Soccer Hall of Fame to Honour 11 Greatest Players and Builders

Ottawa, Ontario – The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum will honour 11 of Canada’s greatest players and builders at the Toronto Board of Trade Country Club in Woodbridge, Ontario on Saturday, May 1st, 2004.



The eight players being inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame are Tony Chursky (NASL Era – Seattle Sounders), Bob Bolitho (NASL Era – Tulsa Roughnecks), John Catliff (CSL Era – Vancouver 86ers), Paul Dolan (CSL Era – Vancouver 86ers), Angela Kelly (Women’s National team), Pat Philley (1957 World Cup Team – Vancouver City), Gordon “Gogie” Stewart (1957 World Cup Team – Westminster Royals), Trevor Harvey (Early Years – Vancouver North Shore United).



Jeff Cross (Journalist – Vancouver Province), Pat Quinn (National Team Staff – Physiotherapist), and Dan Kulai (Referee) were selected in the builders category.



John Catliff, the second highest scorer in the history of the Canadian Soccer League, played 43 times for Canada, won the CSL championship with the Calgary Kickers in 1987 and four subsequent championships with the Vancouver 86ers in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. He was the leading goal scorer in the CSL in 1988 with 22 goals, in 1990 with 19, and finished with 69 goals in his five seasons in the league.



Paul Dolan, burst onto the national scene in 1986 when he made his debut for Canada in the opening game of the World Cup in Mexico against France. He held the famous French team scoreless until the 79th minute when Jean Pierre Papin scored to give France a narrow 1-0 victory. Dolan went on to play 51 times for Canada. He also played in the CSL for Vancouver 86ers and Hamilton Steelers, winning the CSL championship with the 86ers in 1990 and 1991.



Bolitho and Chursky each had outstanding careers in the North American Soccer League. Bolitho was a defender with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Tulsa Roughnecks, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Minnesota Strikers and Tampa Bay Rowdies, where he appeared in 196 regular season games and 26 play off games. Bolitho also played 29 times for Canada. He later played in the CSL for Victoria Vistas.



Chursky, a goalkeeper, played three seasons for the Seattle Sounders before moving on to play for the California Surf, Chicago Sting and finally the Toronto Blizzard. He played in 145 NASL regular season games and 11 play off games including Soccer Bowl 1977 against the New York Cosmos. Chursky played 19 times for Canada, making his debut against Poland in Toronto in 1973.



Angela Kelly, who becomes the third woman to be inducted, made a name for herself as a member of the famous University of North Carolina team with which she won four NCAA championships. The team recorded 97 wins, one tie and only one loss. Angela played 29 times for Canada, including the 1995 World Cup in Sweden. She is currently the very successful coach of the women’s team at the University of Tennessee.



Pat Philley, captain of Canada’s World Cup team in 1957, follows his brother Brian into the Hall of Fame. Pat played his club soccer with Vancouver City and Westminster Royals winning the Canadian championship with Vancouver City in 1950. Represented Canada Selects against Moscow Locomotive in 1956, and B.C. against touring teams from 1953 – 1957.



Trevor Harvey, inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, was always regarded as being one of the finest players ever developed in Canada, but did not receive the recognition he deserved because Canada did not field a national team during his career. He played for the B.C. All-Stars against the Scottish touring team in 1935 as a teenager, won a Canadian championship in 1936 with Westminster Royals, and followed that by winning the championship again in 1937 with Johnston National Storage and in 1938 with Vancouver North Shore. He won again with North Shore in 1949.



Gordon Stewart, known to everyone as “Gogie”, was a member of Canada’s World Cup team in 1957 and toured the Soviet Union with the national team in 1960. Prior to that, he spent one season playing for the famous English club, Everton. He went on to play in six national finals, and won the title a total of three times with Vancouver St. Andrews and Westminster Royals. Inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.



Of the builders, Dan Kulai was both an outstanding player as well as one of Canada’s finest referees. He played for the Westminster Royals and a number of times for the B.C. selects before turning to officiating. He refereed for 25 years including in World Cup qualifying games and also in the Pan American Games. He was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1970.



Pat Quinn was for many years the physiotherapist with the Canadian national team and also with Toronto Metros-Croatia when they won the NASL championship in 1976. Jeff Cross was an outstanding sports writer with the Vancouver Province for many years, specializing in covering soccer, and working as an analyst with B.C. television.



TEAM OF DISTINCTION



The Hall will also honour Galt Football Club as its second “Team of Distinction”. The year 2004 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Galt Football Club winning an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri.



In November of 1904, the Galt Football Club, from what is now the City of Cambridge, travelled to St. Louis to compete in the second Olympic Football Tournament. In this competition, abbreviated by the time and cost involved in travelling, Galt won both games against two St. Louis Teams by 7-0 and 4-0 scores. Each winning player received a personally-inscribed gold medal.



That won by Fred W. Steep was generously donated to The Canadian Soccer Association last August by his daughter, Mrs. Earla Winch of Guelph, Ontario, in anticipation of the Centennial next year. It is currently on display in the Museum at The Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ontario.



The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum



The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum (Ontario) – to give it its formal name – was incorporated in Ontario by The Ontario Soccer Association on September 24, 1997.



The organisation was established to:

•tcollect, record, interpret and commemorate the Soccer Heritage,

•tcelebrate individual and organisational achievements in the game,

•trecognise the contribution of Soccer to the athletic and cultural institutions, in Canada in general, and in the Province of Ontario in particular.



It operates under the auspices of, and is managed by a Board of Governors appointed by The Association. For more information regarding the Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum, please visit: www.soccer.on.ca.



5th Annual Induction Dinner – Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum



Saturday, May 1, 2004



Cocktails 6:00 pm

Dinner 7:00 pm



$125.00/ticket



Toronto Board of Trade Country Club

Woodbridge, Ontario



Contact: mailto:mstunt@soccer.on.ca