Carl Valentine

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Carl Valentine (born 4 July 1958 in Manchester, England) is a former professional soccer player and coach who has had a long association with soccer in the Vancouver area of Canada. Valentine had a long, successful playing career from the late 1970s to the late 1990s with several clubs, notably the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League, Oldham Athletic, West Bromwich Albion of the Football League, and the Vancouver 86ers of the Canadian Soccer League. Valentine earned won 31 caps as a Canadian international, including three in the country's first round ties at the 1986 World Cup finals.

A striker, Valentine began his pro career in 1976 as a 17 year-old with Football League Second Division side Oldham Athletic. Valentine signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps and as a rookie helped them win their only North American Soccer League championship in 1979. Liking life in Vancouver, Valentine became a Canadian citizen in 1983. The lure of top division English football saw Valentine sign with West Midlands side West Brom in 1984. After two seasons with the Baggies, in which he played 44 first-team games and scored 6 times, Valentine returned to Vancouver to play for the new franchise Vancouver 86ers, where he remained for the next 13 years. Retiring as a full-time player in 1992, Valentine was player/manager of the club until retiring in 1999. Valentine also played indoor soccer seven winters (during the outdoor off season) in the original Major Indoor Soccer League with teams the Cleveland Force, Baltimore Blast, Kansas City Comets, and Tacoma Stars.

Initially hoping to be selected to play for England at some point, Valentine passed on an offer to play for Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He decided in 1985 however to declare his allegiance to his new home country and played for Canada in qualifying for Mexico '86. Despite a bad case of influenza, Valentine famously assisted on both goals (with corner kicks) Canada scored to defeat Honduras 2-1 to advance to the finals for the first (and only) time.

Valentine and wife Gillian have two daughters, Keely and Shannon, and a son, Gavin. He currently coaches youth soccer in North Vancouver.

	Canada squad - 1986 World Cup
1 Lettieri | 2 Lenarduzzi | 3 Wilson | 4 Ragan | 5 Moore | 6 Bridge | 7 Valentine | 8 Gray | 9 Segota | 10 Vrablic | 11 Sweeney | 12 Samuel | 13 Pakos | 14 Mitchell | 15 James | 16 Ion | 17 Norman | 18 Lowery | 19 De Luca | 20 Miller | 21 Habermann | 22 Dolan | Coach: Waiters

[edit] External links

• The OSA Hall of Fame and Museum with their induction page for Valentine
• North Shore Soccer Development Centre profiling Coach Valentine