Brian Philley

John Brian Philley... soccer family (brothers Clem and Pat)... his parents were Homer and Nora Philley... he was 76 years old when he passed away from a heart attack at Langara Golf Course in Vancouver, BC... his funeral was held at Holy Name Church (33rd and Cambie Street) in Vancouver, BC... worked for Sparlings Sports store...

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 2003)... honoured by the BC Sports Hall of Fame and posthumously honoured by the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia... his brother Pat Philley is also an honoured member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame...

represented Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957, of note the first-ever Canadian team to feature in the competition... made four 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 1949 to 1959...

a two-time Canada Soccer Football Championship winner (Carling’s Red Cap Trophy and Challenge Trophy in 1956 and 1960)... a five-time Pacific Coast League winner (1944-45, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1953-54, 1960-61, 1962-63)... a North American Championship winner for the Jack Diamond Trophy (1953)... an eight-time all-star selection in a 14-year span from 1946 to 1959 (including All Canada selections in 1956 and 1957)... over the course of his career, he scored 114 goals in the Pacific Coast Soccer League (he was the fourth player to reach the 100-goal milestone on 23 July 1958)... over the course of one decade, he was the Pacific Coast League’s joint second-highest scorer in the 1950s with 66 goals scored... he was Vancouver St. Andrews FC’s top goalscorer across their post-1939 Pacific Coast League history (41 goals scored across three stints in 1942-43, 1948-49 to 1949-50, and 1958)... he was St. Saviours / Vancouver City / Canadians’s joint third-best goalscorer across their post-1939 Pacific Coast League history (63 goals scored across four stints from 1944-45 to 1947-48, from 1950-51 to 1957, plus 1959 and 1962-63, third best behind Neil McEachnie’s 99 goals)... in 2000, one of 17 inaugural alternates shortlisted by The Soccer Hall of Fame (he became an honoured member as part of the Class of 2003)...

it was written, Brian was “a man with whom honour is sacred and virtue is safe”... once noted as “the elegant forward”... as noted in a 1954 all-star program, “shifty forward, deceptive shift and is fast on ball”... as noted in a 1956 all-star program, he was “one of the league’s top playmakers”... as noted after a 1956 hat trick performance in the Canadian Championship, “a sweetheart of a soccer player, (he) played perhaps the best game of his competitive career; (he has) long regarded as one of Canada’s top soccer performers”...

said Jim Blundell in 2019, “Brian Philley was a heck of a forward and I learned a lot from him. He was a classy guy. He set a lot of people up as he was a heck of a playmaker. He was a very, very good soccer player”... said Roy Nosella in 2018, “Brian Philley was masterful player”...