Hall of Fame honours newest members

The Soccer Hall of Fame welcomed its newest class of inductees on Saturday 26 April. Four players, five builders, one pioneer and one team of distinction was celebrated at the ninth annual induction banquet.



The four inducted players were Jack Brand, John McGrane, Helen Stoumbos and Walter Bowman. Brand was a goalkeeper in the old North American Soccer League. He was the winning goaltender in Soccer Bowl ’78 with the New York Cosmos. McGrane, a midfielder and defender, played in more than 200 NASL games for three different teams. Stoumbos was a member of Canada’s 1995 World Cup team in Sweden. Bowman, meanwhile, holds the distinction of being the first player born outside of the British Isles to play in England’s Football League.



The five inducted builders were manager Les Wilson, coach Bruce Twamley, referee Dino Soupliotis, manager Jimmy Adam, and journalist Billy Fenton. Wilson’s managerial career included trips to the 1984 Olympic Games and 1986 FIFA World Cup. Twamley’s coaching career included a first-place finish at the 1996 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament and a trip to the FIFA World Youth Championship Malaysia 1997. Soupliotis, a FIFA referee for four years, officiated in more than 2,000 games over 28 years. Adam was the Canadian manager on the national team’s 1924 (Australia) and 1927 (New Zealand) tours. Fenton was a soccer writer for the Toronto Evening Telegram for 20 years.



The Pioneer Award was presented to former Canadian Soccer Association president Arthur Arnold while the Team of Distinction was the national team that toured Australia in 1924.