John Herdman recipient at Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards

Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team Head Coach John Herdman has been recognised at this year’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards. Herdman, originally from Consett, England, has been instrumental in leading our nation into a new era of soccer since he arrived in Canada back in 2011. Herdman and the other recipients are recognised as ‘inspirational immigrants who have made a positive impact on their communities since arriving in Canada.’

This marks the 14th year of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards. Recipients are ‘chosen from a stellar list of 75 finalists, by a combination of online votes and scores from (their) judging panel.’ Herdman joins a group of notable sporting figures that have previously been recognised including Donovan Bailey (athletics), Michael Clemons (American football), Daniel Igali (wrestling) and Steve Nash (basketball).

After arriving in Canada, Herdman led Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team to back-to-back Olympic bronze medals, which made them the first Canadian traditional team sport to repeat on the podium in back-to-back Summer Olympic Games in more than a century. In 2017, Herdman was presented the Jack Donohue Coach of the Year Award. After taking over the Men’s National Team Program in 2018, Herdman led Canada to the top of the Concacaf table in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and helped Canada qualify for the men’s FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986.

“To share the pure joy of qualifying for the World Cup with the fans in Edmonton, Hamilton and Toronto for our home matches, those moments were just priceless,” said Herdman. “The emotion was intense seeing the fans connect around the team in those moments and the pride they all had for Canada when they sang the national anthem in the dying minutes of the game.”