Canadian soccer player and broadcaster Brian Budd died Wednesday at the age of 56.
Budd, who became famous for his exploits on the World Superstars championship on ABC, collapsed at his home Wednesday night. The cause of death is unknown at this time.
The World Superstars program pitted athletes from different sports against each other in competitions. Budd won the Canadian title four times and the world championship three year running, from 1978-80.
Budd was born in Toronto and grew up in Vancouver. He played in the North American Soccer League with the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Caribous of Colorado, Toronto Blizzard and Houston Hurricane. He also suited up for the Cleveland Force and the Baltimore Blast of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
He said he got his start in professional soccer almost by accident.
"I was sitting at home one day when I was 19 years old, and they had an all-star team, a pick-up team, going through Victoria, which is [across the Georgia Strait] from Vancouver," Budd told CBC's Peter Gzowski in a televised interview in 1978. "They came to the ferry and they only had 12 guys. I guess they figured if someone got hurt, the coach would have to play. I wasn't even [supposed to go] but they just looked down the roster to see who lived closest to the BC Ferries [terminal] ....
"They phoned me up. I had played some, but not a lot. I went over to the island for two games and scored about six or seven goals. Since that day on, I've kind of been playing."
Budd also played internationally for Canada, earning his first cap in a 1-0 win over Mexico in 1976. He was part of the Canadian team which failed to qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. In seven matches with the senior national team, he scored two goals.
Budd had been a soccer analyst with The Score since 2002.
