Joshua Christopher 'Josh' Simpson (born May 15, 1983) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who is currently the president of

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

team

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 201 ...

. During a career that included stops in England, Germany, Turkey, and Switzerland, he earned 43 caps for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

before retiring from professional soccer after being unable to recover from a leg injury.

Club career

Born in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Simpson started his career on a soccer scholarship with the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

. In 2004, Simpson spent time with

Boulder Rapids Reserve Colorado Rapids U–23 were an American soccer team based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado, United States. Originally founded in 2000 as part of the development system for the Colorado Rapids, the team played in the Premier Developm ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

where he was named to the PDL all conference team. Shortly after, he and fellow Canadian

Adrian Serioux Adrian Serioux (born May 12, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional soccer player who played as a defender (association football), defender. Club career After playing college soccer for the University of New Haven, Serioux started his pro care ...

signed with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. He made his debut against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. On May 23, 2006, he signed a three-year contract with German team 1. FC Kaiserslautern and left the club on June 25, 2009 to sign with Turkish club

Manisaspor Manisaspor is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Manisa. Originally formed in 1931 as Sakaryaspor, the club changed its name to Manisaspor on 15 June 1965.Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

. On February 22, 2011, Simpson signed a new three-year contract with Manisa, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2013–14 season.Simpson 2014'e kadar 'Tarzan'
sporx.com , accessed February 22, 2011 Simpson had his best professional season in 2010–11 with Manisapor leading the team with 12 goals and taking his team to tenth place. Simpson was tied for seventh in goals along with Jajá and

Olcan Adın Olcan Adın (, born 30 September 1985) is a retired Turkish professional footballer who played as a left back or winger. Club career Olcan started his career for Fenerbahçe, where he played 18 times and scored three goals for the youth team, ...

in the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

. Simpson made his debut for the 2011–12 season as a second half sub for

Ariza Makukula Ariza Makukula (born 4 March 1981) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a centre forward. He only amassed Primeira Liga totals of 26 matches and nine goals over three seasons, spending the vast majority of his professional career abr ...

against

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

on September 10, Manisaspor was tailing by a goal until Simpson scored the tying goal in the 88th minute. Following his second goal of the season against Fenerbahçe in a 2–1 loss January 16, 2012, it was announced the following day that Simpson had terminated his contract with the team over unpaid wages. On January 19, 2012 Simpson signed for

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

on a three-and-a-half year deal. Simpson made his Young Boys debut on February 12 as a second half sub for

David Degen David Degen (born 15 February 1983 in Liestal) is a former Swiss footballer who last played for FC Basel, mostly as a right midfielder, in the Swiss Super League. He is half Dutch as his mother is from the Netherlands. His twin brother Philipp De ...

in a 1–0 victory over

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

. On May 23 the last game of the season against

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

, Simpson sustained a broken leg that was initially expected to keep him out for 3 months forcing him to miss the next round of international games for Canada after being called up the previous week. However, the injury turned out to be far more serious, which was described by the BSC Young Boys website as a "terrible moment for the audience n Basel to witness" He retired in May 2015 after failing to recover. In the spring of 2016 he made his return to soccer at the amateur level in Switzerland, signing with the Swiss 3. Liga's FC Muri-Gümligen in the 7th tier of Swiss football.

International career

In 2003, he played for the Canada under-20 team at the

World Youth Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

, where he scored the only goal in Canada's 1–0 win over Burkina Faso. He was also a call-up to the 2001 version, but not selected in the starting XI or on the bench. He made his senior debut for

in a January 2004 friendly match against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. Josh was later chosen in the 23-man roster for the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...

, Canada won Group A with seven points before being knocked out by

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

in the Quarter Finals. Simpson scored his first goal for the senior men's team in a 2–1 win over

on September 7, 2010. After failing to score in a disappointing

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on June ...

Simpson scored two goals in Canada's first game of World Cup Qualifying against

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

on September 2, 2011 at the national stadium

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

. Two months later Simpson scored his fourth international goal against

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of ...

in an inconsequential world cup qualifying match, the game ended in a 4–0 victory for the Canadians. In early December, Simpson was shortlisted for the 2011 Canadian Player of the Year along with

Dwayne De Rosario Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer League ...

and

Simeon Jackson Simeon Alexander Jackson (born March 28, 1987) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays as a forward for Chelmsford City. He has spent the majority of his career playing in England, relocating from Mississauga, Ontario, to ...

, it was announced on December 14 that he had finished in third losing out to De Rosario.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Simpson goal''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Josh 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Burnaby Soccer people from British Columbia Canadian soccer players Association football midfielders Portland Pilots men's soccer players Colorado Rapids U-23 players Millwall F.C. players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Manisaspor footballers BSC Young Boys players USL League Two players English Football League players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Oberliga (football) players Süper Lig players Swiss Super League players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Pacific FC non-playing staff