Percy Cyril Lynsdale ( ar, بيرسي لينزديل; born 1 July 1928) is an Iraqi former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a forward. Born in Iraq to an Iraqi mother and a British father, Lynsdale was one of the first players to play for the Iraq national team. He played for

Sharikat Naft Al-Basra Sharikat Naft Al-Basra ( ar, فريق شركة نفط البصرة, lit=Basra Petroleum Company), known as BPC for short, was an Iraqi football team based in Basra. They became Iraq's first ever national cup winners when they won the 1948–49 Ir ...

and Al-Minaa at club level, before moving to England in 1951.

Early life

Lynsdale's roots lie in South London, then Surrey; one of his ancestors settled in India after joining the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1797. One hundred years later, Lynsdale's father Cyril was born; he moved to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, Iraq shortly after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and married an Iraqi woman, gaining Iraqi citizenship. Born in Baghdad, Lynsdale lived for a period in

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

due to his father's job in the Iraqi Railway company. In the early 1940s, Lynsdale studied at the Jesuit

Baghdad College Baghdad College ( ar, كلية بغداد) is an elite high school for boys aged 11 to 18 in Baghdad, Iraq. It was initially a Catholic school founded by and operated by American Jesuits from Boston. The 1969 Iraqi government nationalization and ...

, and played football in the schoolyard. He eventually became part of the college's first football team, captaining them in his first senior year. After graduating in 1948, Lynsdale and his family moved to the British community of Maqil, near

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

. Lynsdale found work as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

for the

Basra Petroleum Company Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

(B.P.C.).

Career

While working for the B.P.C., Lynsdale played for their

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

in the Basra League as an

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He joined

Al-Mina'a Al-Minaa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الميناء الرياضي, lit=Port Sports Club) is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraq Division One, the second tier of Iraqi football. It is one of the mo ...

in 1950. In April 1951, Lynsdale played for the first

Iraq national football team The Iraq national football team ( ar, منتخب العراق لكرة القدم) represents Iraq in international football and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the governing body for football in Iraq. Iraq's usual home ...

. He was called by coach Dhia Habib to play in the team's

international friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, against Turkey B in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

on 6 May 1951, which ended 7–0 for Turkey B. After the national team returned to

in 1951, Lynsdale and his international teammate

Saeed Easho Peter Saeed Easho Murad () (born 1928) is a former international Iraqi football player, who was one of the first players to play in first Iraq national football team, he also played for Al-Minaa, and with the reserve team of English club Manc ...

left to study abroad, and never returned to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. Lynsdale studied in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England, becoming a self-employed trader. He played Sunday league football in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynsdale, Percy 1928 births Living people Sportspeople from Baghdad Iraqi people of British descent British people of Iraqi descent Iraqi footballers Association football forwards Al-Mina'a SC players Iraq international footballers