The Tours -- Part Two: Scotland v. Canada 1921

When goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski gave the performance of his life against England in 1973, allowing Poland to qualify for the '74 World Cup at England's expense by drawing 1-1, England forward Mick Channon remarked, "that night I would have put the mortgage on any horse [Tomaszewski] had a fancy for." Had somebody done the same thing after Toronto goalkeeper Art Halliwell's once-in-a-lifetime goal-stopping feat against a Scottish representative side in 1921, they likely would have paid off the mortgage and then some: Halliwell would later own 51 horses and retire a millionaire.

In 1921 Scotland was considered a world class footballing nation, and as Colin Jose remarks in Keeping Score: The Canadian Encyclopedia of Soccer, the 1921 Canadian tour was "the first tour to really attract a lot of attention across Canada..." (61). Scotland laid waste to every Canadian side they faced, winning every game and scoring 86 goals while giving up 9. But the final game, ostensibly a full-international between Canada and Scotland played at Alexandra Park in Montreal on July 9, was a much closer affair. While Scotland prevailed 1-0, Toronto Scottish keeper Art Halliwell gave what the Globe called "one of the finest exhibitions of goal-keeping ever seen on a local field."

After the game, Halliwell was carried off the field by his teammates while receiving hearty applause from the Scottish players. So impressed were the Scots that they offered him a job playing between the sticks at Dumfermline Athletic for the 1921-22 season, although Halliwell would only stay one year before returning home. While he would return to goal for the Ontario provincial team against various British touring teams in the 1920s, Toronto's homegrown keeper would never reach the heights of 1921. Halliwell was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001.

A More Splendid Life continues its month-long series on the history of soccer in Toronto. I apologize for the delay in posting -- you'll get another one later this evening. A More Splendid Life has embarked on a tour of its own this week: I've written a piece on Soccerlens that can be viewed here.