George Graham

George Graham... sports family (soccer/hockey brother Jimmy, soccer brother Bobby)... he was 12 years old when his family moved from Londonderry, NIR to Edmonton, AB, CAN in 1914... he married Myrtle Dewar on 20 September 1927... he was 64 years old when he passed away at Queensway General Hospital in Toronto on 7 August 1966... he and David Turner worked for the T. Eaton Co. (financial office) while they were members of the Eaton-sponsored Toronto Ulster United FC (Graham met his wife at the T. Eaton Co.)...

posthumously honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as a player (he was shortlisted as an original alternate by The Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000 and then honoured as part of the Class of 2017)...

wrote Billy Fenton in 1927, “as a centre forward, Graham during the past two seasons has been without an equal in Canada”... also described by Fenton, Graham was “a perfect gentleman on and off the field”... as noted in 1937, “as Graham goes, so goes the club; he is a good leader and can shoot from any angle”... as noted in the 1939 Montréal Star, “while no more gentlemanly player ever laced on shoes, you cannot trust the aging veteran six inches out of your reach if the ball is in the vicinity or (he) will tuck away said ball in the corner; never endowed with any terrific shot, George simply picks his corners, top and bottom, usually bottom”... wrote Bill Anderson in 1939, Graham was “one of the best preserved forwards in Canada”... as noted in a 1940 program, he was “one of the finest centre forwards the game has known in Canada”... wrote Austin Delany, he “was one of the best this recorder has ever seen”... wrote Bill Findler to the Vancouver Sun in 1942, George “was the brains of that (Ulster United FC) outfit”... wrote Bill Entwistle in 1943, “Graham is a goalscorer. If any university were to install a faculty for showing athletes how to score goals, George Graham of Ulster would be the head professor”...

wrote Colin Jose, “one of the greatest centre forwards of his day”... wrote Bill Entwistle in 1945, Graham was “an amazingly fine opportunist (who) could play centre forward in a wheel chair”... as noted in a 1947 program, “whenever soccer fans of yesterday get together, they always recall the friendly rivalry that used to exist between that other great centre forward of Andy (Stevens’) time, George Graham of Ulster United”... as noted in a 1949 Vancouver newspaper, “those who remember Graham think he rates as the best centre forward ever to play here; certainly along with (Dave) Turner they were poison to opposing defences”...