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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 (cont.): Andy Stevens – Born: Durham, England. Died: Toronto, Ontario. Stevens grew up in Toronto and became one of Canada’s most outstanding players of the 1920s and 1930s. He began his career with Parkside Rangers in Toronto in 1917, then moved to Toronto Scottish, Toronto Lancashire and Davenport Albion. He also spent time playing in Chicago for the Pullman club during the 1920–21 season and in Detroit in 1923. Eventually, he moved to the Atlantic seaboard, joining the Boston Wonder Workers of the professional American Soccer League, and became one of that league’s all-time top goalscorers with 150 goals. At the end of the 1924–25 season, Stevens moved from Boston to New Bedford Whalers, and was the league’s top goalscorer in 1925–26 with 44 goals in 39 games. When his ASL career ended, he returned to Toronto, and led Toronto Scottish to the national championship in 1932 and 1933 and the North American championship in 1933 against Stix, Baer and Fuller of St. Louis. He served in the Canadian Army during World War Two, and when the war was over, coached Toronto East End Canadians in 1947 in the National Soccer League. During the 1920s and 1930s, the great rivalry in Toronto was between Scottish, led by Stevens and Ulster, led by George Graham. Arthur Jennings Halliwell – Born: Manchester, England. Died: Toronto, Ontario, May 18, 1964. Art Halliwell was brought to Canada by his parents at the age of six and was attending Perth Avenue Public School in 1907. A superb goalkeeper with a number of Toronto teams over the years, he played brilliantly for the Canadian team against the Scottish Football Association in Montreal in 1921. That display brought him a number of offers to join British clubs. Among those are said to have been Third Lanark and Sunderland, but he eventually settled for Dunfermline Athletic. He sailed for Britain in late September of 1921, and was given a big send-off by everyone, including the children from his old school, who presented him with an umbrella. However, he played only the one season in Scotland before returning home. Halliwell played for Canada against the United States twice in 1925, and for the Ontario All-Stars against British touring teams in 1921, 1926, 1927 and 1929. He also coached the University of Toronto soccer team starting in 1925, and his team won the college championship in 1929, 1931, 1932, 1933 and 1935. Later in life, he owned 51 racehorses and became a millionaire. A.E. “Tiny” Thombs – Born: Henley, England, in 1882. Died: Hamilton, Ontario, September 30, 1957. Tiny, as he was always known, was a star in Hamilton soccer during the early years of the century. While still in England, it is said that he received flattering offers to play for some of the top professional clubs, but chose to come to Canada, where he played most of his career with the great Westinghouse team. For many years, he was considered to be without equal, and played for the Hamilton All-Stars against the Corinthians in 1906 and 1911, and for Hamilton and Ontario against the touring Scottish Football Association team in 1921. Tiny was a member of the Westinghouse team that won the Connaught Cup, the national championship, in 1920 and the Ontario Cup in 1911, 1912 and 1920. However, his greatest claim to fame is that he was a member of the Canadian team that held the Scottish Football Association touring team to one goal in Montreal in 1921. Robert Logan “Whitey” McDonald – Born: Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, August 11, 1902. Died: Millport, Scotland, June 7, 1956. McDonald was brought to Hamilton by his parents at the age of two, and was raised in the Steel City. He progressed through schoolboy and junior soccer ranks, graduating to the senior game with Hamilton Thistle. One of twelve children, he played for the Thistle in the Spectator Cup finals of 1921 and 1922 and later briefly for Toronto Ulster United. In the summer of 1924, after turning down an offer to join the English club Stockport County, he signed for Bethlehem Steel in the professional American Soccer League, where he played for four seasons, helping the team win the U.S. national championship in 1926, and the championship of the American Soccer League in 1927. When Glasgow Rangers toured North America in 1928, they spotted Whitey, and that fall he was on his way to Ibrox Park in Glasgow to play for the famous Rangers. Between 1928 and 1939, McDonald won four Scottish championship medals and four Scottish Football Association Cup winner’s medals. He also played for his native Northern Ireland against Scotland in 1930 and England in 1932. He toured Canada and the United States with Rangers in 1930, and captained his new team in the game against Hamilton, who in turn were captained by his brother “Red.” He toured Canada and the United States a second time in 1935 with a Scottish Football Association team. A wing half during his days with Hamilton Thistle and Bethlehem Steel, Rangers converted him into a left back with outstanding success. Later in life, he became a physiotherapist and served on hospital ships in World War Two. At the time of his death, he was preparing to start the next season at Ibrox as head trainer. James “Jimmy” Tennant – Born: Scotland. Died: Hamilton, Ontario, May 16, 1960. Jimmy grew up in Hamilton graduating through the Thistles system, which produced many fine players, and helped the team win the Spectator Cup in 1930 and 1931. In 1932, he moved north to Timmins, where he played for Dome Mines. Soon after, he left for Britain, where he played briefly in Wales for Cardiff City, two games, before heading north to Scotland for a spell with Kilwinning Rangers, and then signing with the famous Perth club St. Johnstone. A winger, Jimmy played for the Saints from 1933 to 1940, appearing in 187 games and scoring 34 goals. On January 25, 1936, he scored a hat-trick against Raith Rovers in a Scottish Cup game. He was at one time selected as a reserve for the Scottish League team.
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