Kevin Grant (born 25 July 1952) is a Canadian former international

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 played for the Canada men's national soccer team between 1971 and 1976, and is currently the U17 head coach for Hamilton United Elite girls program.

Playing career

Grant was born in London, England, and moved to

Burlington, Ontario Burlington is a city in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the northwestern end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada. Along with Milton to the north, it forms the western end of the Greater Toronto Area and is also part of the Hamilton met ...

at the age of 15. He played club soccer with East Hamilton Cougars, East Hamilton Legion, and Hamilton Croatia. Despite being an international in the 1970s he did not play as a professional in the North American Soccer League. In 1978, he played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with Hamilton Italo-Canadians. He signed with

Buffalo Blazers Buffalo Blazers was a soccer team in Buffalo, New York. They competed in the National Soccer League in 1976–1978 and 1980. They were one of only four American teams (Detroit Besa, Detroit Canadians, and Detroit Vardar) to have competed in the N ...

for the 1980 season. In 1981, he played with the Hamilton Steelers, and won the NSL Championship. In 1983, he played with the Toronto Nationals of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. On 8 May 2014, he was inducted into the Hamilton Soccer Hall of Fame as a player.

International career

Grant played with the Canada U-23 team, and made his debut on 24 August 1971 against Mexico, and played two matches in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. He also participated in the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

, and featured in three matches. He made his senior team debut on 24 August 1972 against Mexico in a FIFA World Cup qualifier match and later featured in eight additional matches.

Managerial career

Grant coached in the

with Hamiilton Steelers in 1982, and secured the NSL Championship after defeating

Toronto Italia The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the foldin ...

. In 1983, he succeed Frank Pike along with Colin Franks as the head coaches for Toronto Nationals in the Canadian Professional Soccer League. In 1986, he returned to manage the Hamilton Steelers where he secured the inaugural

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

championship. In 2015, Grant along with Tony Taylor formed the Burlington Futbol Academy. Grant is currently the head coach with Hamilton United Elite with their U17 Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) Girls program.

References

External links

*
itsportnet.com site for Hamilton and District Soccer Association
Living people Canada men's international soccer players Canadian men's soccer players English emigrants to Canada Men's association football defenders Footballers from Willesden Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario Soccer players from Hamilton, Ontario Olympic soccer players for Canada Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Naturalized citizens of Canada Hamilton Croatia players Canadian National Soccer League players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate men's footballers Canadian National Soccer League coaches English football managers Canadian soccer coaches Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players 1952 births Footballers at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Canada Toronto Nationals (soccer) players Canadian Professional Soccer League (original) players {{Canada-footy-bio-stub