The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for 2008, an honour to be capped off in April with an induction ceremony in
Woodbridge. There are four players are on this years list, Jack Brand, John McGrane, Walter Bowman, and Helen Stoumbos, in addition to five builders, one pioneer and one team of distinction.
Goalkeeper Jack Brand was an intricate part of the North American Soccer League in the 1970’s and into the 1980’s; his accolades include an NASL single-season record of 15 clean sheets in 1980 and Player of the Year honours, as well as leading the New York Cosmos to a victory in Soccer Bowl ‘78. Internationally, he received 7 caps for Canada between 1974 and 1975. A fellow NASL inductee is converted defender John McGrane, who played over 200 games in the NASL for three different teams. Additionally, he was capped by Canada 17 times, and participated in the 1976 Olympics.
The oldest of the player inductees is Waterloo native Walter Bowman who plied his trade in the late 19th century, and holds the distinction of being the first player in the history of the English Football League to be born outside the British Isles. He begun with Accrington Stanley in 1892, scoring three goals in five games, he then moved to Ardwick (which became Manchester City) for the final five seasons of his career.
The final inductee is Women’s World Cup veteran Helen Stoumbos of Guelph. Her international career spanned five years from 1993-1998, and became the first women to score for Canada in World Cup play when she did so against England at Sweden 1995.
The five inducted builders will be manager Les Wilson, coach Bruce Twamley, referee Dino Soupliotis, manager Jimmy Adam, and journalist Billy Fenton.
The Pioneer Award will be presented to former Canadian Soccer Association president Arthur Arnold, while the Team of Distinction will be the national team that went on tour to Australia in 1924.
The 2008 Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Weekend takes place 26 April 2008 in Woodbridge, ON.
