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Dan Kulai
Bio
Daniel Kulai... soccer family (brother George)... he was 11 years old when his father Alexander was killed in a coal mine cave in... he married his first wife Lila Anderson on 13 February 1934 (she passed away on 3 October 1937 after a brief illness)... he married his wife Margaret (Peggy) Tams on 13 July 1940... he was 72 years old when he passed away in Vancouver, BC on 22 August 1980... worked for the Vancouver Fire Department...
after an injury, he switched from forward to goalkeeper... actually became a referee during his playing career (while still a goalkeeper in the Pacific Coast League, he got his first assignment in Vancouver’s Wednesday league); he retired from his playing career in 1943 after suffering a knee injury... attended Canada Soccer’s 1978 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Football Development Seminar in Victoria, BC (referees)...
posthumously honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as a referee (he was was shortlisted as an alternate builder in the inaugural year of 2000 and later honoured in 2004)...
wrote Jeff Cross in 1960, “it takes honest, integrity and considerable skill at doing many things at once to produce a good soccer referee (and that is the reason) Dan Kulai is one of the best, probably THE best in Canada”... also wrote Jeff Cross in 1960, Kulai “has more comprehensive knowledge of the game than anyone else in these parts”... wrote Jeff Cross in 1960, “in soccer the referee is judge, jury, timekeeper and everything else rolled into one. His word must be law and with Dan Kulai that’s the way it is. Temper-mental players find their tantrums short lived, crafty veterans find their sly tricks exposed by a shrill whistle, and over ambitious fans who seek personal combat are sent scurrying back to where they belong”... wrote Tele-Sport in November 1967, “there was never any doubt that, in his day, he was the best soccer referee in Canada, probably in North America”...
Honours
Individual Awards
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2019Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia Honoured Referee / Arbitre honoré
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2004Canada Soccer Hall of Fame Honoured Referee / Arbitre honoré
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1970BC Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Builder / Bâtisseur honoré (Soccer)
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(pre-1992)BC Soccer Award of Merit Recipient / Récipiendaire
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