Sandland, Arthur “Bud”, History of Soccer

Nanaimo Historical Society Fonds
Series 2 Sound Recordings

Tape 43

History of Soccer in Nanaimo by Arthur “Bud” Sandland, given at the Nanaimo Historical Society meeting, September 16, 1980.
Transcribed by Glenys Wall
October 2005

Unknown Introducer: This is my first venture as a programme director and I’m rather new to this game, so I hope you’ll bear with me. Our subject this evening is soccer; soccer from many years ago and I’ll be introducing our speaker, Mr. Bud Sandland a little later. Soccer is a sport which has really taken an interest in North America in the last few years. According to a producer of the NBC Wide World of Sports, he said that it is the fastest growing sport in North America. Well soccer was always popular in Nanaimo but then again this was not the only sport that was popular. Now I went down to the museum just the other day and I looked at some of the pictures on the wall and guess what was happening in the world of sport in Nanaimo many years ago? There was one big picture, it shows horse racing in 1886 on Haliburton Street; 1891 there was the Nanaimo Cycling Club with twelve members present for the picture; 1893 there was a team of five members, it says 5-a-side, I don’t know if that’s a form of rugby or football but in any case they were champions of B.C. in that year. Can someone tell me a little bit about that game if they want to?
Audience member: Was it called the Violets?
Introducer: No, the Violets I’ll mention a little later. Er… 1893 the Nanaimo Rangers Football team were the B.C. Champs; 1895 the Nanaimo Baseball team and the Nanaimo Stars Junior Baseball team were champions of British Columbia, in 1895. 1896/97 we had the champion rugby team of B.C. here. 1896 there is a picture of a team at the cricket grounds in Robin’s Park In 1899 there was a lacrosse team, field lacrosse, 15 members had their picture taken. Now into the 20th Century, 1902, White Mosquito Basketball team, they were champions of something, either Nanaimo or B.C., it doesn’t say; 1902 Intermediate Mosquito Lacrosse team, Caledonia Grounds; 1902/03 Suburbs Athletic Club, baseball champions; 1907 Nanaimo Eagles Ball Club and then 1907, Nanaimo United Football Team won the B.C. Challenge Cup; 1908/09, Nanaimo Junior Football Club were the B.C. Champs and in 1913 Nanaimo United Football Team were the champions of Canada, the [People’s] Shield and one year later in 1914 the Northfield Violets Football Team were also Champions of Canada. These are all pictures down at the museum. Then I saw a picture of the 1921/22 Owls Baseball team; it seems to me the Owls was a name that was popular for many, many years and they were the champs of the Nanaimo City League; 1922/23 the Nanaimo Football Club were champions of Canada; 1926 the Nanaimo Tarflats Baseball Team had their picture taken. I saw one interesting picture taken in 1928 of a shooting team of their B.C. Champs and they shot 123 out of 125. That sounds like pretty good shooting to me. Now May 15th … er I’m skipping now a few years here, another picture that catches my eye is one taken at the official opening of the Nanaimo Civic Arena, May 15th 1940; I don’t know if they had a forty year celebration this year or not but that would have been forty years of existence for the arena and I see Dr. Larry Giovando’s picture among those that are shown on there. Good evening Dr.Giovando. And the Nanaimo Clippers Hockey team were the champions of Inter City and B.C. Champs in the ‘40/41 series plus the Western Canada semi-finalists and hockey and lacrosse as we know have been popular since that time. I’ve brought a few pictures to the meeting, five in fact; these pictures are also from the museum, but they like many other pictures down there, are placed away in the archives and at the present time we just do not have room to display all the pictures that we would like to. Now one of the names that is very prominent in soccer circles, and there are quite a number over the years, is the name of Sandland and we have a Sandland with us this evening, Bud Sandland, if you would like to come up to the front here, Bud, just have a seat for now. I phoned Bud’s brother, John, first and he seemed very interested in coming here but then he said: “Better phone Bud, he’s a much better talker than I am”. So I phoned Bud and he said: “Oh that sounds great, I’ll be there. But I may be a good talker but I’m not a very good speaker”. So, talkers and speakers are a bit different are they? In any case we’ll help you a long, he has a lot of memories but if someone fires questions at him..[unintelligible]. Mr. Bud Sandland. (applause).
Sandland: There are a lot of good old soccer players sittin’ here too, Dr. Larry, Ozzie and Tommy Bentley, they played in the old days too. But I can only go back so far from the era of the late ‘20s and on and the Western Fuel, here, the big mining company, they sponsored the ’27 team and they won the Canadian Championship. And then they disbanded it and then Southend Juniors, Tommy played on that team and he played against Larry out at, er Dr. Giovando, out at Granby, was one of our [unintelligible] wasn’t it Larry, you played for Granby, and there was an awful good junior teams in them days too, but the best.. er.. the main object was to make the junior team and get into the city, you know, the big team. Well when it disbanded there was a few mine managers and Nat Davis was one and they wanted to see if something could stack up against the Coast League that was Westminster, Royal, St. Andrews and St. Stevens and they invited St. Andrews over here on the sports ground, one Sunday, we played them and we drew with them, this was the junior team, this was the Southend Junior Team. Well they made such a good show that they invited them into the Coast League. Well from them on it was a battle again with them and Nanaimo was always a good soccer town and they played very good soccer up ‘til ’36 and it seemed to go back, Larry, in ’36. There was a young chap killed in the mine here, Daisy Waugh, and it kinda ….one of our crack players and it seemed to drop and then war started and then we tried to come back again after the war but it took quite a drop. Today, I can see by all the young lads that are playing in it today, it’s comin’ back. They’re very well coached and you’ve got to give the coaches and managers a great thanks for what they’re doin’. The people…I don’t know if they realise what a coach and manager goes through but they put a lot of time in with this game, with any game as far as that goes. But I assure you Nanaimo will be up at it again in a short time the way it’s going. So maybe I could answer a few questions.
Introducer: Perhaps I’ll bring up some of these pictures here. There’s one here taken in 1921, Juvenile Foresters, winners of the Wardill Trophy, well I see a T. Sandland, trainer.
Sandland: Trainer yes.
Introducer: And there’s another Sandland here somewhere.
Sandland: That’s John, my brother.
Introducer: John your brother, I see. And who’s this fella down here in the corner?
Sandland: One is a mascot.
Introducer: Any idea who that maybe?

Sandland: No! (laughing) (Note: The photo referred to shows a very small A.Sandland in the front row).
Audience member: Where did you play most Mr. Sandland? Whereabouts did you play?
Sandland: On the team? Left wing, I was outside left, what we called outside left.
Audience member: And when the team was playing, which sports ground?
Sandland: Right here where the Safeway and Simpson Sears are today. That was one of our big fields at that time. The old big field was still goin’ Robin’s Park they call it now. There were a lot of big games played there. I know when I was only that age, I remember, er, maybe Larry can remember when, and Ozzie and them can remember when the Scotch Internationals come and played on the cricket field and there was the pick of the Island played them and that was a big game too. And there was one thing I can say no matter what team come from the Old Country, whether the Scotch Internationals or the Welsh or the English they always got a remarkable game in Nanaimo! Nanaimo always give them a great game. They were told when they hit the east coast wait until you get to the west coast and meet Nanaimo. They always give them a good game. But tradition played a big part.
Introducer: Here’s another picture: First Division Soccer Champions, they won 2-0 against Forest at Calester Park, Vancouver. Does that picture bring back memories?
Sandland: Yes, I remember quite a few of the boys on here.
Introducer: I see Johnny Eastabrook, there; Doug Kirkbride.
Sandland: [unintelligible, tape quality poor, much discussion about who is in the picture]
Audience member: Bud did you have any kind of way of recruiting kids from school as they got older and helping them and were they taught?
Sandland: Well yes there was quite a few old soccer players took them under their wing, but not in school hours. This was at night, after work and after school.
Audience member: Bud, how about talking about how you played down in the tar-flats [unintelligible] that’s where you learned your football.
Sandland: Yeah, we started a lot, yeah, on our own, yes, we played out there like any other kid in the open fields and if you had a pig’s bladder or something you were out to play. You played good if you owned the ball, you could play all day.
Introducer: But it wasn’t as organised as…..
Sandland: Oh no they have a good organisation going now. You got to give them credit. Kelly’s field….we could go on a long time, try to tell everything, you know.
Audience member: There’s a picture here we want you to look at and name some of these players.
Sandland: O.K. I’ll do my best.
[a lot of discussion which is unintelligible on the tape]
Audience member: How far did you travel with the team?
Sandland: We went back in ’35…we met the east, the east and the west met in Winnipeg; that was in 1935. The ’27 team, I think they went a little further. There was on thing about Nanaimo, they won their share, years ago, of the Canadian Championship, called the Connaught Cup in them days, I don’t know what they call it now.
Introducer: Did they pay your expenses when you went back there?
Sandland: Oh yes, yes, you had your own coach and your own porter.
Introducer: And uniforms and the soccer balls and the equipment were paid by the club?
Sandland: Yes paid by your own club.

Audience member: How often did you have competitions or matches?
Sandland: Well, in the Connaught you maybe played two games a week, you know, it was elimination; only one game. It was a real knockout affair. Any team could enter, like the Old Country, you know, junior teams; anybody that wanted to enter could enter. They had to pay a certain fee; but it was a knockout.
Introducer: Were you wondering about the league play during the year?
Sandland: Oh the league. We had lots….er we had the Mainland Cup, the Province Cup. They were all league, your home and home deal; that was on a points system. But the Connaught Cup was a real knockout, you know.
Audience Member: Can you remember the size of the crowds that attended in those days?
Sandland: Well, the sports ground, I’d imagine it would hold 3,000 to 4,000 when it was packed, would it be Larry and Tom?
Audience member: I would say that, at least, we’d get about 2,000. See you had that league, Cumberland, Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Victoria West, and then eventually [unintelligible] came in. [unintelligible] laughter.
Sandland: Ladysmith always had a good following; they always had a good team.
Introducer: Where did the football club get its money to buy these uniforms and things?
Sandland: Out of the gates. They had, they had..you know, like any club, they got the money end of it and that.
Audience member: What would it cost you to see a game in those days?
Sandland: Well on a Sunday, it was collection. If you come over to Scotsman’s Bluff, which they called it, it was free (laughter). But if you went in the gate it was 25 cents I think the big amount.
Introducer: I think they passed the plate around up there too didn’t they? You didn’t always get away with paying nothing?
Sandland: Well I can’t remember them, maybe some of the other boys can remember them passing the plate on the Scotsman Bluff, I can’t. But they police up there, but they out manoeuvred them (laughter).
Introducer: Mr. Logan, in the background there.
Logan: Bud, in your days were the rules any different than they are today? Were the rules any different, basically, than they are today in soccer?
Sandland: Rules?
Logan: The reason I ask that question, isn’t it true that when you were playing soccer that you did run down the side of the field one day on a foggy day, come out of the fog and the referee saw you and you were carrying the ball? (laughter)
Sandland: Yeah, that happened in Vancouver once, that [Con] Jones Park, maybe some of the other boys played on it; but Vancouver, it fogged in pretty quick, when it did, you know, and we were playing there….this is boasting, you know, but I did get caught, he was waiting on me at the other end. But the sideline, you know, the Grandstand was here and the sideline was here and you had all the ones here squealing, the spectators squealed on you. But it did happen, he was waiting at the other end for me.
Audience member: Sometimes you used to get tired, and you used to sit with the spectators, sometimes.
Sandland: Yeah, and you had to stay away from the umbrellas too.
Audience member: Did you play in Vancouver at the old [Con] Jones Park?
Sandland: And then it was called Calester Park.
Audience member: Yeah, but before that it was [Con] Jones….
Sandland: And [Athletic} Park, where the Vancouver baseball team…that was the two big parks over there. But Nanaimo always had a good following over there. No matter where they went, people really liked Nanaimo teams. They were good boys (laughter).
Introducer: How did you travel to Ladysmith, on the train or by private car or buses?
Sandland: Oh when we were juniors it was private car, and in days before me I heard them say it was trains. And they were on top and loaded. Larry maybe could do this.
[Larry]: Yeah, they ran special trains, special trains for the games. I would say there would be 2000 on every trip.
Sandland: And they talk about the Whitecaps and that with these professionals, all the Vancouver teams had Old Country players, they brought them out at that time. Even Nanaimo had quite a few.
Introducer: I guess you grow up and played with most of the same players over the years did you?
Sandland: Yes we did. The Southend Foresters we were called when we were juniors, and then I played for a juvenile team, the Gordon Estate Rangers. Mrs. Williams was talking about Daisy Field but Gordon Estate wasn’t far from Daisy Field. But the young fellas today, young children today have got a wonderful opportunity ahead of them with the coaching they get and executives that are looking after their business.
Introducer: Were the crowds more or less good-natured or was there the odd, not violence, but antagonism?
Sandland: No they were good. There was only one little, bad guy, they called him Mr. Dog, when he had the cane over on the sideline he used to tap the opposing players on the knee when he got mad, you know (laughter). He was from Northfield. He was quite a spectator. But all through the crowds were good.
Audience member: You spoke of Old Country players; I was rather interested; I had a phone call from an old gentleman here who said he came to Nanaimo from England to play soccer. He had to work in the mines for his living but he [unintelligible] brought him out here and his brother in law wanted him to come and play soccer for Nanaimo.
Sandland: Oh yeah, well Larry and Tommy and Ozzie maybe they can remember, maybe Reggie can too….when the Corinthians come out here; they were, they were a first class amateur team in the Old Country; they were all professional men in different businesses; they were the best in the Old Country. And the local boys played them here, and I think they beat them 4-2 was it Tommy, can any of yous remember?
Audience member: I remember [unintelligible] Davis played on that team.
Sandland: Well he played for Ladysmith.
Audience member: Yeah well he played on that team against the Corinthians.
Sandland: Well the team I’m talking about was all Nanaimo boys; Daisy [Wad], Jimmy Tantrum, Tommy, maybe played that day.
Audience member: Would you remember to tell the audience how you got along with the mine manager when you were working.
Sandland: [unintelligible] (laughter). That’s when I got sent home for two weeks for taking a day off one Saturday to go and play. You know you used to have to ask them to do these things and I got a big-head and said no I’m not going to ask him and he fixed me when I went to work the next Monday.
Audience member: He let you walk all the way to [unintelligible].
Sandland: [unintelligible] and don’t do it again. (laughter)
Audience member: Did you say that the natives had their own team or did some of them play on your team?
Sandland: There were a few Indian boys played on my team. But years ago there were some good ones too and they played. They did have their own team but not in the senior division, in like juniors or something like that.
Audience member: What was the trip to Winnipeg like?
Sandland: Lovely! Yes it was good.
Audience member: You went by train?
Sandland: Yeah all by train.
Audience member: How long did it take you?
Sandland: We were away pretty near two weeks. Well we were in Lethbridge, we played one game there and we were there two or three days and then in the last week we played four games in five days.
Audience member: Were you billeted in homes?
Sandland: No in a big hotel, we were first class, yes, oh yes, everything supplied.
Audience member: Mr. Sandland, the Nanaimo team travelled to a lot of other places, just in Canada or did you go abroad as well?
Sandland: No, well we had one team go abroad to New Zealand and that …er…no they didn’t go, but there was a Canada picked team went to New Zealand and they played Nanaimo City and Nanaimo beat ‘em so you can tell which team should have went to New Zealand (laughter). [unintelligible] Larry and them can remember that when..er and Ozzie and Tommy, when Nanaimo beat the pick of Canada to go to New Zealand?
Larry: I don’t know what actually happened there.
Sandland: Yeah Nanaimo beat ‘em 3-1.