Brian Budd

Brian Budd... he was 56 years old when he passed away in Toronto, ON on 11 June 2008... grew up participating in skating (he was embarrassed into quitting at age 14), swimming, running, gymnastics, hockey, football and soccer... was once blinded briefly (left eye) in a shooting accident... once suffered a knife attack that cut his trachea... once continued playing for 16 minutes after suffering a broken right fibula on a vicious tackle in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (12 October 1977)...

posthumously named in his honour, the Brian Budd Award was first presented in 2010 (the first recipient was Peter Zezel)...

represented Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers... made seven international “A” appearances from 1976 to 1977 with Canada Soccer's Men’s National Team…

was a three-time winner of ABC Wide World of Sports’ Superstars competition (1977 to 1979)... in soccer with British Columbia, a Canada Games gold medal winner in 1973...

shortly after his death, Canada’s team wore black armbands in his honour in a FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match on 20 June 2008 (a 4:1 win over Saint Vincent & the Grenadines)...

said to be “national team’s joker”... said Charlie Mitchell in 1979, “Brian is a rough-and-ready type of player... he is big and strong and can break things up for you in the middle”... said James Sharman in 2008, “behind the gregarious and loud behavior was a guy who had a heart of gold and someone who was deeply passionate about soccer”...