John Catliff

John Catliff

Personal information
Full name	John Catliff
Date of birth	8 January 1965 (1965-01-08)
Place of birth	Vancouver, Canada
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1983–1986	Harvard Crimson
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987	Calgary Kickers
1988–1994	Vancouver 86ers
National team‡
1984–1994	Canada	44	(18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 June 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 June 2009

John Catliff (born January 8, 1965, in Vancouver) is a former Canadian professional soccer player. He has the second most goals scored for the Canadian national team with 18 goals between 1984 and 1994.

Club career

Catliff was selected to the All-Ivy League First team as a forward in 1983, 1984, and 1986 while for the Crimson at Harvard University. He was also named to the All-American First Team in 1986.

Catliff was a Canadian Soccer League star, scoring the second most goals of anyone in the League's six year history with 69 goals in total. He was a league season scoring champion in 1988 with 22 goals and in 1990 with 19 goals. He began his CSL career in 1987 playing for the League's inaugural champions, the Calgary Kickers. He then spent the next six seasons with the Vancouver 86ers, who became the CSL champions in four consecutive seasons from 1988 through 1991. Ligament injuries to both knees forced him to retire from professional play in 1994 after two years on the 86ers in the American Professional Soccer League.

International career

Catliff was a member of the quarter-finalist Canadian national team at the 1984 Summer Olympics while still playing at Harvard. He made his senior debut for Canada in a July 1984 in friendly match against Chile. Throughout his career, he earned a total of 44 caps while scoring 18 goals. He has represented Canada in 12 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. Recovering from injury, he was not named to Canada's roster for the 1986 World Cup, Canada's only appearance.

His final international game came in June 1994 in a friendly match against Holland.

International goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	9 June 1985	Gwangju, South Korea	Iraq		1-6	Presidents Cup
2	2 October 1987	Estadio Nacional, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Honduras		1-1	Friendly match
3	26 March 1988	Lima, Peru	Peru		3-1	Friendly match
4	5 April 1988	National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica	Jamaica		4-0	Friendly match
5	5 April 1988	National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica	Jamaica		4-0	Friendly match
6	5 April 1988	National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica	Jamaica		4-0	Friendly match
7	2 October 1988	Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago		2-1	Friendly match
8	13 May 1990	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, Canada	Mexico	1-1	2-1	North American Championship
9	13 May 1990	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, Canada	Mexico	2-1	2-1	North American Championship
10	2 April 1992	Victoria, Canada	China PR		5-2	Friendly match
11	2 April 1992	Victoria, Canada	China PR		5-2	Friendly match
12	20 May 1992	Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada	Scotland	1-1	1-3	Friendly match
13	4 March 1993	Mission Viejo, California, USA	United States	2-1	2-2	Friendly match
14	11 March 1993	Royal Athletic Park, Victoria, Canada	South Korea	1-0	2-0	Friendly match
15	4 April 1993	Estadio Nacional, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Honduras	1-0	2-2	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
16	11 April 1993	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, Canada	El Salvador	2-0	2-0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
17	18 April 1993	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, Canada	Honduras	3-1	3-1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
18	2 May 1993	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	El Salvador	1-0	2-1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification

• Catliff scored a 19th international goal against the United States in the other 1990 North American Championship game, but this match was not considered official.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Catliff recently worked as global Vice President of Sales with Helly Hansen outdoor apparel company but now works with Firstar Sports.^{[citation needed]} He lives with his wife Sarah and his three soccer loving sons, Brendan (16), and Jamie (12), and Andrew Catliff (15). Andrew has already been a goalie for many years.

Honours

• Canadian Soccer League: 5

1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991

• Canadian Soccer League Top Goalscorer: 2

1988, 1990

External links

• The OSA Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum induction page for Catliff
• Player profile - Canada Soccer
• Career stats - National Football Teams