Robert Bolitho (born July 20, 1952) is a Canadian former

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 for the Canadian national team and in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

and

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

Club career

Bolitho played as a teenager of

Pacific Coast Soccer League The Pacific Coast Soccer League is an amateur Association football, soccer league, currently featuring teams from British Columbia. In the past, clubs from Washington (state), Washington and Oregon have competed. The Pacific Coast Soccer Leagu ...

side Victoria O'Keefe S.C. before joining the soccer team of the London Boxing Club in Victoria, for whom he won a Canadian Club Championship national title in 1975. The following summer Bolitho joined the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

and remained with the club until 1980. He was a member of their

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...

winning team in 1979, playing at right back in the Soccer Bowl win over the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. He went on loan to the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

during the 1979–1980 NASL indoor season. In 1980, Bolitho began the season with the Whitecaps before being traded to the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

with whom he played the rest of the 1980 outdoor as well as the 1980–1981 NASL indoor season. In 1981, he moved to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

. In 1984, the Strikers moved to Minnesota where they became the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...

. He began as a starter that season, but soon moved to the substitutes bench before being traded to the

. Bolitho then played one season for

Victoria Vistas The Victoria Vistas were a professional soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. The Vistas joined the CSL for the 1989 season and folded after the 1990 season. Victoria All-star team ...

in the CSL in 1989.

International career

Bolitho was on the Canadian squad at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

Pan-American Games 1975 (Mexico) - Match Details
/ref> and was a member of the Olympic team at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

, playing against the Soviet Union in

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 ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

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 ...

. He played a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

role in the early days of his first class career before settling down at

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Bolitho scored an impressive equalizing

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

against the United States in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1976 in a World Cup qualifier and scored again later that year in a 3–0 win over the U.S. in a playoff in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, which allowed Canada to advance to the final round in 1978 World Cup qualifying.

International goals

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

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 ...

''www.pcsl.org''

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolitho, Bob 1952 births Living people Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian people of Cornish descent Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canadian men's soccer players Olympic soccer players for Canada Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Pan American Games soccer players for Canada Footballers at the 1975 Pan American Games Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Los Angeles Aztecs players Minnesota Strikers (NASL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Soccer players from Victoria, British Columbia Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Victoria Vistas players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen