Coupe Henri De Decker 1910-1913

Annual match, played on four occasions, for a trophy named after (and presumably supplied by) former Belgian international Henri De Decker, a player of hosts Racing Club de Bruxelles, created with the express intention to treat Belgian football enthousiasts to professional English football.
The first edition featured two Division One sides (although Chelsea had just been relegated, but Blackburn had finished third and would go on to win the league in the next season). Record winners Hull City were a fixture in the upper half of Division Two, while Swindon Town had just won the Southern League when losing the second edition in 1911, and Tottenham Hotspur had finished mid-table in Division One in 1912.
Apparently no professional English club could be lured to face the Tigers for the fourth edition, so a strengthened host side, including four players from other Belgian clubs, took them on. The cup was not contested after that match; it is not clear whether that was due to dwindling interest or because Hull had been allowed to keep the trophy after their three successive wins.
All four matches were played at Racing's ground at the Vivier d'Oie ("Goose Pond") in Uccle.

Palmares

Ed Year Winners
 1 1910 Blackburn Rovers
 2 1911 Hull City
 3 1912 Hull City
 4 1913 Hull City

Matches

15- 5-1910  Brussel        Blackburn Rovers    3-1 Chelsea             [HT: 2-1]
                             [Orr 1-0, 2-0, N.N. 3-1; Windridge 2-1]
                             [Blackburn: Ashcroft - Crompton, Cowell - Walmsley, Chapman, Bradshaw -
                                         Garbutt, Latheron, Aitkenhead, Orr, Anthony;
                              Chelsea: Denoon - Cameron, Cartwright - Taylor, McConnell, Calderhead -
                                       Douglas, Whittingham, Wileman, Windridge, Fairgray;
                              ref: "Dicky" Schumacher]

 7- 5-1911  Bruxelles      Hull City           1-0 Swindon Town        [HT: 0-0; att: 4,000]
                             [Chapman 68]
                             [Hull City: Roughley - Nevins, McQuillan - W. Wright, Houghton, Davy Gordon -
                                         Townend, Chapman, A. Temple, W. Smith, Neve; tr: Leach;
                              Swindon Town: Skiller - Kay, Walker - Tout, Bannister, Silto -
                                            Jefferson, Rushton, McCulloch, Bown, Lamb; tr: Wiltshire;
                              ref: Charles Barette; Crisp, Lepaepe]

12- 5-1912  Brussel        Hull City           2-0 Tottenham Hotspur   [HT: 1-0; att: 2,000]
                             [Best 42, Fazackerley 85]
                             [Hull City: Roughley - Houghton, McQuillan - W. Wright, Chapman, McIntosh -
                                         Best, Goode, A. Temple, Fazackerley, Neve;
                              Tottenham: Lunn - Morris, Gliddon - Darnell, D. Steel, Lightfoot -
                                         Curtis, Minter, Elliott, Ch. Steel, Middlemiss;
                              ref: "Dicky" Schumacher; Crisp, Barette]

11- 5-1913  Bruxelles      Racing CB enforcé   0-6 Hull City           [HT: 0-1]
                             [Halligan (4), Gordon, W. Wright]
                             [Racing: J. Mayné - H. Andrieu, G. Hubin - H. Raemaekers "Tasson",
                                      Balyu (FC Brugeois), A. Wright - M. Bunyan, F. Nisot (Léopold CB),
                                      G. Hogg, C. Bunyan (AA La Gantoise), Van den Eynde (Beerschot AC);
                              Hull City: Hendry - Nevins, McQuillan - Fenwick, O'Connell, McIntosh -
                                         McDonald, Gordon, Halligan, Stevens, W. Wright;
                              ref: Joseph Brauburger; Crisp, Silverans]

NB: trophy apparently not contested later, possibly because Hull City were 
    allowed to keep it after three consecutive wins.

Henri De Decker

Born:  8- 3-1879 in Brussel
Died:  6- 1-1935 in Montana (Switzerland)

Official international matches:
 7- 5-1905  Bruxelles      Belgium             7-0 France              
14- 5-1905  Rotterdam      Netherlands         4-0 Belgium             

Earlier, De Decker had played in three matches for the Coupe Vanden Abeele:
 5- 1-1902  Antwerpen      All-Belgium XI      1-0 Zuid-Holland XI
14-12-1902  Antwerpen      All-Belgium XI      2-1 Van Hasselt XI
 3- 1-1904  Antwerpen      All-Belgium XI      6-4 Van Hasselt XI

About this document

Sources: [Elt 89], various contemporary Belgian newspapers (available through Belgica Press)

Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Karel Stokkermans (karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 1 Apr 2025