THE CANADIAN PRESS
TAMPA, Fla. — After a turbulent 13-year career playing soccer in England, Canadian midfielder Terry Dunfield says he’s "the luckiest guy in the world. I’m playing like a 16-year-old."
Dunfield, a part of the Canadian squad at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and a member of his hometown Vancouver Whitecaps, had more than his share of trying times playing in England. He’s learned all too well that a player’s career could be over in a flash.
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At 16, Dunfield went to play for the youth side of Manchester City of the English Premier League. Dunfield captained a squad that featured names like Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joey Barton, who are currently plying their trade in the Premier League.
"At the time you don’t really think about it but we had a talented team," said Dunfield after Canada’s training session in Tampa, where the club is preparing for their second game of the Gold Cup against Guadeloupe. "You’re playing with now some of the best players and at the end of my career looking back that’s definitely something I’m proud of."
Not long after Dunfield made his only Premiership appearance, coming off the bench for City in 2001 against Chelsea, Kevin Keegan took over as manager of the club and brought in several high priced players, forcing Dunfield to the fringes of the squad.
Dunfield was sent off on a three month loan at third division Bury so that he could get regular game action but when he returned to City he made an ultimatum to Keegan.
"I just enjoyed playing first team football so much so believe it or not I told world footballer of the year Kevin Keegan I should be playing or I’m going to go to Bury," said Dunfield with a laugh. "Surprisingly, a week later, I was at Bury and my old man didn’t speak to me for three years."
Dunfield admits he was a bit naive to make such a rash decision and probably should have been patient. But he still played three years in Bury before a poorly treated knee injury in 2005 nearly knocked Dunfield out of the game permanently, forcing him to take stock and realize what he’d taken for granted.
"During those dark days I realized how lucky I am to be a professional footballer and I was taking things for granted and were I to get a second chance in the game I’d grasped it with both hands," said Dunfield.
.Eventually, Dunfield was given a shot at Macclesfield Town before making a move to Shrewsbury of League Two, the fourth highest league in English professional soccer. He just missed out on promotion to League One with them after fellow Canadian Simeon Jackson scored for Gillingham in a promotion playoff at Wembley Stadium in 2010.
It was at Shrewsbury in May of last year that Dunfield got his first call up to the Canadian team for a friendly against Venezuela as coach Stephen Hart was looking for players to add to the talent pool he could draw from.
"I had some coaches go take a look at him and they said he’s worth being given a chance. He’s had his ups and downs but he’s on the right path now so I thought I’d give him the opportunity," said Hart.
This started Dunfield down the road that ultimately led him home to play for Vancouver.
"I said when I got the call up, I’d swim there. And I sort of realized after the game that if I was going to get back to the top, I was going to have to move on from the lower leagues in England."
After paying to get himself out of his contract with Shrewsbury, Dunfield had a brief trial in Scotland before getting the call from the Whitecaps, who were busy preparing for their inaugural MLS campaign.
After making the switch to Vancouver, Dunfield got a second call up to the national team for a friendly in Montreal against Honduras in September, and Hart trusted Dunfield enough to give him the start in Canada’s final tune up before the Gold Cup, a 2-2 tie with Ecuador. He was also a starter in Canada’s opening 2-0 loss to the Americans in Detroit.
"He gives us a little bit of flexibility in the back and it gives us more depth in midfield. We were a little thin in midfield and he gives us some flexibility in that department," said Hart.
It’s not hard to see how grateful Dunfield is to be back playing the game for a living. After scoring a stunning goal from about 25 yards out in the draw against Ecuador, he ran into the corner and was mobbed by the Canadian supporters with his teammates joining in the celebration.
It was a carbon copy of how he reacted to his only MLS goal to date. After scoring Vancouver’s second goal in a 4-2 win over Toronto FC, Dunfield ran to the sidelines and threw himself into the stands to celebrate with family and friends.
"Since I’ve been back it’s been a perfect fit," he said. "I’ve been captain of Vancouver for the majority of the season, in front of 25,000 under Stephen Hart’s nose and when I found out I was going to be part of the Gold Cup squad, what an honour. To get a start against Ecuador and to score, you couldn’t write a better script."