Mr. William “Bill” Hoyle, a Canada Soccer Life Member and an honoured member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, has passed away at age 92.

A veteran of the Second World War, Mr. Hoyle was involved in the sport of soccer in Canada for more than 50 years as a referee, administrator, and executive.

Born in England in 1925, he could hardly have imagined the impact he would have had on the Canadian Soccer landscape as he chased ‘any kind of ball or even stones’ down the cobbled alleys of Lancaster, Lancashire.

He and his family immigrated to Canada in 1954 with Mr. Hoyle involving himself in local soccer shortly after, answering an advert in the local paper in search of a referee.

Mr. Hoyle’s relationship with refereeing would continue throughout his time in soccer, initially serving as the Treasurer of the Toronto & District Soccer Referees Association before acting as a founding member of the Eastern Canada Referees Association in 1959 and having his first taste of leadership when taking on the mantle of President of the Ontario Soccer Referees Association.

He also started and served as editor on the national referee periodical, Can-So-Ref.

Following a similar path to before, in 1979 Mr. Hoyle moved from Treasurer to President of the then Ontario Soccer Association, a role he filled until 1986.

Time was spent time outside of the realm of soccer around the same time, as stepped into the Directorship of Sport Ontario in 1978 before moving into the role of Secretary of Sport Ontario from 1980 until 1982.

Mr. Hoyle received the first of his decorations in 1988, becoming a Life Member of the Ontario Soccer Association for all of his contributions to the growth of soccer in the Province.

The plaudits continued as he kept working hard, receiving the Canada Soccer Award of Merit in 1992, the Canada Soccer President’s award in 2005, and a Life Member of Canada Soccer in 2009.

This was the same year the Government of Ontario honoured him with the June Caldwood Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voluntarism.

Beyond his work with Ontario Soccer, Mr. Hoyle served on the National Organising Committee for the 1974 CONCACAF Juvenile Tournament and later worked as Venue Administration for the Toronto Site at the FIFA U-16 World Tournament Canada 1987.

He served as a head of delegation with Canada’s national team in March 1986.

2011 saw Mr. Hoyle closing a chapter of his career that he himself had started in 1988 with the formation of the Ontario Soccer Association’s Heritage Committee, a body of which he was President.

His tireless work, indefatigable attitude, and pioneering vision saw the creation of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997, and the induction of its first class in 2000, the same year Mr. Hoyle became Chairman of the Board.

He served as Chairman until 2008 before, in 2011, being inducted as an honoured builder for a lifetime’s work he, as John Knox put it in 2009, “wore his heart on his sleeve and was motivated solely by what was in the best interests of the game”.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday March 3 at J. Scotty Early, 21 James Street, Milton, Ontario. The service takes place at 11.00 am with a lunch reception to follow.

Donations may be made to Canada Soccer in lieu of flowers.