O
n top of the sensational
emergence of Alphonso
Davies, his fellow countryman
Jonathan David commanded
a€30 million transfer by moving from
Gent to Lille earlier this summer. There
are high hopes for Liverpool’s Liam Millar
too, while18-year-oldJayden Nelson has
already made his senior international
debut and played in MLS for Toronto.
Equally, Canadian women’s football
has progressed rapidly of late as well –
epitomised by Lyon defender Kadeisha
Buchanan lifting her fourth Champions
League trophy in a row following a 3-1
victory over Wolfsburg back in August.
Lyon’s semi-final opponents, Paris
Saint-Germain, have the next big thing
on their books in the form of19-year-
old strikerJordyn Huitema – who also
happens to be Davies’ girlfriend.
The Canucks have long been
considered a fledgling football nation. It
seems that label is now set to become
out of date.
With the future looking bright for the
Canadian women and men’s teams, we
focus on the the Canadian trailblazers
who have paved the way.THE PIONEERS
Canadian football has a deeper and
more illustrious history than is often
assumed. In1888 a team from the
Western Football Association of
Ontario toured Britain, becoming the
first international team to do so, and
featuring some of the earliest examples
of Canadians who crossed the Atlantic
in the pursuit of glory.Edward Hagarty Parry
More than a century before Canadian-
born England international midfielder
Owen Hargreaves, there was the
pioneering Edward Parry.
The Toronto native moved to
England at a young age, and captained
the Oxford University team that lost the
1877 FA Cup final – a 2-1 defeat at
the hands of south-east London club,
Wanderers. In1881 Parry had another
crack at FA Cup glory, this time
captaining Old Carthusians to
a 3-0 victory over Old Etonians.
In doing so, he became both the
first Canadian to win an FA Cup, and
the first non-UK player to captain
an FA Cup-winning team.
A natural-born leader known for his
mazy dribbling, Parry ended his career
with three England caps.Walter Wells Bowman
Likely the first Canadian-born footballer
to have played in the English Football
League, Bowman played for Accrington