CELEBRATING THE 100th YEAR ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
CANADIAN SOCCER ASSOCIATION
THE MANITOBA SOCCER ASSOCIATION WILL BE REVEALING 100 FACTS ABOUT SOCCER IN MANITOBA -
THE FACTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED LIVE ON THE MSA'S RADIO SHOW,
"BETWEEN THE POSTS" WHICH AIRS ON TSN 1290, TUESDAYS AT 6 PM
AND WILL BE POSTED HERE ON WEDNESDAY MORNINGS.
31. Teams from Manitoba have won the Challenge Cup eleven times, most recently Hellas (2009), Sons of Italy (2002), Lucania (2000 and 1987). Teams from BC have won the coveted trophy thirty-nine times.
30. Reporting on the deliberations of the Dominion Football Association’s annual meeting George Stephen wrote it the Manitoba Free Press of September 10, 1913 that the DFA constitution was now “in perfect accord with that of FIFA.” Affiliation with that “august body “ he wrote, put Canada on the “same footing as the majority of the nations of the world .” As well “ Canadian football would now have a share in governing football not only in Canada, but throughout the world.”
29 .In October 1992 the Winnipeg Fury won the Canadian Soccer League Championship, the Mita Cup. The Club had been in last place but a five game win streak at the end of the season lifted them into the league final against the Vancouver 86ers. With a win at home and a tie Vancover the Fury ended the 86ers four year reign as Mita Cup holders.
28. Dr.Fred Stambrook was President of the MSA, for 6 years, the CSA, for 6 years the Canadian Youth Soccer Association for 5 years. He was Chairman of the FIFA Appeals Committee at the Los Angeles Olympics and the 1994 World Cup as well as being active on many committees and involved in many soccer related projects. In his spare time he was a Professor of History and Vice President of Academics at the University of Manitoba.
27.The first National competition was played for the Connaught Cup, presented by the Duke of Connaught, then Governor General of Canada and won in 1913 by a Winnipeg team, the Norwood Wanderers. In 1926 the current national championship trophy, The Challenge Cup was donated to the Dominion of Canada Football Association by The Football Association of England and it replaced the Connaught Cup,. The first Challenge Cup was also won by a Winnipeg team, United Weston.
26. The 1996 Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association’s eleventh annual Golden Boy Tournament had 72 teams entered. Teams from outside of Winnipeg included visitors from Ontario, Alberta, Minnesota, South Dakota, Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba (OCN Cree, Moose Lake and Swampy Cree) and Taiwan.
25. Indoor soccer was played in a variety facilities for years, including school gyms, field houses, drill halls and wherever a large enough space was available. But it was not until the early 1980s that a dedicated indoor facility was operated on Duncan Street in the Exchange District. The concrete playing surface was small and surrounded by boards and the roof leaked on occasion but it was the beginning of an important stage in the development of the game : soccer became a year round sport.
24. A report submitted in August 1971 to the Manitoba Soccer Football Association by Past President Percy Gillatt after a visit Thompson indicates there were four men’s teams in Thompson, ten teams in Flin Flon, including a number of Aboriginal teams, four in The Pas and one team in Snow Lake. Three referees from Thompson provided service to all the teams/leagues in the region.
23. The 1991 St.Boniface/St. Vital Flames Under 14 Girls were the first Manitoba youth team to win a National Championship. Coached by Pat Dronzek the girls edged a team from Alberta 3-2 in the National final played in Ottawa. The team had a bit of a dynasty going as they won Provincial Championships in 1990, 91 and 92.
22. On November 19, 1975 former Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin was moderator at a forum organized by the Manitoba Soccer Coaches Association on “ Violence and the Future of Soccer”. Three problems were identified by the participating coaches, referees, players and administrators: violence toward game officials by fans, other non-players, and players; violence on the field between players; violence and threats of violence and verbal abuse by coaches and parents directed at referees, particularly young inexperienced referees.
21. Winnipeg Irish represented Canada at the 1937 Pan Am Games in Dallas Texas. The Irish beat the U.S.A 3-2 but lost to the South American champions Argentina 8-1. The Canadians could take some consolation as Argentina beat the Americans 9-1 and won the competition.
20. The first AGM of the Dominion of Canada Football Association (DCFA) was held in Winnipeg in July of 1912. Thirty four years later, in July 1946, the DCFA was “founded” again in Winnipeg . George Anderson convened a meeting of provincial association representatives to “reactivate the national association” after operations had been suspended during the second world war. Anderson went on to be the CSA’s secretary-treasurer , running the Association’s affairs from his home office until 1968.
19. On July 19, 1971 the Winnipeg Blues of the Western Canada League with some help from a few players from the Manitoba Central Soccer League defeated Shimshon of Tel Aviv, champions of Israel 1-0 in front of 7000 spectators at the Winnipeg Stadium. Something of a controversy surrounded the game. Walter McKee, a top goal scorer for Italinter, who was also at the time kicking field goals for the Bombers was not going to be permitted by the Bombers to play against Shimshon. The Bombers relented, McKee was allowed to play and escaped injury.
18. Before the Connaught Cup and the current Challenge Cup were the symbols of senior men’s national supremacy there was the Peoples Shield. Donated by an English newspaper it was played for from 1906 to 1912. At first the competition included only western teams but by 1907 at a tournament held in Winnipeg The Calgary Caledonians defeated the Toronto Thistles 2-0 and Winnipeg Britannias 1-0 to claim the Shield. Eventually , with the creation of the CSA in 1912, the competition was abandoned.
17. In the early days teams and leagues were often based on where the players worked. Two teams, United and Weston, were formed by workers at the CPR’s Weston Shops. The clubs eventually joined to create United Weston. The Free Press and Tribune had teams in the Printers League. Various colleges: Manitoba, Wesley, St Johns had teams, even the Winnipeg General Hospital had a team. Later, in the 1920s, church sponsored leagues and teams were the equal of any challenger.
16. Soccer was the principal summer sport in Winnipeg in the early days of the 20th century. In 1908 an exhibition game was played between what were described as two “ ethnic” teams. Immigrant players from England and Ireland formed one team and Scotland and Wales combined to form the other.
15. In October 1966 the Manitoba Minor Soccer Association Secretary Mr. Willard Land reported to the Secretary of the Manitoba Football Association Mr. Tom Murray that in 1966 there were 54 registered youth teams registered up from 37 the previous year. There were 321 players from age 11 to 21 registered (there was an Under 21 Junior league back then under the jurisdiction of the MMSA). He also reported that four teams travelled to Prince Albert Saskatchewan on the Thanksgiving Day weekend for the Prairie Championships. Mr. Land observed that in the younger age groups all but two teams are operating out of community clubs. “This is the area we feel our greatest support will come from in the future” he wrote.
14. During World War II, formal league play was abandoned (except for high school) but exhibition games were arranged between Royal Air Force trainees stationed in Carberry, Winnipeg Veterans and youth players representing United Weston. In 1943 the Manitoba Victory League was formed comprised of two service teams, RCAF and Army, and civilian teams United Weston and Scottish.
13. Winnipegers Sam Davidson and George Anderson were both secretary/treasurers of the CSA; Davidson served as chief administrator for 19 consecutive years in the 1920s and 30s, when Winnipeg, on an almost annual basis, hosted the Challenge Cup final . Anderson, who is credited as reviving the CSA after the Second World War, worked from his kitchen table office for 17 years until 1969. Both are members of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame as Builders, while Anderson is also a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame .
12. In 1952, the soccer community entered into an agreement with the city of Winnipeg to lease and operate what was to become the “Home of Soccer” for the next 35 years, Alexander Park. The facility was operated and maintained by volunteers from the soccer community at no expense to the City. The park was the venue for some of the 1967 Pan Am Games, various provincial and national championships, and visits by touring teams. Described by Manitoba Football Association president Percy Gillatt as the finest football ground in the dominion, the site of the park is now the Home Depot parking lot at St. Mathews and Sanford St.
11. Nick Papadakis was recently inducted into the Manitoba High Schools Hall of Fame. Papadakis, 69, lead the Daniel McIntyre Maroons to Provincial Championships in 1961 and 1962 , played senior soccer in Winnipeg then moved on to play seven seasons in the North American Soccer League in Atlanta and Tampa Bay. In 1968 he played four times for Canada.
10. In December 1995 FIFA sponsored “The Day the World Played Football” (December 9) when a soccer game was to be held in every time zone around the world in sequence. Canada was asked to host a game in the Central Standard time zone and the MSA was in turn asked to organize a match. Only in Winnipeg would you be able to find 22 “players” and a referee and linesmen willing to face the elements- minus 28 and large snow drifts at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex - to meet FIFA’s requirement that the game be played outdoors with the kick off precisely at 4:00PM Central Standard Time. Most of the participants survived.
9. Manitoba hosted the first International Women’s tournament held in Canada in 1990 when Norway and the USA played the Canadian national team at what was then the new Winnipeg Soccer Complex.
8. 1987 was a busy year for the MSA and its volunteers. The Association hosted the CSA's 75th Anniversary AGM which included a visit by a number of FIFA and CONCACAF dignitaries. On the playing field the National Women's All Star Tournament (Manitoba had hosted the first tournament the previous year) and the Challenge Cup and Jubilee Shield were organized. It was therefore fitting that Manitoba's Lucania won the Challenge Cup.
7. In the 1960s only B.C., Alberta, and Manitoba had what was then known as Junior soccer (U-21). John Straker started the Manitoba Junior Soccer Association in 1964, which eventually became the Manitoba Minor then the Manitoba Youth Soccer Association by 1974. The Canadian Minor Soccer Association was founded in 1969. Straker was the Manitoba Representative on the first executive and was the CMSA's second President.
6. Between 1914 and 1954 ( play suspended 1916-18 and 1940-46) ,18 of 33 men's national Challenge Cup championships were held at Winnipeg's Carruthers Park. The stadium at the end of the street car line on north Main St stood empty and fell into disrepair during World War Two, was sold for taxes and demolished.
5. United Weston Soccer Club played in four National Challenge Cups, winning in 1924 and 1926 and were runners up in 1929 and 1936. Newspaper reports of the day told of crowds of 7 to 8 thousand in attendance at each of the three games in the total point series played at Winnipeg's Carruthers Park in the 1926 competition.
4. The first Manitoba Women's Provincial Club Championship was held in 1983 with four teams from Winnipeg and one from Brandon and Minnedosa. Minnedosa won.
3. The first three National Club Champions, winners of the Connaught Cup, were the Norwood Wanderers in 1913 and 1914 and Winnipeg Scottish in 1915, before the competition was suspended due to World War One.
2. The Manitoba Football (Soccer) Association was founded in 1896 . The founding meeting was held in Brandon. The majority of the delegates were from rural Manitoba communities including Neepawa, Portage La Prairie, Elkhorn, Carberry , Souris and Austin. After the meeting nearly 100 persons representing nearly every branch of sport attended a banquet hosted by the Brandon Football Club
1. Winnipeg is the birthplace of the CSA, since it is in Winnipeg that the CSA was established at its first Annual General Meeting.
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