Percy Lynsdale
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Percy Cyril Lynsdale | ||
| Date of birth | 1 July 1928 | ||
| Place of birth | Baghdad, Iraq | ||
| Date of death | 1997 (aged 68–69) | ||
| Place of death | Chorley, England | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1948 | Baghdad College | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1950 | Sharikat Naft Al-Basra | ||
| 1950–1951 | Al-Mina'a | ||
| International career | |||
| 1951 | Iraq | 4 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Percy Cyril Lynsdale (Arabic: بيرسي لينزديل; 1 July 1928—1997) was an Iraqi footballer who played as a forward.
Born in Iraq to an Iraqi mother and a British father, Lynsdale was one of the first players to play for the Iraq national team. He played for Sharikat Naft Al-Basra and Al-Minaa at club level, before moving to England in 1951.
Early life[edit]
Lynsdale's roots lie in South London, then Surrey; one of his ancestors settled in India after joining the British Army in 1797.[1] One hundred years later, Lynsdale's father Cyril was born; he moved to Baghdad, Iraq shortly after World War I, and married an Iraqi woman, gaining Iraqi citizenship.[1]
Born in Baghdad, Lynsdale lived for a period in Mosul due to his father's job in the Iraqi Railway company.[1] In the early 1940s, Lynsdale studied at the Jesuit Baghdad College, and played football in the schoolyard.[1] He eventually became part of the college's first football team, captaining them in his first senior year.[1]
After graduating in 1948, Lynsdale and his family moved to the British community of Maqil, near Basra. Lynsdale found work as a clerk for the Basra Petroleum Company (B.P.C.).[2]
Career[edit]
While working for the B.P.C., Lynsdale played for their football team in the Basra League as an inside left.[1] He joined Al-Mina'a in 1950.[3]
In April 1951, Lynsdale played for the first Iraq national football team.[4][5] He was called by coach Dhia Habib to play in the team's international friendly,[4] against Turkey B in Turkey on 6 May 1951, which ended 7–0 for Turkey B.[4][5]
After the national team returned to Baghdad in 1951, Lynsdale and his international teammate Saeed Easho left to study abroad, and never returned to Iraq.[2] Lynsdale studied in Norwich, England, becoming a self-employed trader.[1] He played Sunday league football in Manchester.[1]
Lynsdale died in Chorley, in 1997.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mubarak, Hassanin (18 November 2020). "Percy Lynsdale: The British and football in Iraq". hassaninmubarak.substack.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
- ^ a b Mubarak, Hassanin (3 September 2013). "THREE LIONS: THE BIRTH OF ASOOD AL-RAFIDAIN". iraqsport.wordpress.com.
- ^ Mubarak, Hassanin. "Three Lions: The birth of the Lions of Mesopotamia". Ahdaaf.me. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Mubarak, Hassanin. "International Results 1951-1959". Iraqsport.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b Mahmoud, Shokri (3 June 2009). "The first match for Iraq national team in 1951". kooora.com (in Arabic).
- ^ Mubarak, Hassanin (30 November 2021). "Three forgotten men and the birth of Iraq's national football team". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2023.