Garry Ayre

Garry Ayre

Personal information
Date of birth	(1953-10-12) October 12, 1953
Place of birth	Vancouver, Canada
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1970	Hull City
1970	Oxford United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
?-1976	New Westminster Blues (amateur)	?	(?)
1977, 1978	Vancouver Whitecaps	38	(1)
1978	New York Cosmos	5	(0)
1979-80	Portland Timbers	18	(0)
1979-80	Wichita Wings (indoor)	25	(?)
1981	Baltimore Blast (indoor)	10	(?)
International career‡
1973-1977	Canada	15	(0)
1975, 1976	Canadian Olympic (amateur)	10	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 7, 2008 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of May 7, 2008

Garry Ayre (born October 12, 1953 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a retired soccer player. He played in the North American Soccer League, the Major Indoor Soccer League and for the Canadian national team.

Career

He was with amateur side New Westminster Blues in 1976. In 1977 Garry turned professional with the Vancouver Whitecaps played 23 games in that first season and 15 in 1978 before being transferred to the New York Cosmos. With the Whitecaps, Ayre was used in a special midfield role to shadow the opposition's key offensive player.

With the Cosmos, Ayre played in Soccer Bowl '78 as a substitute as well as a tour of Europe in the fall of 1978, where the team played against Red Star Belgrade, AEK Athens, Atlético Madrid, Galatasaray and Chelsea. Later they toured South America and played against the Argentina U-23 team which included the young Maradona. In 1979 he moved on to the Portland Timbers where he played 18 games the following season. He was with the national team for World Cup qualifying play in 1976 and 1977, but a serious knee injury kept him off the 1980 roster.

In 1973 Ayre won a Gold Medal playing for the British Columbia Under 23 team at the Canada Summer Games, and in 1975 at the Western Canada Summer Games. In 1979 he signed with the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League and played 25 games indoors during the 1979-80 season. In 1981 he returned to the indoor game with Baltimore Blast but only played ten games before a knee injury ended his career.

International

A member of Canada's 1976 Olympic team, at the Olympic Games in Montreal, Ayre played against the Soviet Union and North Korea. He was also a member of Canada's national team at the Pan American Games in Mexico in 1975.

Personal

Garry's son Keegan Ayre is currently a professional soccer player.

Coaching career

On 10 February 2009, the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club announced that their new U-21 men’s team will be coached by Ayre.

External links

• NASL/MISL stats
• Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame inductee page
• Canadian Soccer Association profile
• Garry Ayre at National-Football-Teams.com