Peter Wilson Simpson was born on September 21, 1940 in Sunderland, England. He started his soccer career as a junior footballer with Burnley Football Club. In November 1957 he signed as a professional player with Burnley.
Peter played in three league games for Burnley, before joining Bury Football Club in August 1963. The centre-forward played in four league games during the 1963-64 season.
On November 18, 1964 Peter signed for Boston Metros, who were members of the Eastern Seaboard Soccer Conference. He made his debut for the Metros against New York Americans on Sunday November 22, 1964 at Chelsea Stadium in Boston.
In December 1964 he signed a three year contract with Toronto Italia. Peter continued to play for the Boston Metros in the 1964-65 American soccer season as part of the loan agreement with Italia.
Toronto Italia started the 1965 Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with a 3-0 win against Toronto City on Saturday May 8. In front of 7,118 soccer fans at Varsity Stadium Peter secured a victory for the Italians by scoring the third goal. Despite a lowly third-place finish the Italians ended the season on a high note by winning the 1965 President’s Cup.
Peter spent the winter of 1965-66 playing for Vancouver Columbus in the Pacific Coast Soccer League. Before the start of the 1966 Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League season Toronto Italia changed their name to Toronto Italia Falcons. Peter scored six goals for the Falcons as they won the league championship.
In 1967 Toronto Falcons joined the National Professional Soccer League, a league that was the first attempt at a professional league that covered all parts of North America. Pete played in 13 games as the Falcons finished in fourth place in the five-team Western Division of the NPSL.
In the summer of 1968 Peter played for Sudbury Italia in the National Soccer League. The club won the 1968 National Soccer League championship and the playoff championship.
Late in September 1968 Peter returned to Vancouver Columbus and played in the 1968 Dominion Challenge Cup final against Toronto Royals in Toronto. The Italian club from Vancouver lost against the Toronto team, however they reached the 1969 final and beat Montreal Ukraina 10-0.
The former English pro player joined Western Canada Soccer League club Vancouver Spartans in June 1969. Peter stayed in Vancouver for the following seasons and was picked for the 1970-71 Pacific Coast Soccer League All-Star team.
In May 1974 he worked out with the newly-formed Vancouver Whitecaps that were members of the North American Soccer League, his time with the Whitecaps was described by the Province newspaper as “trying to work off some poundage”.
Peter Simpson was my father, it is nice to see the write up about his career. The birth date you published is incorrect. He was born in Sunderland on September 21, 1940.
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