One of this country’s greatest soccer players of all time has received one of the highest honours in Canadian sports.
Craig Forrest, a former goalkeeper with the Canadian national team, was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Forrest is only the fifth soccer player to enter the Hall. He joins Andrea Neil, Charmaine Hooper, Dave Turner and Bruce Wilson.
“It’s an incredible honour. To be included in the Hall with so many legendary athletes, a list of who’s who in Canadian sports, it’s humbling,” Forrest told Sportsnet.
“My hope is that in some small way my induction will lead to more soccer players being inducted down the road, and inspire more boys and girls to take up the sport.”
Forrest, 47, didn’t start playing soccer until he was 12 years while growing up in B.C., but he made up for lost time—as a 16-year-old he travelled to England and signed a two-year apprenticeship with Ipswich Town. While on loan to Colchester United, he made his professional debut during the 1987-88 season.
Forrest would stay at Ipswich for 14 seasons and make over 300 appearances, helping the team win promotion to the Premier League in 1992. Amazingly, Forrest was one of only 11 active foreign players in the Premier League that season—a far cry from today where foreign players dominate starting line-ups of the biggest clubs in the English topflight.
After a short loan with Chelsea at the end of the 1996-97 campaign, Forrest joined West Ham United in 1997.
His greatest success, though, came while playing for his country. Forrest was an integral part of the Canadian side that won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, still the only major tournament Canada has won at the senior level. Forrest was named to the Gold Cup’s all-star team, and was named the tournament MVP—he only gave up three goals and stopped two penalty shots in five games.
“In all modesty, it was the best I’ve ever played in all my years suiting up for the national team. I just felt I was really strong in net, supported by a defence that was very well organized,” Forrest told Sportsnet in a 2014 interview.
“It was definitely the highlight of my career. But then I flew back to England to re-join West Ham and in my very next game after beating Colombia (in the Gold Cup final) I was in net as we got shelled 7-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford. How’s that for karma?”
Forrest was also in goal for Canada’s famous 1-1 draw in a friendly with Brazil in Edmonton a month before their victory in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Paul Dolan, a former goalkeeper who played for Canada at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and was teammates with Forrest, marvelled at how Forrest often “single-handedly kept Canada in games.”
“He had a presence and a confidence about him on the field that never seemed to waiver even under heavy pressure. I know that trying to win the number one position from him and from Pat Onstad, who I also have great respect for, pushed my own game to higher levels which might be the biggest compliment I could pay to Craig. He made me and every other player on the team push themselves to be better players when he was in the squad,” Dolan said.
Regarded as the best goalkeeper Canada has ever produced, Forrest earned 56 caps from between 1988 and 2002. He still holds the Canadian shutout record, posting 19 clean sheets.
In 2001, Forrest was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He beat the illness, but was forced to retire from the game in 2002. After retiring, Forrest started working as a soccer pundit in Canada. He currently serves as a soccer analyst for Sportsnet.
“Craig’s playing career speaks for itself. It was truly Hall of Fame both in professional soccer and as Canada’s stalwart keeper for many years. He continues to work at growing the game in his role on television. He is now truly Canada’s pre-eminent voice on soccer. A great choice for induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame,” said Scott Moore, President of Sportsnet and NHL Properties for Rogers.
Gerry Dobson, Forrest’s long-time broadcast partner at Sportsnet, characterized the former goalkeeper’s transition from player to media pundit as seamless.
“Whether it was for Canada or Ipswich or West Ham, he always wore the jersey with pride and was an incredible shot stopper. But more important than that, he’s a generous and standup guy who believes in soccer and growing the game in Canada. I’m honoured to call him a friend.”
Former NHL star Paul Coffey, freestyle skier Jennifer Heil and women’s hockey player Danielle Goyette are other members of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015.
The induction ceremony will be held Oct. 21 at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.