Edward Hagarty Parry

Born: Toronto, Ontario, April 24, 1855.

Died: West Bridgford, Nottingham, England, July 19, 1931.

The first Canadian-born player ever to play in an international game.  However, he played, not for Canada, but for England.  The younger son of Edward St. John Parry and Lucy Susanna Hagarty, he was baptized in St. James Cathedral, Toronto, on June 10, 1855.  His grandfather, Thomas Parry, a former missionary, once served as the Bishop of Antigua.  He appears to have been taken to England by his parents at a young age.  He went to school there, and later studied at Charterhouse School and Oxford University, where he captained the soccer team in 1877, the year that Oxford played in the F.A. Cup Final. 

Parry thus became the first Canadian-born player to play in an F.A. Cup Final.  Oxford were beaten 2–1 in extra time by the Wanderers.  He was back in the F.A. Cup Final again in 1881, leading the Old Carthusians — former students of Charterhouse — to victory over the Old Etonians, and thus became the first Canadian to win an F.A. Cup winner’s medal and the first player born outside of the United Kingdom to captain an F.A. Cup winning team. Before that, Parry became the first Canadian-born player to win an international cap when he played for England against Wales in 1879.  The only other Canadian to play for England is Owen Hargreaves, who is currently a member of the England squad.  Parry played for England again in 1882 against Wales and Scotland.  According to accounts, Parry, who played inside left, was a fast dribbler with a fair shot, who did not relish charging.  Parry later went on to become the principal at Stoke House School at Slough in Buckinghamshire, a position he held from 1882 until his retirement in 1918.  He was married to Amelie Marthe.