By Canadian Press

Canada Soccer Hall of Famer Art Hughes, a West Coast scoring legend, dies at 88

Mar 5, 2019 | 6:57 PM

VANCOUVER — Art Hughes, a Canada Soccer Hall of Famer who was one of the country’s top goal-scorers through the 1950s and 1960s, has died. He was 88.

The Canadian Soccer Association confirmed that Hughes passed away Monday in Vancouver.

A tall centre forward, Hughes scored twice in Canada’s first-ever competitive international match in FIFA World Cup qualifying play in 1957 — a 5-1 win over the U.S. at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium.

He scored more than 250 goals in league and cup competitions over a 17-year career from 1950-51 to 1966-67. He led the Pacific Coast League in scoring four times and retired as the league’s all-time scoring leader with 158 goals, a record surpassed by two goals by Bobby Smith in 1972.

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Hughes won the Canadian soccer championship in 1956 with Vancouver Hale-Co FC and in 1965 with Vancouver Firefighters FC. He was MVP and top scorer in 1965, scoring seven goals across three matches.

He won national runner-up medals with Vancouver St. Andrews FC in 1951, Westminster Royals FC in 1959 and Firefighters FC in 1961.

Hughes was best known for his time with Firefighters FC, where he won five of his joint-record seven Pacific Coast League championships (1954-55, 1961-62, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66).

He won Pacific Coast League titles with Hale-Co FC (1958) and Royals FC (1959), and the Mainland League championship (1958-59 and 1960-61) and Kennedy Cup (1962) with Firefighters FC.

Hughes was an 11-time all-star selection in a 15-year span from 1951 to 1965.

Hughes, nicknamed “Hard Rock” or “Cowboy,” was a longtime member of the Vancouver Fire Department where he served as an assistant chief. Born in Camrose, Alta., on Oct. 1, 1930, he was a teenager when he moved with his family to Vancouver.

Hughes, who was predeceased by his wife Marlene, is survived by their daughters Susan and Stacey Ann as well as their families.

The Canadian Press