Andy Stevens (born in England) was an English-Canadian

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 ...

center forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

who began and ended his career in Canada but also spent six seasons in the American Soccer League. He was a two time league leading scorer with the ASL and was a member of the

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 ...

's 2006 Team of Distinction, the 1933

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Scottish. In 2017, as part of the "Legends Class" he was elected to the Hall of Fame as an individual player.

Professional career

Stevens, born in north-east England, came to Canada in 1905. In 1920, he left Canada to sign with Pullman F.C. in Chicago. By 1923, he was back in Canada where he briefly played for Toronto Willys Overland and Toronto Scottish before joining Detroit F.C that year. In 1924, he Stevens signed with the

Boston Soccer Club The Boston Soccer Club was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Boston Bears for the Fall 1929 ASL season. In 1925, the ASL and the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) boycotted the National Challenge Cup, now known as t ...

of the American Soccer League. Boston transferred him to the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...

just over halfway through the season. Stevens led the ASL in scoring twice: 1925-1926 (44 goals) and 1927-1928 (30 goals). Stevens remained with the Whalers until 1928–1929 season, but left the team after fifteen games to sign with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the

Eastern Professional Soccer League Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

. With the merger of the ESL and ASL in 1929, several teams from the ESL petitioned for entry into the new league. New York Hispano, of the ESL, moved to

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

under the new name Bridgeport Hungaria. The team ownership hired Stevens to coach the team. In March 1930, Hungaria folded ten games into the season. Stevens then moved to the New York Nationals for the last few games of the season. The Nationals folded at the end of the season and Stevens returned to Canada where he joined Toronto Scottish. He won the Canadian championship in 1932 with Scottish. On June 11, 1933, Toronto Scottish met Stix, Baer and Fuller F.C., the reigning

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

champion in a one time North American Soccer Championship. Toronto took the game 2–1. Stevens served in the Canadian Army in World War Two.

Managerial career

In 1947 he became coach of Toronto East End Canadians in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

and in 1950 of Toronto Oakwoods.

References

External links

* /

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Andy English emigrants to Canada Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Toronto Ulster United players Toronto Scottish players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Boston Soccer Club players New Bedford Whalers players Bridgeport Hungaria players New York Nationals (ASL) players Eastern Professional Soccer League (1928–29) players New York Giants (soccer) players 1968 deaths 1901 births Canadian National Soccer League players Men's association football forwards 20th-century Canadian sportsmen