David Forsyth

Born: Perthshire, Scotland, December 15, 1852. 

Died: Beamsville, Ontario, September 13/14, 1936.

A founding member of the Dominion Football Association in 1877, the Western Football Association in 1880 and the Ontario Football Association in 1901. David was secretary and president of the Western Football Association and secretary of the Ontario Football Association and a life member of the Dominion of Canada Football Association. He played for the Canadian team that defeated the United States in East Newark, New Jersey, in 1885, and was on the losing side in the game played between the two teams in 1886. He organized the Canadian tour to Britain in 1888, and was the secretary during the trip as well as playing the occasional game. Forsyth came to Canada with his parents when he was only one year of age, and received his primary education in Lynden, Ontario.

In 1885, he entered Dundas High School, and, after his parents moved to Galt in 1867, the famous “Tassie’s School,” Galt Collegiate Institute. There he matriculated in 1869 with a scholarship standing in mathematics, and in 1875, graduated from the University of Toronto with a silver medal in mathematics. In 1876, he became a master of mathematics and science at the old Berlin High School, and it was here that his involvement in soccer really began. During the following years, Berlin High School became a power in Canadian soccer, producing many fine players who formed the nucleus of the Canadian teams of 1885, 1886 and 1888. Later this team became known as Berlin Rangers.