Builders

1857 - 1957

A.E. "Tiny" Thombs - Born: Henley, England, 1882. Died: Hamilton,
Ontario, September 30, 1957. Forward. Tiny, as he was always known,
was a star in Hamilton soccer during the early years of the 1900s.
While stiull living in England he received some flattering offers from
some of the professional clubs to play for them, but chose to come to
Canada and Hamilton where he played most of his career with the great
Westinghouse team. For many years Thombs was without equal in Canada
as an outside left and he played for Hamilton against the Pilgrims in
1905, Corinthians in 1906 and the Corinthians again in 1911, scoring in
all three games. He also played for Ontario and for a Canadian
all-star team against a Scottish F.A. team in Montreal in 1921. If
there had been a Canadian national team in thsoe days he would almost
certainly have played for Canada. Tiny was a member of the
Westinghouse team that won the Ontario Cup in 1911, 1912 and 1920 and
also the Canadian championship in 1920. In 1924 the City of Hamilton
showed it's appreciation by staging a testimonial game in his honour.

Herbert Pogson - Born: Leeds, Yorkshire, England, 1896. Died:
Hamilton, Ontario, November 17, 1949. A member of the Canadian
national team that toured New Zealand in 1927 Pogson played at first
for the Hamilton Independent Labour Party team which later changed its
named to Hamilton City. Herb Pogson came to Hamilton at the age of 17
and served with the 173rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force
in the First World War, winning the Military Medal for bravery in
action . In World War Two he was with the Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders with the rank of sergeant-major. An employee of the Eaton
Knitting Company for 30 years. Pogson won Hamilton Spectator Cup
medals in 1922 with Independent Labour Party and in 1928 and 1929 with
Hamilton City. An inside or centre forward he played for Hamilton
All-Stars against a touring English F.A. team in 1926.

Joseph "Joe" Campbell Newton D.C .M. - Born: Alexandra, Dumbartonshire,
Scotland, 1887. Died: Hamilton, Ontario, January 15, 1944. Centre
Half. Joe Newton emigrated to Canada at the age of 19 and came to live
in Hamilton and had played for Dumbarton Oakdale before coming to
Canada. He was a member of the great Westinghouse team that won the
Ontario Cup in 1911 and 1912 and lost in the final of the 1909
competition. He also helped Westinghouse win the Spectator Cup in
1908, 1909, 1911 and 1912. Joe was said to have been a fearless a
powerful player and a fine tackler. He was a member of the Canadian
Expeditionary Force in World War One and was recommended for the
Victoria Cross for crawling to within 12 yards of the front line and
carrying a badly wounded officer back to his own lines. His bravery
was recognized by the awarding of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The
same act won for him the Montenegrin medal, one of those awarded by the
King of Montenegro for bravery amongst allied troops. For the last 20
years of his life he was employed in Hamilton by the Tuckett Tobacco
Company.

Arthur Wilfred Cartwright - Born: England, 1893. Died: Hamilton,
Ontario, August 12, 1944. Arthur Cartwright came to Canada in 1923 and
played centre half for Canada against the United States in Brooklyn,
New York in 1925. He played his club soccer for Hamilton Independent
Labour Party in 1923 and Hamilton City in 1924 and 1925. He was killed
at Dofasco when he was struck by an iron block attached to a crane and
died before medical attention could be summoned.

Dr. Henry Hampton Pirie - Born: Dundas, Ontario, 1864. Died: Dundas,
Ontario, December 13, 1943. A graduate of Arts and Medicine at Queens
University in Kingston, Ontario, he played soccer in his college days
and also played for Canada against the United States in East Newark,
New Jersey in 1886. He also toured the British Isles with the great
Canadian team of 1888 playing against Scotland in Glasgow. After
graduating from Queens he served as a medical practitioner in Costa
Rica for many years, before returning home to Dundas, where he engaged
in such sports as lawn bowling, golf and curling. During the
depression in the 1930s, Dr. Pirie served his community well in
connection with the administration of relief.

Courtesy of Colin Jose - Colin has been researching the history of the game in Canada and the United States by working with the micro-film of old newspapers.

Builders Administrators

Arthur Arnold - Born: Wolverhampton, England. Died: Burlington,
Ontario, February 16, 1969.
One of the longest serving administrators in Canadian soccer history.
Secretary of Hamilton City in 1929 and not long after began a long
association with the National Soccer League, becoming president in 1935
and again in the 1950s, while at the same time president of the Ontario
Football Association (OFA). Appointed by the Dominion of Canada
Football Association (DCFA), todays Canadian Soccer Association, in
1948 to the Ontario Soccer Commission, with the task or re-organizing
soccer in Ontario following World War Two. He did such a good job that
he became President of the Ontario Football Association from 1951 to
1957 in the turbulent years following the war. In declining the
nomination to the presidency at the 1958 OFA meeting he told the
delegates "no man was more attacked or belittled than I was and I just
couldn't go on for another 12 months. Later in the meeting the
delegates made him a life member. However, he went on to become
president of the Football Association of Canada (FAC) in 1957-58, an
honour denied him the previous year. Arthur Arnold owned and operated
a steel fabricating plant that used to be located at 154 McNab Street
South in Hamilton. He was known to everyone in the Hamilton soccer
community as "Pop" Arnold.

William Edward Dean - Born: Westbury-on-Severn, England, 1872. Died:
Hamilton, Ontario, November 27, 1944. President of the Ontario
Football Association in 1921, 1923, 1924 and 1925. A life member of
the Ontario and Canadian Football (Soccer) Associations. Refereed the
game between a Canadian All-Star team and a Scottish F.A. touring team
in Montreal in 1921. President of the Hamilton and District Soccer
Association in 1933, 1934 and 1935. Owned and operated a shoe store in
east end Hamilton for 30 years.

Samuel Clarke - Born: England, 1873. Died: Hamilton, Ontario, December
12, 1947. President of the Ontario Football Association 1916-17.
Popular former Alderman in the City of Hamilton from 1929 until 1934
and from 1941 to 1943. Came to Canada from England in 1906 and in 1916
took over as manager of the Hamilton Spectator Branch No 4, Barton
Street, East. President of the Hamilton and District Soccer
Association in 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919. His store became a
rendezvous for people from the British Isles and he sold British
newspapers. For many years he also wrote a soccer column for the
Spectator.

Herbert Hall - Born: Manchester, England, 1877. Died: Hamilton,
Ontario, January 10, 1941. President of the Ontario Football (Soccer)
Association from 1931 to 1936 and the Hamilton and District Soccer
Association in 1928, 1929 and 1930. A printer by trade he served an
apprenticeship for seven and a half years working under his father at
the Manchester Evening News. In 1902 he was in South Africa, and
enlisted in the British Army for service in the Boar War. However
peace was declared immediately after his enlistment. He came to
Hamilton in 1904 and worked for three different Hamilton papers, the
Times, the Herald and then the Spectator. He was a charter member of
the Hamilton Lions Club and served as president in 1936 and 1937.

William Donaldson - Born: Stevenston, Scotland, 1873. Died: Hamilton,
Ontario, January 7, 1942. President of the Ontario Football (Soccer)
Association 1918-19 and first vice-president in 1917, 1918 and 1919.
Secretary-Treasurer of the Hamilton and District Soccer Association
from 1917 to 1936.

Courtesy Colin Jose - Colin has been researching the history of the game in
Canada and the United States by working with the micro-film of old newspapers.