GOALKEEPERS IN THE HALL OF FAME

GOALKEEPERS IN THE HALL OF FAME

When Craig Forrest is inducted into The Soccer Hall of Fame on May 5 he will be the 12th goalkeeper to be inducted. He joins a distinguished group that includes Joe Kennaway, Art Halliwell, Aubrey Sanford, Dan Kulai, Dick Arends, Ken Pears, Dick Howard, Tony Waiters, Tony Chursky, Tino Lettieri and Paul Dolan.
In addition the goalkeepers of the five Teams of Distinction were stellar performers.
So who were these members of the goalkeepers union who have occupied the space between the sticks and under the bar down through the years?

Joe Kennaway. Born in the Point St. Charles district of Montreal, where so many good Canadian players grew up, Kennaway played for the Montreal C.P.R. team, then for Providence and Fall River in the American Professional Soccer League of the 1920s, and then for Glasgow Celtic. With Celtic from 1931 to 1939 he won the Scottish League Championship twice, the Scottish F.A. Cup three times and the Empire Cup. He played for Canada against the U.S. in 1926 and for Scotland against the Austrian wonder team in 1933 at Hampden Park. In his day he was regarded as one of the finest goalkeepers in the world. On retiring he coached Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Art Halliwell, was born in England, but was brought to Canada at the age of six and was attending Perth Avenue Public School in 1907. He grew up in Toronto where he played for a string of clubs but most noticeably Ulster United, Craigavon and Scottish. His outstanding display for a Canadian all-star team against a Scottish F.A. touring team at Alexandra Park in Montreal in 1921 earned him a job with the Scottish club Dunfermline Athletic. But he only stayed in Scotland for one season before he came home. He played for Canada against the U.S. twice in 1925, and numerous times for Ontario against touring teams.

Aubrey Sanford, is better known as a former president of the Canadian Soccer Association, but in his younger days was a goalkeeper with Sapperton and the great Westminster Royals teams. He was born in Nanaimo, and was one of three goalkeepers the Royals used in winning the national championship in 1928. He was in goal again when the Royals won in 1930 and 1931.

Dan Kulai, made his name as a to Canadian referee in the years following World War Two, but in his playing days was at first a forward and then a goalkeeper.

Dick Arends was born in the Netherlands and came to Canada in 1926 as a young boy. In the years before and after World War Two he might well have been the best goalkeeper in Canada, but as Canada didn’t field a national team in those days, didn’t get the recognition he deserved. He played for Ontario against the touring Scottish F.A. team in 1939 and, as a result of his performance that day, received an offer of a trial with the Scottish team Motherwell. But the war intervened and Dick never had his trial. In his playing days he turned out for Toronto British Consols, John Inglis and Greenbacks as well as for Chicago Vikings in the U.S. where he helped them win the U.S. Open Cup in 1946.

Ken Pears. While Aubrey Sanford was a goalkeeper with the great Westminster Royals teams before World War Two, Ken was the Royals goalkeeper following the war. He won the national championship with the Royals in 1953, Halecos in 1956, Columbus in 1964 and Firefighters in 1965. He represented Canada in World Cup qualifying in 1957 and played six time for the B.C. All-Stars shutting out Tottenham Hotspur in 1957.

Dick Howard, while inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Builder, might well have been inducted as a goalkeeper instead, He began his career in England with Chester of the Football League and when he came to Canada played for Hamilton Primos in the National Soccer League in 1967, the moved on to Detroit Cougars of the North American Soccer League in 1968 and was a member of the Rochester Lancers team that won the American Soccer League championship in 1970, before finishing his career with Toronto Metros from 1971 to 1974. He played four times for Canada and on retiring had an outstanding career as a coach.

Tony Waiters is better known in Canada as the man who took Canada to its first and only World Cup final appearance. However, he had an outstanding career as a goalkeeper in England before coming to these shores. Waiters played five times for England and was the Blackpool goalkeeper from 1959 to 1966. Coming to Canada he coached the Vancouver Whitecaps to the National American Soccer League Championship in 1979.

Tony Chursky played 19 times in goal for Canada and in the North American Soccer League for Seattle Sounders, California Surf, Chicago Sting and Toronto Blizzard. He began his career with Vancouver Spartans of the Western Canada Soccer League.

Tino Lettieri played 24 times for Canada in a career that took him from the Canadian Olympic team in 1976 to an outstanding career in the NASL with Minnesota Kicks, Vancouver Whitecaps and then Minnesota Kicks. He played twice for Canada at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Paul Dolan was thrown in at the deep end when he made his international debut, as a virtual unknown, for Canada against France at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He went on to have an outstanding career in the Canadian Soccer League with Vancouver 96ers and Hamilton Steelers and to play 51 times for Canada.

Craig Forrest first attracted attention as Canada’s goalkeeper as a member of Tony Taylor’s successful national youth team at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile in 1987. He went on to a career with Ipswich Town, Colchester United, Chelsea and West Ham United. He played 57 times for Canada and was a member of the national team that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The goalkeepers of the Teams of Distinction included Alexander Noble Garrett from the 1888 team that toured Britian. Garrett was an outstanding athlete in many sports, and later became the sports editor of the Toronto World daily newspaper. Ernest Linton was a member of the great Galt teams of the early 1900s, while Stanley Ball was the regular goalkeeper for the great Westminster Royals team of 1928. Goalkeeper for the great Toronto Scottish teams of 1932 and 1933 that won back to back national championships and the North American title was Hugh Wallace, while Jock Ross, who held for the fort for the Calgary Caledonians team that won the People’s Shield in 1907 played for Hearts.