Tony Waiters remembered locally in Kamloops

He never left — and the name Waiters became as synonymous with soccer in B.C. as the name Lenarduzzi.

As coach of the Whitecaps he led the team to soccer’s most prestigious North American prize at the time, and later was linked to one of Canada’s biggest soccer moments.

Two years after taking over the Whitecaps midway through the 1977 season, Tony Waiters led the team to an upset of the heavily favoured New York Cosmos on the way to winning the 1979 North American Soccer League Soccer Bowl championship.

Waiters later took over as coach of the Canadian men’s national team, leading the team to the quarterfinals at the 1984 Olympics and in 1986 took the team to the game’s biggest stage.

It was Canada’s first and so far only appearance in the World Cup — they didn’t win a game, didn’t score a goal —- but Tony Waiters team was noticed.

“Our team wasn’t the best team in the World Cup by a long job,” reflected Tony Waiters later. “It was the fittest team. Because the Canadian players would run through a brick wall.”

While Tony Waiters name is etched forever in some of the most memorable Canadian moments on the global stage, his legacy will be what he has meant for soccer in B.C. and Canada.

Former Kamloops Youth Soccer executive director Keith Liddiard had a friendship and working relationship with Tony Waiters for over 40 years.

“One of the qualities that I have always said about Tony Waiters that I admired the most,” says Keith Liddiard, “Tony was as enthusiastic and gave as much energy to coaching six-year-old kids as he did professional players, and that was certainly evident when he came to Kamloops in 2012. He was so patient, he was so caring.”

Tony Waiters came to Kamloops several times over the years — as a guest speaker at Sportsmen’s Banquets, and later for soccer camps.

Keith Liddiard says he brought Waiters to camps on Waiters own time, and his own dollar — he wouldn’t take a fee.

As much as Waiters was one of a kind on the soccer pitch, he was an even better person off the pitch.

“He was an absolute gentleman,” says Liddiard. “I can say to you unequivocally that in all the years I ever knew him and watched him coach, I never heard him swear, I never heard him say a derogatory remark about anybody. I can’t think of anybody in this province, and probably in Canada that would ever say a bad word about Tony Waiters. He was just respectful, courteous, passionate, dedicated and he just absolutely loved the game of soccer.”

Tributes for Tony Waiters are pouring in from former players, soccer colleagues and friends from across Canada and from abroad.

“I have lost a good friend, I have lost a gentleman who I admired greatly,” says Keith Liddiard. “He was really the most down to earth individual you would ever want to meet.”

by Earl Seitz

Tony Waiters remembered locally in Kamloops

Our Community