Vanni Lenarduzzi

Vanni Lenarduzzi... soccer family (brothers Bob, Danny, Sam)... he was four years old when his family moved from Italy to Vancouver... both his father Giovanni and mother Clelia were born in Italy... his brothers Sam and Bobby Lenarduzzi are honoured members of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame...

with Vancouver Columbus FC, a three-time Canada Soccer National Championships winner (Challenge Trophy in 1969, 1977 and 1978)... a three-time Pacific Coast League winner (1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71) and one-time Western Canada League winner (1969)... he was Columbus FC’s joint fifth-best goalscorer across their Pacific Coast League history (23 goals scored from 1964-65 to 1970-71, fifth best behind Bobby Smith’s 88 goals)...

said Peter Greco in 2018, “Vanni Lenarduzzi was a centre forward that could score goals with his head”... said Giorgio Zambrano in 2018, “Vanni Lenarduzzi was very good in the air and he could pop in the odd goal with his head. He was a very nice guy and he would never complain... he was very calm and never got over excited”... said Glen Johnson in 2018, “Vanni Lenarduzzi was better than everyone thinks. He would take a shot for the team any time. He was sneaky sometimes the way he scored goals, just slipping past people. He wasn’t overly fast, he wasn’t overly big, he wasn’t overly strong, but his skill level was good and he was a great asset to any team with whom he played”... said Jim Goodheart in 2019, “Vanni Lenarduzzi was the best Lenarduzzi by far. He was a really skilled forward. He could check and score goals.... he was pretty good at everything”...