Canadian Club

As Jason DeVos announces that he is not only leaving Ipswich, but retiring from football, Blue Review looks at the ties which somehow seem to have emerged between Ipswich and Canada, and which are now weaker since our former skippers departure.

The somewhat emotional farewell given to Jason De Vos after the Hull game was a fitting farewell to an excellent player who was not only a fine club captain - he seemed to care about the development of what is effectively a minority sport in his own country. Whilst wishing him well it also got me thinking about the curiously strong ties between Ipswich Town and Canada that have spanned the years.

When you think of overseas stars that have graced the Portman Road turf, the strongest links are with our near neighbours from Holland. There are a whole host of fondly-remembered (and not so fondly remembered) Dutch players. From Arnold Muehren and Franz Thijssen, Romeo Zondervan and erm... Cor Ems, through to more recent, if more erratic perfomers such as Gus Uhlenbeek, Bobby Petta and Nabil Abidallah right through to the also now-sadly departed Fabian Wilnis.

It makes sense for Town to have a string of Dutch players. They are our perhaps our nearest neighbours, tend to speak excellent English and play football rather well. But Canada? This is a country where they have no national cuisine, where 'soccer' is a minority sport, where it is so cold and inhospitable that even hockey is played on ice and they speak a language that sounds strangely French and American at the same time.

I'm not sure why Ipswich Town should become the natural home of so many Canadian players. Perhaps the links have their roots in the likes of Trevor Whymark and Franz Thijssen playing for Vancouver Whitecaps. Certainly, these players would have inspired a young Frank Yallop.

It was Yallop's misfortune to be a left back at a time when Town's fortunes were going into a steep decline. But he was nothing less than wholehearted... and his superb goal in a home win over Manchester United is probably as indelibly etched in his mind as it is in mine.

Whilst appearing nothing more than a journeyman full back in his time at Portman Road, Yallop reinvented himself as a transatlantic coach of some substance, managing his national team - and winning the stateside soccer world ultra-bowl (or whatever the US league is called) before having Beckham foisted on him at Los Angeles and sinking without trace. However, at the peak of his powers, Yallop was even a credible choice to be Town's manager - and I suspect he would have been rather good at it if given the chance.

The next Canadian to surface at Portman Road was Craig Forrest - a goalkeeping giant fondly remembered for his feeble kicking ability as much for his excellent goalkeeping. Forrest too was a capable player who just happened to be around at a fairly bleak time in our history - the post-Cooper era. But he was one of the rocks that Lyall built his team of champions out of and went on to make quite a name for himself in the top division.

Indeed, those of us at Old Trafford on a particularly bleak afternoon recall Forrest's excellence as one of the principal reasons why the record premier league defeat is a mere 9-0, rather than something well into double figures.

Forrest was also a player who took his responsibilities to the club and its supporters seriously, often showing up at supporters' club functions when other players had discovered better things to do with their time.

So with a capable goalie and full back in our Canadian collection, it was not unnatural for a commanding central defender in the shape of Jason de Vos to heed his national team manager's advice and turn his back on Wigan's well-funded promotion campaign and Premiership consolidation - and throw in his lot with a destitute Town's low-budget promotion attempt..

For much of his first season, that must have seemed a reasonable decision, as Town came within an untimely Kuqi injury of promotion. However, since those heady days it's been a case of what might have been. Through it all though de Vos has seemed the very essence of a thinking footballer, with much more on his mind than a pint of bitter and the 3.40 at Newmarket on his mind. It's just a pity that he never really received the respect he deserved. Like many players, I suspect we will not realise just how effective Jason de Vos until after he has gone.

Those feelings of self-doubt that must have troubled de Vos must have also been nagging away at Jamie Peters almost from day one. His much hyped arrival never seemed to have much substance behind it - and out most recent Canadian recruit has also been by far and away the most disappointing.

I am not sure if there are any other Canadians on the distant horizon. Somehow I doubt it. Holland may the team who gave us total football - and a number of players we fondly remember with pride - but Canada too has played its part in our history. And the departure of our Canadian connection makes us just a little poorer in my mind.