Doug Greig

John Douglas Greig... soccer family (father David, brothers George and Jimmy Greig)... he was 74 years old when he passed away in Vancouver on 9 March 2003 after a battle with kidney disease... his extended family (through brother Jimmy) included Johnny, Bobby and Don Newbold as well as John Newbold, Jr.... Doug worked 37 years for the Vancouver Fire Department...

honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as a player... posthumously honoured by the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia...

represented Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957, of note the first-ever Canadian team to feature in the competition... made three international “A” appearances in 1957 with Canada Soccer's National Team… was part of the All Canada side selected to face touring side Lokomotiv Moscow in 1956... was part of British Columbia and Vancouver all-star teams selected to face international touring teams from 1950 to 1963...

a five-time Pacific Coast League winner (1949-50, 1954-55, 1956, 1958, 1961-62)... a North American Championship winner for the Jack Diamond Trophy (1953)... a Pacific Coast International Championship winner for the J.F. Kennedy Trophy (1962)... a 10-time all-star selection in a 14-year span from 1950 to 1963 (including an All Canada selection in 1956 and 1957)...

noted as “clever”... as noted in a 1950 all-star program, “a natural soccer player with a beautiful body swerve; kicks the ball without effort with either foot and his sudden left-footed drive is feared by all goalkeepers”... wrote the Vancouver Province in 1950, Doug Greig is “one of the most naturally gifted socer players here; fast, strong with deceptive shift; real stylist in shooting; two excellent feet - with the left the goalkeeper’s terror”... as noted in a 1951 all-star program, he was a “supreme ball control artist; has a most sudden electric shot and is one of the best two-footers in the game; on his day, he is in a class all his own”... as noted in a 1956 all-star program, “one of the best shifts in league and possesses one of the hardest shots”... as noted in a 1959 all-star program, “considered Canada’s finest left half”... wrote Roy Jukich in 1960, “Greig is regarded by many as the best player ever developed in Canada. He can and has been positively brilliant when the mood strikes him”... as noted in a 1963 all-star program, “regarded as one of the finest players ever developed locally”... wrote Roy Jukich in 1963, “Greig’s forte is his ability to steady down the all-star defence. His ball control and pin-point passing have drawn compliments from more than one visiting manager (from touring teams)...

wrote Colin Jose, Greig was “admired as a supreme ball control artist with a sudden electric shot... one of the best two footers in the game in his day”... as noted in his obituary, he was “a left halfback with a reputation for savvy ball control”... said Neil Ellett in 2018, “Doug Greig was very smooth, very smart, not a physical sort of guy, but someone I really looked up to”... said Gary Stevens in 2018, “Doug Greig was a ball control guy. He was the best reader of the game and ball control player with whom I ever played with or watched. He was just magic... it was like he had eyes in the back of his head”... said Jim Blundell in 2019, “Doug Greig was a classy player. He could make the ball talk. He was a half back and he was so good at it. He could handle the ball better than anyone else I had ever seen. He was a talented man”...