.svg){kind=icon}
Dale William Mitchell... soccer family (father Bill)... parents Bill and Diana Mitchell... he was born in Vancouver when his father played for Vancouver Pilseners FC... he married his wife Dianne... he was five years old when he started playing soccer... grew up participating in soccer and basketball... enjoys golf, reading, music... growing up, favourites included Gordie Howe... granted his Canada Soccer Coaching B Diploma in 2001 and earned his Canada Soccer Coaching A Diploma in 2003...
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 2002)... honoured by the BC Sports Hall of Fame, Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia and the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame... part of the first Canadian team to reach the knock-out phase at the Olympic Games (Los Angeles 1984), recognised as a Canada Soccer Team of Distinction... part of the first Canadian team to play at the FIFA World Cup (Mexico 1986), recognised as a Canada Soccer Team of Distinction...
Concacaf champion (1985)... represented Canada at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games and 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico... represented Canada in four cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and one cycle of Olympic Qualifiers... represented Canada at the inaugural Concacaf Gold Cup in 1991... Canada’s top goalscorer across FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1985 (four goals in three international matches, although he missed the final matches through injury... Canada’s assists leader across FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1992-93 (record four assists in 13 international matches)... Canada’s top goalscorer across FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1988 (two goals in two matches)... career 72 international appearances across 17 years from 1977 to 1993 with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, including 55 international "A" appearances... when he left international football in 1993, he ranked tied for second all-time with 72 international appearances... with the Men’s National Team, he ranked second all time with 23 international goals and first all time with 19 international “A” goals...
club career in Canada and USA... with Vancouver 86ers, a three-time Canadian Soccer League Championship winner (1988, 1989, 1990), one-time North American Soccer Championship winner (1990), and one-time APSL regular season winner (1993)...
served as Canada team staff at one FIFA youth tournament (U-20 at UAE 2003, Netherlands 2005 and Canada 2007)…
in 2012 as part of the Canadian Soccer Association’s Centennial Celebration, was honoured on the All-Time Canada XI men’s team... attended the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 in Vancouver...
wrote historian Colin Jose, Mitchell “was one of the finest goal scorers Canada ever produced”... wrote the Portland Timbers in 1981, “exhibits exceptional ball skills with deft touch... has good vision and is an excellent passer; very quick, especially over the first few yards, which enables him to go past people. A good striker of the ball, especially at bending the ball around walls on free kicks”... said teammate Brian Gant in 1981 (of then 23-year old Dale Mitchell), “most players never possess the skill that Dale had at 16; of the top North American forwards I would put him up there with Steve Moyers and Branko Segota; of those three, I would rank Dale as the most skillful”...
as idolized in the 1986 lyrics for Oh Canada, We’ll Proudly Play for You, “Dale Mitchell has touches like no one else has got, in Mexico we’ll show them how to play”... said Glen Johnson in 2018, “at his peak, Dale Mitchell was Canada’s best player by a mile”...
represented Canada at the 1976 CONCACAF Youth Tournament in Puerto Rico... he was 22 years old when he made his debut for Canada at the national A level (15 September 1980)... represented Canada in 1980-81 CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Spain 1982 (helped Canada finish third in the 1981 CONCACAF Championship)... finished fifth with Canada at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Football Tournament... helped Canada win the 1985 CONCACAF Champions / FIFA World Qualifiers for Mexico 1986... represented Canada at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico (he featured in one match)... represented Canada in 1988 CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Italy 1990... represented Canada at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup... he was the third footballer to make his 50th appearance for Canada (11 April 1993)... represented Canada in 1992-93 CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for USA 1994 (Canada was eliminated in an inter-zone playoff against Australia)... played in a career-high 15 consecutive Canada matches from 1992 to 1993...
served as head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps (inc 2000 2001) after serving as an assistant coach (1994 and 1997-99)... served head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps Reserves (1995, 1997-99)...
served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team finished first in Group A of the 2001 CONCACAF Under-20 Qualification Tournament in Victoria, BC... officially hired by the Canadian Soccer Association on 6 February 2002... served as Canada’s youth coach when the team finished first in Group B of the 2003 CONCACAF Under-20 Qualification Tournament in Charleston, SC... served as Canada’s youth coach at the FIFA U-20 World Cup UAE 2003... served on Canada’s coaching staff at the 2004 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament... served as Canada’s assistant coach during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 2004 (Canada was eliminated in the CONCACAF semi-final stage)... served as Canada’s youth coach when the team finished first in Group B of the 2005 CONCACAF Under-20 Qualification Tournament (Canada qualified for Netherlands 2005)... served as Canada’s youth coach at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Netherlands 2005... served as Canada’s youth coach at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007... served as Canada’s head coach during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 2008 (Canada was eliminated in the CONCACAF semi-final stage)... was released as Canada’s coach in March 2009...
