Memories of Mexico '86

[Treppy2]

With Canada on the verge of qualifying, I went digging in my basement to find the scrapbooks I kept the last time we qualified for the World Cup. I have three scrapbooks from Mexico '86 containing every newspaper clipping I could find on the tournament, mostly from the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen. It's really interesting to see how far football in Canada has come from 1986, when the odds were 1,000-1 for us to win the tournament — which was likely about right. Here are photos of an eight-page section the Toronto Star published just prior to the tournament. If there's interest, I'll be happy to take photos of the clippings in my scrapbooks from the tournament itself and post those, too.

 

 

[nolando]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing.

[An Observer]

Yes. It would be great if the resolution was better as when I zoom in it’s not clear enough to read. I would love to read those old articles 

[Ally McCoist]

You should honestly send these to news outlets. Or post to Reddit and get crazy karma. Whatever floats your boat.

[kacbru]

Who are the 6 fearless handicappers?  I recognize BJ Birdy, and the faces of some of the others are familiar, but I'm drawing a blank and can't make out their names.

[An Observer]

6 minutes ago, kacbru said:

Who are the 6 fearless handicappers?  I recognize BJ Birdy, and the faces of some of the others are familiar, but I'm drawing a blank and can't make out their names.

Brian Budd is one; and I think Dan Ferrone from the Argos

 

[Strait Red]

10 minutes ago, kacbru said:

Who are the 6 fearless handicappers?  I recognize BJ Birdy, and the faces of some of the others are familiar, but I'm drawing a blank and can't make out their names.

Terry Kelly is one, he was a lawyer in Oshawa who went to “big games” all over the globe, another is Johnny Lombardi, who owned a multi cultural radio station in Toronto.

[Treppy2]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'll post photos of a few scrapbook photos each day, mostly on the clippings that involve Canada. The scrapbook pages are smaller than the newspaper pages posted above, so I think the articles will be readable. In any case:

• I'll add a few point form notes about the articles' content in case people don't want to read the whole thing, and I'll add some of my own comments and memories.

Feel free to share your memories of Mexico '86, too.

*

The first few articles are about the drawing of groups and Canada's chances. I think the first two paragraphs of this first article cemented my love for Canada soccer and the World Cup:

"The 13th World Cup soccer finals in Mexico next year promise one of the most fascinating, colorful and evenly-matched tournaments in the history of the competition.

All six former winners of the trophy have safely taken their places among the 24 qualifying countries; among them, for the first time, Canada."

*

• "Brazil is in a mess..."
• There were no FIFA world rankings back then. For the draw, Canada was placed in Pot 4 with Iraq, South Korea, Algeria, Morocco and Denmark. Denmark was there presumably because they were the weakest European team and were making their first World Cup appearance.
• Pot 1 contained Italy, Mexico, France, Brazil, West Germany and Poland. Poland, presumably, because of their semi-final appearance at the 1982 World Cup
• "Compared to other nations, where soccer is virtually a religion, Canada is something of an oddity... some of (Canada's team members) draw unemployment insurance."
• Canada arranges pre-tournament friendlies against Paraguay, England, Bulgaria, Colombia, the US, two Mexican League teams and a Florida all-star squad. I don't remember any of those games, other than versus England.
• Canada were given odds of 1,000-1 to win the World Cup, 333-1 to make the final, 125-1 to make it out of their group.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Treppy2

[An Observer]

Thanks. I can read those.  I really appreciate it

of the friendlies, I too only remember the England match at Swangard I believe.  I think England won 1-0 which was a respectable score.  Mark Hately of then I think AC Milan scored and he was suppose to be their big striker but at the World Cup it became the Lineker and Beardsley combo if memory serves. 

[Treppy2]

12 hours ago, An Observer said:

Thanks. I can read those.  I really appreciate it

of the friendlies, I too only remember the England match at Swangard I believe.  I think England won 1-0 which was a respectable score.  Mark Hately of then I think AC Milan scored and he was suppose to be their big striker but at the World Cup it became the Lineker and Beardsley combo if memory serves. 

Great - glad the text is readable.

You have a good memory. From the clippings to come, your details of that game are correct.

[Treppy2]

Meant to add to yesterday's note:

• Group E teams were West Germany, Uruguay, Scotland, Denmark. This was the first reference I remember to a "Group of Death". Does anyone recall an earlier reference?

From today's clippings:

• Tony Waiters struggles to get his players released for friendlies. There were no FIFA match days back then, and he had to negotiate with individual MISL managers. On the difficulty of getting players released, he later said, "We should have had a meeting with the MISL managers at the start of the year... and shot them all."
• Waiters' salary with the national team was $90,000. He turned down an offer to become commissioner of the CSL after the World Cup, which would have paid $40,000
• Canada and Paraguay played to a 0-0 tie in a friendly in Vancouver. 17-year-old high school student Domenic Mobilio came on as a substitute in the match. I had no idea he played for the national team at such a young age.
• Uruguay beats Canada 3-1 in a friendly in Miami. "Most Canadian players couldn't obtain releases from their MISL teams." George Pakos scores. "Playing internationally meant Pakos had to obtain leaves of absence from water-meter repairing five times."

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Treppy2

[Gian-Luca]

On 3/14/2022 at 9:03 AM, Treppy2 said:

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'll post photos of a few scrapbook photos each day, mostly on the clippings that involve Canada. The scrapbook pages are smaller than the newspaper pages posted above, so I think the articles will be readable. In any case:

• I'll add a few point form notes about the articles' content in case people don't want to read the whole thing, and I'll add some of my own comments and memories.

Feel free to share your memories of Mexico '86, too.

*

The first few articles are about the drawing of groups and Canada's chances. I think the first two paragraphs of this first article cemented my love for Canada soccer and the World Cup:

"The 13th World Cup soccer finals in Mexico next year promise one of the most fascinating, colorful and evenly-matched tournaments in the history of the competition.

All six former winners of the trophy have safely taken their places among the 24 qualifying countries; among them, for the first time, Canada."

*

• "Brazil is in a mess..."
• There were no FIFA world rankings back then. For the draw, Canada was placed in Pot 4 with Iraq, South Korea, Algeria, Morocco and Denmark. Denmark was there presumably because they were the weakest European team and were making their first World Cup appearance.
• Pot 1 contained Italy, Mexico, France, Brazil, West Germany and Poland. Poland, presumably, because of their semi-final appearance at the 1982 World Cup
• "Compared to other nations, where soccer is virtually a religion, Canada is something of an oddity... some of (Canada's team members) draw unemployment insurance."
• Canada arranges pre-tournament friendlies against Paraguay, England, Bulgaria, Colombia, the US, two Mexican League teams and a Florida all-star squad. I don't remember any of those games, other than versus England.
• Canada were given odds of 1,000-1 to win the World Cup, 333-1 to make the final, 125-1 to make it out of their group.

 

 

A coach of a team qualified for the World Cup admitting that his team needs to work on such basic skills as passing ability and ball control - now there's something you're unlikely to see in more current times....

[ray]

On 3/13/2022 at 5:32 PM, Treppy2 said:

With Canada on the verge of qualifying, I went digging in my basement to find the scrapbooks I kept the last time we qualified for the World Cup. I have three scrapbooks from Mexico '86 containing every newspaper clipping I could find on the tournament, mostly from the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen. It's really interesting to see how far football in Canada has come from 1986, when the odds were 1,000-1 for us to win the tournament — which was likely about right. Here are photos of an eight-page section the Toronto Star published just prior to the tournament. If there's interest, I'll be happy to take photos of the clippings in my scrapbooks from the tournament itself and post those, too.

 

Great collection of articles.  I also tried to keep anything national team I could find back in the day but didn't have access to this range of media.  You have a wonderful time capsule.

[Treppy2]

• Bruce Wilson wants to coach men's team - Waiters is stepping down after World Cup
• Canada makes an acclimatization trip to Mexico in February to check out their venues and play friendlies
• players will earn between $5,000 and $20,000 each from the CSA at the World Cup
• MISL still being ornery about releasing players
• Piqué is revealed as the mascot for the World Cup. Don't think we'd see a mascot like that these days.

 

[nolando]

Really enjoyed that Waiters article, thanks again!

[Metro]

I can't read the article, "Canada pulling for MISL worst".  Was the CSA hoping for MISL to fold before the World Cup so that players would be released?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were!😄

[Trois Reds]

46 minutes ago, Metro said:

I can't read the article, "Canada pulling for MISL worst".  Was the CSA hoping for MISL to fold before the World Cup so that players would be released?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were!😄

According to the article, 13 CMNT players were on MISL sides, and the MISL wasn't going to release them.  So they had to hope all the MISL teams with Canadians didn't make the playoffs or got knocked out early so they could prepare for the World Cup which was starting a couple weeks after the MISL playoffs were done.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Trois Reds

[Treppy2]

3 minutes ago, Trois Reds said:

According to the article, 13 CMNT players were on MISL sides, and the MISL wasn't going to release them.  So they had to hope all the MISL teams with Canadians didn't make the playoffs or got knocked out early so they could prepare for the World Cup which was starting a couple weeks after the MISL playoffs were done.

Thank you — I was just about to post a similar reply.

I'll start posting higher resolution photos in the hopes that they'll be legible for everyone.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Treppy2

[Trois Reds]

10 minutes ago, Treppy2 said:

Thank you — I was just about to post a similar reply.

I'll start posting higher resolution photos in the hopes that they'll be legible for everyone.

No problem - I can enlarge my screen on my computer, so it helps. On my phone, it would have been too hard.

[Metro]

1 hour ago, Treppy2 said:

Thank you — I was just about to post a similar reply.

I'll start posting higher resolution photos in the hopes that they'll be legible for everyone.

No criticism from me; thank you for posting and keep them coming any way you see fit! 🙂

[Treppy2]

I'm posting higher res photos, so hopefully today's clippings will be easier to read.

Highlights:

• Canada beats Seattle Storm 3-2. Were they an NASL team? I only remember the Sounders.
• Mexico beats Canada 3-0 in Azulgrana Stadium in Mexico City.
• Canada beats "a local soccer club" 5-0 in Irapuato, site of their first World Cup match.
• "Canada hits peak" and beats Wales 2-0 at Varsity Stadium. My first-ever in-person soccer match, and I proudly added the ticket stub to the scrapbook.

 

 

[Shway]

This is great @Treppy2, appreciate this a lot.

For some it’s a trip down memory lane, and for others like me this is before our existence.

Reading this piece of history from one’s clippings is special. 

You sir should get a segment on TV.

[Metro]

1 hour ago, Treppy2 said:

I'm posting higher res photos, so hopefully today's clippings will be easier to read.

Highlights:

• Canada beats Seattle Storm 3-2. Were they an NASL team? I only remember the Sounders.
• Mexico beats Canada 3-0 in Azulgrana Stadium in Mexico City.
• Canada beats "a local soccer club" 5-0 in Irapuato, site of their first World Cup match.
• "Canada hits peak" and beats Wales 2-0 at Varsity Stadium. My first-ever in-person soccer match, and I proudly added the ticket stub to the scrapbook.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Storm_(soccer)

Apparently the team released one of their players after the Canada game because he was "ejected for making several flagrant fouls."

[ray]

On 3/16/2022 at 8:02 AM, Treppy2 said:

• Bruce Wilson wants to coach men's team - Waiters is stepping down after World Cup
• Canada makes an acclimatization trip to Mexico in February to check out their venues and play friendlies
• players will earn between $5,000 and $20,000 each from the CSA at the World Cup
• MISL still being ornery about releasing players
• Piqué is revealed as the mascot for the World Cup. Don't think we'd see a mascot like that these days.

 

It's a pity Branko Segota was not more involved in '86 (due to MISL involvement).  It seems our early exit from 1990 WC qualifying ended his international career.

[Treppy2]

Today's clippings include some news from Denmark and Scotland. Other highlights:

• "Beverages sold in (World Cup) stadiums will be cooled with crushed ice, not ice cubes which can be thrown at people."
• Canada is described as "like Christians being fed to the lions...", "possibly the least appreciated collection of athletes to ever vie for a major sports championship..." and "Group C is the second best in the competition and the only thing keeping it from the top is Canada."
• Canada loses 3-0 to Wales in the teams' second friendly.