Percy Lynsdale
{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{short description|Iraqi footballer}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Percy Lynsdale
| image =
| caption =
| fullname = Percy Cyril Lynsdale
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|7|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = Baghdad, Iraq
| death_date = {{Death year and age|1997|1928}}
| death_place = Chorley, England
| height =
| position = Forward
| currentclub =
| collegeyears1 = {{0|0000}}–1948
| college1 = Baghdad College
| collegecaps1 =
| collegegoals1 =
| years1 = 1948–1950
| clubs1 = Sharikat Naft Al-Basra
| caps1 =
| goals1 =
| years2 = 1950–1951
| clubs2 = Al-Mina'a
| caps2 =
| goals2 =
| totalcaps =
| totalgoals =
| nationalyears1 = 1951
| nationalteam1 = Iraq
| nationalcaps1 = 4
| nationalgoals1 = 0
}}
Percy Cyril Lynsdale ({{langx|ar|بيرسي لينزديل}}; 1 July 1928—1997) was an Iraqi footballer who played as a forward.
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.{{Cite web|last=Mubarak|first=Hassanin|date=18 November 2020|title=Percy Lynsdale: The British and football in Iraq|url=https://hassaninmubarak.substack.com/p/percy-lynsdale-the-british-and-football|access-date=14 May 2021|website=hassaninmubarak.substack.com}} 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.
Born in Baghdad, Lynsdale lived for a period in Mosul due to his father's job in the Iraqi Railway company. In the early 1940s, Lynsdale studied at the Jesuit Baghdad College, and played football in the schoolyard. He eventually became part of the college's first football team, captaining them in his first senior year.
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.).{{cite web|last=Mubarak|first=Hassanin|date=September 3, 2013|title=THREE LIONS: THE BIRTH OF ASOOD AL-RAFIDAIN|url=https://iraqsport.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/three-lions-the-birth-of-asood-al-rafidain/|website=iraqsport.wordpress.com|language=}}
Career
While working for the B.P.C., Lynsdale played for their football team in the Basra League as an inside left. He joined Al-Mina'a in 1950.{{cite web|last=Mubarak|first=Hassanin|title=Three Lions: The birth of the Lions of Mesopotamia|url=https://ahdaaf.me/2016/05/07/three-lions-the-birth-of-the-lions-of-mesopotamia/|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817013539/https://ahdaaf.me/2016/05/07/three-lions-the-birth-of-the-lions-of-mesopotamia/|archive-date=2019-08-17|access-date=2017-12-19|website=Ahdaaf.me}}
In April 1951, Lynsdale played for the first Iraq national football team.{{cite web|last=Mubarak|first=Hassanin|title=International Results 1951-1959|url=http://www.iraqsport.com/blog/?page_id=25|url-status=bot: unknown|website=Iraqsport.com|language=English|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616235423/http://www.iraqsport.com/blog/?page_id=25|archivedate=2006-06-16}}{{cite web|last=Mahmoud|first=Shokri|date=June 3, 2009|title=The first match for Iraq national team in 1951|url=http://forum.kooora.com/?t=17402055|website=kooora.com|language=Arabic}} He was called by coach Dhia Habib to play in the team's international friendly, against Turkey B in Turkey on 6 May 1951, which ended 7–0 for Turkey B.
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. Lynsdale studied in Norwich, England, becoming a self-employed trader. He played Sunday league football in Manchester.
Lynsdale died in Chorley, in 1997.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/30/three-forgotten-men-and-the-birth-of-iraqs-national-football-team|title=Three forgotten men and the birth of Iraq's national football team|newspaper=The Guardian|last=Mubarak|first=Hassanin|date=30 November 2021|access-date=20 October 2023}}