History- Newfoundland and Labrador

A project of the St. John’s Soccer Heritage Society 

Chair Dee Murphy, vice-chair Brian Murphy, treasurer Angus Barrett, secretary Doug Redmond, directors Bette Murphy and Jeff Babstock.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR SOCCER

The Newfoundland and Labrador Association was formally organized in 1950 when an inaugural meeting was held at the Ayre Athletic Grounds Pavilion in St. John’s. The meeting was organized by John V. Rabbitts of St. John’s and Fred Tessier of Grand Bank.

Rabbitts was elected the first of the 13 presidents who guided the association up to 2007. Tessier and Joe Healey of St. John’s were elected vice-presidents and Heber Bartlett of St. John’s was the first secretary-treasurer.

Holy Cross won the first provincial senior men’s championship in 1950. St. John’s All-stars won the first provincial senior women’s championship in 1977.

While the association came into being in 1950, soccer has been a major sport in Newfoundland and Labrador since the mid-1880s. Rowing is the only sport that can rival soccer historically for longevity, but soccer is played and watched by more people in the world than any other sport.

Soccer’s start, especially in St. John’s and on the Burin Peninsula, goes well back into the 1800s. Military garrisons, mostly from the British Isles, were reported to have played a form of soccer in St. John’s early in the 1700s and the St. John’s league was formally founded in 1896.

There are photographs available of Burin Peninsula teams leaving Fortune for games on St. Pierre and Miquelon as early as 1894.

With influences being exerted by crews of visiting cargo and war ships, by members of the British military and by other people who came to the province for various reasons, soccer was introduced early and often.

Ports such as Botwood and Corner Brook sported soccer games early in the 1900s. The builders of the paper mill in Grand Falls played excellent soccer and it spread to Bishop’s Falls, Gander, Springdale. Stephenville and Clarenville. The game has a history around Conception Bay from Manuels to Carbonear.

The arrival of workers at Labrador City and Wabush established solid soccer leagues in these communities in the late 1950s and 1960s. Soccer players in Happy Valley-Goose Bay not only played soccer during the summer but also played on packed snow on frozen rivers or ponds during the winter.

Soccer is “big time” in Newfoundland and Labrador. While most of the province’s soccer history is centered around St. John’s and the Burin Peninsula, the sport was popular, in varying degrees, in all areas of Newfoundland. An excellent example is a game between Springdale and Little Bay in 1925.

This photograph, provided through Don Huxter of Springdale, shows action between Springdale and Little Bay in the 1925 “friendly”.

Soccer has a long history in Labrador. The new town of Labrador City-Wabush in the early 1960’s saw organized soccer established in Western Labrador, it appears that soccer of a different kind was being played in Eastern Labrador on a regular basis for just as long or maybe even longer.

“Snow” soccer was an annual activity on ice covered harbors and rivers, especially on the coast of Labrador and to some extent on the Churchill River in the Happy Valley-Goose Bay area. A team from Makkovik earned a great deal of respect for its accomplishments starting in 1972 but many coastal communities had “snow soccer teams and played in a variety of tournaments. In addition to Makkovik, snow soccer was a regular winter activity in Postville, Hopedale, Nain, Adlavik, Ben’s Cove, Ailik, Lance Ground and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Kevin Lane, sports editor of the Labradorian, wrote an informative item on Makkovik snow soccer July 5, 1999 based on an interview with Makkovik recreation director John Andersen, who is a fountain of information about Labrador snow soccer. Members of this Makkovik team, which won 17 and tied 2 games with a team from the Royal British Air Force in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, are: left to right, front row, Alfred Winters, Robert Andersen, Mervyn Andersen; back row, Chesley Andersen, Junior Andersen, Fred Andersen, John Andersen, Reg Andersen, Toby Andersen, Wally Andersen and Billy McNeil.

Games featuring St. Pierre and Miquelon teams always involved enjoyable social aspects, whether they were played on the French islands or within the province. This historic photograph from a 1905 “friendly” was provided by Ned “Junior” Royle of Grand Bank and shows members of Grand Bank and St Pierre teams with their ladies.

AFFILIATION

The Newfoundland Soccer Association officially joined the Canadian Soccer Association April 1, 1967. Gus Etchegary, accompanied by R. Kelly of the Ontario Soccer Association as an adviser, attended the CSA annual meeting in Vancouver and registered as the Newfoundland delegates. This was a followup to Graham Snow and Matt Foster attending the CSA annual meeting in Toronto March 26 and 27, 1966. A committee of Etchegary, Snow and Matt Foster had been appointed to investigate the affiliation situation and it recommended it go ahead. The Newfoundland Amateur Football Association decided to make application to affiliate with the CSA at the semi-annual meeting Saturday June 4, 1966 in Gander and the application for affiliation happened during March, 1967.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Teams from Newfoundland and Labrador have won three Canadian championships. A Memorial University team won the national intercollegiate title in 1970, a provincial all-star team won the national under-18 title in 1974 and Holy Cross from the St. John’s league won the national Challenge Cup title in 1988, going unscored on in the process.

Memorial University’s varsity men’s soccer team captured the 1970-71 Canadian intercollegiate championship. Members of the champion team included: Jeff Babstock, Byron James, Mike Reddy, Ed Arnott, Bob French, Ron Price, Brian Murphy, Len Davis, manager Roland Dawe, Blair Leonard, Keith Farrell, Don Pike, Ray Hurley, Allister Rice, Chris Facey, Sandy Gibbons, Gus Crotty and coach Alan Ross.

A provincial all-star team earned the 1974 Canadian youth soccer championship. The title club included Paul Thornhill, Rudy Slaney, Frank Haskell, coach Jack Simms, Howard Walsh, coach Alan Ross, John Hearn, Marc Kielly, Terry Fitzgerald, Joe Turpin, Wayne Inkpen, W. Patten, Al Slaney, Dave Wiscombe, Tom Riley, Allister Graham, Len Hillier, John Breen and manager Mario Simon.

Not only did Holy Cross earn the 1988 Canadian senior men`s soccer championship and the Challenge Cup at the playoffs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but the club didn`t allow a goal in it`s title run. Members included ball boy Mark Reddy, Bob Thompson, John Breen, Paul Mullett, Bruce Tobin, coach Gerry Reddy, Tony Mullett, Bill Breen, Barry Piercey, Doug Redmond, Gary Breen, Darryl Smith, Dick Power, Bob Breen, Bob O`Leary, A.J. Breen, manager Bern Tobin, George Joyce, Gus Richards, Dean Mullett, Bernard Reddy and coach Brian Murphy.