What are some interesting facts about the history of Canadian soccer that fans would be surprised to learn?
Colin Jose: I think that Canadians in general have no idea that soccer is one of Canada’s oldest sports. To the best of my knowledge the game we call soccer, as it is played under roughly today’s laws, was first played in Canada in 1876, between two teams in Toronto. However, it was played in various forms in Canada long before that, one of the earliest games recorded being between a team from the St. George’s Society and a team of Irishmen in 1859. The first attempt at forming a national association outside of Britain, took place in Toronto in 1877, when the short-lived Dominion Football Association was formed. Then in 1880 the far more important Western Football Association of Ontario (WFA), was formed in Berlin, now Kitchener. This organization lasted for 60 years and led to the first international played between two countries outside of Britain, when a team representing Canada, played a team representing the United States, in East Newark, New Jersey in 1885. The WFA also staged the
