Dave Demaine was an All-Star player in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League. He also played in the Football League in England, the 1967 National Professional Soccer League, the American Soccer League, the New York-based German-American League and the National Soccer League in Canada. Dave’s position on the field was as a winger.

David Jack Demaine was born on May 7, 1942 in Cleveleys, Lancashire, England. Cleveleys is a seaside town on the north west coast in England between Fleetwood and Blackpool.

Dave first made his mark in soccer when he was picked for the Fleetwood Schoolboys team. He later played for the Blackpool Schoolboys team. In 1959 he signed professional forms for Blackpool Football Club. After two seasons with the English First Division team he was released in 1961 without having played in a league game for them.

In August 1961 Dave signed for Tranmere Rovers. He made his league debut on March 17, 1962, against Chesterfield in the English Fourth Division. After the 1961-62 season he was released by Tranmere as he would not sign professional forms.

In July 1962 he signed for Southport. He was released after playing in five league games. After playing for Sankeys Wellington in the Cheshire League he emigrated to Canada and joined Toronto Roma in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League in 1965.

During the 1965 season Dave was one of Toronto Roma’s most important players. During a five-game spell in August he scored eight goals. He ended the season having scored 14 league goals.

Late in September 1965 he joined Hartford Soccer Club in the American Soccer League. Then followed a move to the New York Ukrainans of the German-American League. In December 1965 he scored a hat-trick when the Ukrainians beat Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals 3-2 in an indoor exhibition game in front of 2,000 fans at Convention Hall in Atlantic City. He helped the Ukrainans reach the Eastern finals of the 1965-66 United States Open (National Challenge) Cup.

Dave returned to Toronto Roma for the 1966 Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League season. He was picked as a second All-Star team member. Interestingly the team was picked before the season in case the League All-Stars should play in any exhibition games against foreign teams.

After the ECPSL season he returned to Hartford in the American Soccer League for the 1966-1967 season. When that team ran into financial trouble he joined Newark Ukrainian Sitch of the same league in October 1966. Dave was described by the Ukrainian Weekly as a “fast and tricky winger”. He quickly made his mark by scoring the only goal for Newark in a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals on Sunday October 31.

In 1967 he joined Toronto Falcons, formerly Toronto Italia, in the newly-formed National Professional Soccer League. The NPSL was the fore-runner to the North American Soccer League. In nine league games during the 1967 season he scored three goals for the Falcons.

Dave played out his career with the Serbian White Eagles in the National Soccer League. 

Sources:
Toronto Star archives
newspapers.com
Football League Players' Records 1946-1988, Barry J. Hugman
Toronto Falcons player card