Alexander Bunbury (born 18 June 1967) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a striker. During a 13-year professional career he played for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, Marítimo and

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

, as well as representing the Canadian national team. Bunbury was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in April 2006. Following a coaching career, Bunbury lead an investment group and purchased C.D. Portosantense in April 2024, becoming the club's new President with a 90% ownership stake.

Club career

Born in Plaisance, Guyana, Bunbury started playing professionally with the Hamilton Steelers where he was managed by

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh association football, footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Juventus FC, Ju ...

, also having one-year spells in the Canadian Soccer League with the Toronto Blizzard and

Montreal Supra Montreal Supra was a Soccer in Canada, Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec that played in the Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992), Canadian Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. History Montre ...

. In 1993, after an unassuming season for

(only six appearances overall), he moved to Portugal's C.S. Marítimo, going on to become the club's all-time leading goalscorer in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

with 59 goals. In his second season, he won the ''Foreign Player of the Year'' award,"Rapids rise into top spot for first time ever"
and he scored a career-best 15 goals in the 1998–99 campaign, helping his team to the tenth position in what was his final year in

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

. In early 1999, after requesting a move to play closer to his hometown of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Bunbury returned to North America, and retired after two seasons with the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. Subsequently, he took up coaching in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, first with youth team Bangu Tsunami FC and later at the

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional association football, soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. T ...

Academy. Bunbury was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in April 2006. In 2012, as part of the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.

International career

Bunbury played in all three of Canada's games at the

1985 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fifth edition FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 24 August to 7 September 1985. The tournament took place in ten venues within eight host citie ...

in the Soviet Union. He made his debut with the senior side in an August 1986

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup is an invitational association football, football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019 and 2023. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and ...

match against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and went on to earn 65

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and score 15 goals during 11 years. Bunbury ranked fourth in the all-time scorer's list in June 2008, and eighth in appearances. He represented the nation in 30

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

qualifiers, and played at the inaugural

1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship The 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship was the first FIFA Futsal World Championship, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held between 5 and 15 January ...

. Bunbury's final international was a November 1997 World Cup qualification match against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

, a game after which Paul Dolan, Geoff Aunger,

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach and former player. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich Town, including the club's first three seasons in the Premier League. He also played in Major ...

and Colin Miller also said farewell to the national team.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

Personal life

After his retirement, Bunbury made

Prior Lake, Minnesota Prior Lake is an exurban city southwest of Minneapolis, next to Savage and Shakopee in Scott County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Surrounding the shores of Lower and Upper Prior Lake, the city is south of the Minnesota River in an area k ...

, his home, where he worked as a youth soccer coach and trainer. He has three children with his ex-wife, Kristi Novak-Bunbury: actress Kylie, professional soccer player

Teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...

, and Logan. He has one child with Andrea Hutton Pridgen: Mataeo. In 2018, Bunbury lead an investment group in purchasing Portuguese lower league club S.U. 1º Dezembro. Bunbury lead negotiations with former club Marítimo in 2023 regarding financial investment in the

-based team. A year later, in 2024, Bunbury lead an investment group and purchased C.D. Portosantense, becoming the club's new President with a 90% ownership stake. The Canadian stated his aim to develop a new stadium for the club and take the team to the second division within 5 years.

Honours

Marítimo *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: runner-up 1994–95 Kansas City Wizards *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

: 2000 Individual * Canadian International Player of the Year: 1993, 1995 *

: Foreign Player of the Year 1994–95

References

External links

* /

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2024, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

*
The Wonderful World of West Ham United statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunbury, Alex 1967 births Living people People from Demerara-Mahaica Guyanese emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Soccer players from Hamilton, Ontario Soccer players from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Black Canadian men's soccer players Guyanese people of African descent Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Montreal Supra players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players English Football League players West Ham United F.C. players Primeira Liga players C.S. Marítimo players Major League Soccer players Sporting Kansas City players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian men's futsal players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Canadian sportsmen