George Anderson
Bio
George Murison Anderson... he was 18 years old when he moved to Souris, MB in 1909 (he settled in Winnipeg two years later)... served with the Winnipeg Rifles in the Great War... he enlisted for the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on 24 December 1914 in Winnipeg, MB... he was twice wounded during the war... he was 94 years old when he passed away in Winnipeg, MB on 30 May 1985... worked for Veteran Press Ltd. (starting in 1919)... was called “The Grand Old Man of Soccer”...
honoured as a Canada Soccer Life Member... posthumously honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame (one of the first 11 non-players honoured as part of The Soccer Hall of Fame’s inaugural Class of 2000)... honoured by Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame...
wrote in 1968 upon his resignation as Secretary of the Canadian Soccer Football Association, “I wish to express my appreciation to all the members I have met through the years from the help and cooperation received. I have traveled extensively throughout the world and the people I have met and the friends I have made there are no finer people in the world than those connected with this Grand Old Sport”... wrote Anderson in 1973, “the greatest thrill was arranging visits of the two Soviet teams and the visit of the Canadian team to the Soviet Union, Scotland, and England”...
as noted in his obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press, he was “Canada’s ambassador abroad in the world of international soccer; he was a great believer in international competition and spent a lifetime for the development of Canadian soccer at the professional level”... as noted in 1985, “he was a true builder of soccer in Canada and Manitoba in particular”... in 2000, was one of two former Canadian Soccer Association general secretaries included in the inaugural class honoured by The Soccer Hall of Fame in Canada (George Anderson and Sam Davidson)...
Honours
Individual Awards
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2000Canada Soccer Hall of Fame Honoured Builder / Bâtisseur honoré
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1980Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Member (Builder - Soccer)
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1973Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Honoured Member (Builder - Soccer)
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1970Canada Soccer Life Member Life Member / membre à vie (†)
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