Gerry Gray has experienced a rare thrill for a Canadian athlete. He once played soccer in front of 108,000 wildly enthusiastic and highly excitable spectators, the largest crowd to see a Canadian team in action in any sport, any year, any place.

     Gerry remembers it well and so he should — he was the key figure and star of this World Cup soccer qualifying clash. It happened on November 16, 1980 and Canada was playing Mexico in a do-or-die CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean zone) match at the giant Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The high altitude oxygen-thin air of Mexico City was alone enough to put the Canadian team at a disadvantage, a capacity crowd screaming for the soccer scalp of the visitors from the north made things even worse.

     Thanks to a 1-1 tie, Canada eliminated the heavily favoured Mexican hosts from further World Cup competition for the first time in memory. The goal that shook the soccer world enabling Canada to advance out of the qualifying round for the first time in history was scored by Gerry Gray.

As the dead ball specialist (for the uninitiated, that translates to a competent free kick taker), Gerry found the Mexican net from a set play free kick. Unfortunately for the plucky Canuck team, they didn’t quite make it out their zone and failed to book a ticket to the ’82 World Cup final 16 in Spain.

     But they did get to Mexico City four years later for the ’86 World Cup finals. Gray and fellow Mississaugan Bruce Wilson played an important roles in Canada qualifying for its only World Cup finals. Canada had the misfortune of being drawn in a group that also included soccer powers France, Hungary and the Soviet Union. The Canadians failed to advance to make it out of the first round. Gray came within a hair’s breath of being responsible for another feat when his shot bounced off the crossbar in Canada’s opening match against France. Born in Scotland (he’s a lifelong Glasgow Celtic fan) where he picked up soccer savvy the way Scottish-born lads tend to do - naturally. The Gray family moved to Malton where Gerry started playing in the Malton minor system. It didn’t take long before his talent and skills attracted attention.

     He served his international apprenticeship with Canada’s youth team and was a valued member of the squad that won the CONCACAF zone in Honduras and earned a trip to the 1979 FIFA International World Youth Championships in Japan where the Cinderella Canuck team shocked heavily favored Portugal before bowing out.

     Gerry was signed to a professional contract by the Vancouver Whitecaps and spent three seasons between 1980 and ’82 in the North American Soccer League. A great rookie season with the Whitecaps earned Gerry his first international cap. He eventually played in 33 full senior international games for Canada. His debut came in a 4-0 victory over New Zealand, the first of eight international games in ’80. At the youth level, he played 11 games and was also chosen for 11 Olympic matches, including Canada’s memorable run to the quarter-finals of the ’84 Summer Games in Los Angeles where the Canucks were narrowly edged by powerhouse Brazil.

     In addition to three seasons with Vancouver in the North American Soccer League, Gerry also played for Montreal Manic, helping them to reach the semifinals before bowing to eventual Super Cup champion Tulsa Rowdies. He was also with New York Cosmos and the ’84 Super Cup champion Chicago Sting, where his assignment was to neutralize the Toronto Blizzard’s famous Italian star Roberto Bettega in the finals, a job he performed to wide acclaim.

     After the demise of the North American League, Gerry spent two seasons with Hamilton Steelers in the Canadian Soccer League and was instrumental in helping the team reach the national finals. In indoor pro soccer, he played with the Vancouver Whitecaps (scored a remarkable 29 goals in 32 games between 1980 and ’81), San Francisco Golden Bay, Chicago Sting and Tacoma Stars.