Tom Watson

Tom Watson... born in 1880... soccer family (brother John)... noted as a “staunch Presbyterian and a prominent member of the Masonic order”... he moved to Canada “sometime around” 1910... worked as the soccer editor of the Toronto Evening Telegram... he was twice married... he was 51 years old when he passed away in Toronto on 29 August 1920 after an illness of three months... at Prospect Cemetery in Toronto, a eight-foot monument in his honour reads: “Tom Watson / to whose voice and pen the success of soccer football in Canada is in no small measure due / who died 29 August 1920 / aged 51 years / erected by the followers of Toronto and District as a small token of their esteem and regret / Nature’s nobleman / a man with his heart in his hand” (an official presentation of the monument by Mayor Church was made on 31 December 1921)...

served as the second President of the Dominion of Canada Football Association (1913-14)... in 2000, one of 14 alternate builders shortlisted by The Soccer Hall of Fame... honoured as a Canada Soccer Life Member...

as noted in his obituary in The Toronto World, “he was a keen and unbiased critic”... as noted in his 1920 obituary in the Toronto Telgram, “Association football owes much of its progress and popularity in this country to the advocacy and able pen of the late Mr. Watson, who all his life had been devoted to the game. He was a keen and unsparing critic when necessary, but he always helped the game along with wise advice and kindly encouragement, standing always for clean sport and judicious administration. From coast to coast he was known and respected as an honest and fearless foe of anything that tended to bring soccer football into disfavor, while his knowledge and experience were of inestimable value to every club and official in the Dominion“... wrote Billy Fenton in 1921,

from the Dominion of Canada Football Association’s 1914 Annual Meeting, as president he was “accorded a hearty vote of thanks for valuable services rendered the Association”...

shortly after his death, clubs in the Toronto area were asked to “wear mourning armlets” in his memory... on 31 December 1921, a monument was unveiled in Watson’s honour at Prospect Cemterey in Toronto (erected by the Toronto and District Football Association)... at the monument ceremony, Mayor Church unveiled the monument while DCFA president Tom Holland served as master of ceremonies...