Roy Cairns

Roy Desmond Cairns... soccer family (father Thomas)... his father Thomas was born in Langley Moor, ENG while his mother was born in Beckford, ENG... he suffered a heart failure and got a valve replacement and triple bypass (around 2005)... he was 85 years old when he passed away in Surrey on 13 November 2010...

grew up playing soccer in Central Fraser Valley... joined Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943, although had “trouble following the rules”... he was sent to Europe as an air gunner, but did not see action... he worked 25 years for the B.C. Distillery Co.... he work for Canada Post from 1975 until his retirement in 1989... was an active member of the Royal Canadian Legion No. 2 Branch... was presented with a Certificate of Merit for his service to the community by then-prime minister Brian Mulroney...

honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as a player... honoured by the Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame and 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 Men’s National Team…

a five-time Canada Soccer Football Championship winner (Challenge Trophy in 1950 and 1953, then Carling’s Red Cap Trophy and Challenge Trophy in 1955, 1958 and 1960)... he was the first-ever five-time national winner (he was just the fourth four-time winner following Dickie Stobbart, Dave Turner and Trevor Harvey)... he was just the second player to win four Canadian titles with one team (like Dave Turner, four championships with the Royals)... a five-time Pacific Coast League winner (1947-48, 1952-53, 1956, 1957, 1960-61)... a North American Championship winner for the Jack Diamond Trophy (1953)... a five-time all-star selection in an eight-year span from 1950 to 1957 (including an All Canada selection in 1957 for FIFA World Cup Qualifiers)...

his daughter Janice imagined, “I think, with his personality, he would have stood a very good chance of getting the other guy first”... said Janice, “he was 150 pounds and all of it was heart”... wrote Austin Delany in 1951, “a rare player and tenacious tackler”... as noted in a 1951 all-star program, “seems to find his (small) size an advantage as a defender rather than a disadvantage; has very fine kick and a knack of being in the right place at the right time”... wrote Jeff Cross in 1952, Cairns “is the best fullback we have had here for a long time... bar none”... said Dave Turner after the 1958 Canadian Championship, “what a wonderful little player Buster is; his anticipation and ball control warm the hearts of old crocks like me”...

said Bill Findler in 1975, “the best player I’ve ever seen was Roy Cairns. Most players gave up after having a good year, but Buster always kept up”... wrote Erwin Swangard in 1990, “my comments from 1952 still hold true today: he was one of the best Canadians to play the game”... wrote Jeff Cross in 1990, “Cairns was one of the most successful and accomplished players at his chosen position on the field that I have witnessed”... wrote Archie McDonald in 1990, “I very much admired his clever, uncompromising play at fullback and his general team leadership. He was a longtime standout in an era when the game truly flourished in British Columbia”...