Percy Lynsdale

Percy Cyril Lynsdale (Arabic: بيرسي لينزديل; 1 July 1928—1997) was an Iraqi footballer who played as a forward.

Percy Lynsdale
Personal information
Full name Percy Cyril Lynsdale
Date of birth (1928-07-01)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)
0000–1948 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

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

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

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
  1. Mubarak, Hassanin (18 November 2020). "Percy Lynsdale: The British and football in Iraq". hassaninmubarak.substack.com. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. Mubarak, Hassanin (3 September 2013). "THREE LIONS: THE BIRTH OF ASOOD AL-RAFIDAIN". iraqsport.wordpress.com.
  3. 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.
  4. 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)
  5. Mahmoud, Shokri (3 June 2009). "The first match for Iraq national team in 1951". kooora.com (in Arabic).
  6. Mubarak, Hassanin (30 November 2021). "Three forgotten men and the birth of Iraq's national football team". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
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