. According to accounts, Parry, who played inside left, was a fast dribbler with a fair shot, who did not relish charging. Parry later went on to become the principal at Stoke House School at Slough in Buckinghamshire, a position he held from 1882 until his retirement in 1918. He was married to Amelie Marthe. David Forsyth – Born: Perthshire, Scotland, December 15, 1852. Died: Beamsville, Ontario, September 13/14, 1936. A founding member of the Dominion Football Association in 1877, the Western Football Association in 1880 and the Ontario Football Association in 1901. David was secretary and president of the Western Football Association and secretary of the Ontario Football Association and a life member of the Dominion of Canada Football Association. He played for the Canadian team that defeated the United States in East Newark, New Jersey, in 1885, and was on the losing side in the game played between the two teams in 1886. He organized the Canadian tour to Britain in 1888, and was the secretary during the trip as well as playing the occasional game. Forsyth came to Canada with his parents when he was only one year of age, and received his primary education in Lynden, Ontario. In 1885, he entered Dundas High School, and, after his parents moved to Galt in 1867, the famous “Tassie’s School,” Galt Collegiate Institute. There he matriculated in 1869 with scholarship standing in mathematics, and in 1875, graduated from the University of Toronto with 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 Berlin Rangers. Thomas “Tom” Robertson – Born: Scotland in 1881, and came to Canada in 1901. The first secretary of the Dominion of Canada Football Association, today’s Canadian Soccer Association. Robertson received an injury as a player that kept him in hospital for 53 weeks, necessitating many operations and finally the loss of a limb. While in hospital, Tom made up his mind that if he got out alive he would do his best to clean up the game and eliminate the brutality which was prevalent at that time. He joined the Toronto Scottish executive and asked the Toronto Football Association, the governing body of soccer in Toronto at the time, an organization that played to Canadian Rules, to encourage British fair play in soccer. This was denied him, and as a result, he led the movement to establish the Toronto and District Football Association in 1908 for teams to play to the rules in use in Britain. In 1910, he was elected secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Soccer Association, and held the job through 1911 and 1912. In 1912, although laughed at for his pains, he took the steps, along with Fred Barter, President of the Province of Quebec Football Association, which resulted in the formation of the Dominion of Canada Football Association, and became its first secretary. He was made a life member of the DCFA in 1925. In 1933, he was a member of the DCFA commission that investigated the affairs of the Ontario Football Association. He was a draftsman by profession, and worked for the Dominion Bridge Company. He lived variously on Wyatt Avenue, St. Clarens Avenue and Scollard Street in downtown Toronto, and presented the Robertson Cup to the Toronto and District Soccer Association, to be competed for annually to raise money for injured players. George Graham – Born: Portrush, Northern Ireland, in 1902. Died: Toronto, Ontario, August 7, 1966. Outstanding centre forward with the great Toronto Ulster United teams of the 1920s and 1930s, who won Ontario Cup medals with Ulster in 1929, 1937 and 1938. He also played for the Ontario All-Star team against the English Football Association in 1926, the Scottish Football Association in 1927, the Welsh Football Association in 1929 and the English Football Association again in 1931 and for Eastern Canada against the Scottish Football Association in 1935. He also played for Canada against the United States at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in 1926. Graham was brought to Canada by his parents in 1914, and grew up in Edmonton, where he played for the South Side team along with his great friend Dave Turner. He played for the Edmonton All-Stars against the touring Corinthians in 1924 along with Turner and his brother Jim. Afterwards, he moved to the west coast with Turner, but before that, played one game in Calgary for the C.P.R. team helping them win the Black Cup. On the west coast, he played for Vancouver St. Andrews, then crossed to Georgia Strait to play in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, but it wasn’t long before he was lured to the American Professional Soccer League, where he played for Philadelphia, Fall River Marksmen and Brooklyn Wanderers. With Philadelphia later in the 1925–26 season, he scored eight goals in 10 games, then 17 goals in 30 games for Fall River in the 1927–28 season, before being traded to Brooklyn. After that, he remained in Canada with Ulster United, and worked for the T. Eaton Company for 38 years.
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