Canada Soccer Hall of Fame launches new name, logo, and mission

Canada’s rich soccer history will be celebrated during our nation’s 150th anniversary as the newly-named Canada Soccer Hall of Fame expands its mission to capture and promote the sport in this country. Now under the direction of the national body, the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame will continue to celebrate the past, present, and future of the world’s game.

The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame captures and preserves the history of Canadian soccer, honouring athletes and builders of the game and serving as a library for editorial, promotional, and educational needs.

Canada Soccer and Ontario Soccer have worked together to integrate The Soccer Hall of Fame into the Canada Soccer brand. The new name, logo, and mission statement were all recently unveiled at Canada Soccer’s 2017 Annual Meeting of the Members.
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All previously-inducted members of The Soccer Hall of Fame as well as a catch up class of legends have been named honoured members of the new Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.

To be announced on Thursday 25 May 2017:
Canada Soccer Hall of Fame will announce its Class of 2017 (modern athletes)

Since its inauguration in 1997, The Soccer Hall of Fame has been operated by the Ontario Soccer Association. Through the dedication of builders, staff, and volunteers, as well as the support of Canada Soccer and its members, The Soccer Hall of Fame has established itself as an important institution for the sport in this country.

As part of the transition, there will be one collective library of records, images, and video archives. The Canada Soccer library is already one of the most extensive in Canadian sport, with public records on more than 4,000 persons available through CanadaSoccer.com and more than 60,000 photos available through Flickr.com/canadasoccer.

In celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, the class of legends honours 17 Canadian soccer players who starred in the golden era of Canada Soccer’s national competition in the 1920s and 1930s. ‎Throughout the summer, the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame will tell the story of the heroes from this period of remarkable growth for the game in our nation.

Connaught Series Legends
The Dominion of Canada Football Championship, otherwise known as the Connaught Series, crowned 24 national champions from 1913 to 1939. While more than a dozen ‎legends have previously been honoured, the new class honours 17 more heroes – one for each year since The Soccer Hall of Fame inducted its first class of honoured members in 2000.

As part of a Canada Soccer Hall of Fame research project, a new 150-page book entitled “The Connaught Series” highlights the story of the Championship and the winning teams, 30 Hall of Fame heroes from the period, and include a first-time published directory of more than 1,300 players who participated in the competition.

Canada Soccer previously celebrated many of these legends as part of the Association’s Centennial Celebration in 2012.‎ They will all be celebrated anew during Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017.

The 30 Connaught Series legends are: George Anderson, Geordie Campbell, Marcel ‎Castonguay, Paul-Émile Castonguay, Roland Castonguay, Joe Clulow, Jock Coulter, Eddie Derby, Fred Dierden, Ernie Edmunds, Bill Findler, Larry Fitzpatrick, George Graham, Art Halliwell, Bobby Harley, Trevor Harvey, Bobby Lavery, Eddie MacLaine, Bill Matthews, Doug McMahon, Jimmy Moir, Jimmy Nelson, Alec Smith, Jimmy Spencer, Andy Stevens, Dickie Stobbart, Albert Thombs, Dave Turner, Stan Wakelyn, and Artie Woutersz.

Newly honoured in 2017 are: Coulter from Victoria and Westminster; Edmunds from Nanaimo; Wakelyn from Calgary; Graham from Edmonton and Toronto; Derby and Matthews from Winnipeg; Thombs from Hamilton; Clulow, Dierden, Lavery, Moir, and Stevens from Toronto; Fitzpatrick, MacLaine, Nelson, Smith, and Woutersz from Montréal.