Bridge Named To Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame

Toronto, Ontario – Ian Bridge, who recently coached Canada’s Women’s Under-19 Team to the final of the FIFA Under -19 World Championships, will be one of 11 new inductees to The Soccer Hall of Fame in Vaughan, Ontario next May. However, Bridge’s induction is due to a stellar playing career which saw him play in 33 full international games for Canada, including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He also played for the 1984 Canadian Olympic which reached the quarter-finals before losing to Brazil, as well as the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League (NASL).



Bridge is in esteemed company. Paul James represented Canada in the 1986 World Cup, was a member of the Toronto Blizzard of the NASL, and became a national youth team coach. Carl Valentine also played for Canada in the World Cup and professionally in Vancouver as well as in England for Oldham Athletic and West Bromwich Albion. Les “Buzz” Parsons was a member of the Canadian team at the 1971 Pan American Games and won a NASL championship with the Vancouver Whitecaps in 1979. Bob Harley of Winnipeg was captain of the national team during its successful tour of Australia in 1924. Brian Philley scored in Canada’s first World Cup qualifying game as Canada defeated the United States 5-1 in 1957. Jimmy Spencer was a soccer star on the west coast in the late 1930’s and later became a coach and administrator. Philley and Spencer are also members of the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.



Tracy David becomes the second female to be inducted. A prominent player in the early years of the women’s national team program, David was also the captain of the powerhouse Edmonton Angels team which won the national championship six times in the 1980’s.



Aubrey Sanford, Tony Evangelista and Alan Southard enter the Hall of Fame as inductees in the Builder category. Sanford was president of The Canadian Soccer Association from 1969 to 1971 and was an outstanding player with the great Westminster Royals teams that won the Canadian title in 1928, 1930 and 1931. Evangelista was one of Canada’s top referees and a member of the prestigious FIFA international list for fifteen years. He was the referee in the famous World Cup qualifying game between Honduras and El Salvador held shortly after the countries had fought a short but bitter war and also officiated in the 1984 Olympiad. As the first president of the Canadian Youth Soccer Association, Alan Southard oversaw the rapid expansion of youth participation from 52,000 to over 200,000 in 1981.



Since its inception in 2000, The Soccer Hall of Fame has inducted 55 members of whom 35 are in the player category. There are 20 in the Builder category. Nominees must demonstrate outstanding contributions to the sport and, as players, must have been retired for at least five years.