IV. Olympiad London 1908 Football Tournament


Introduction | Tournament Set-Up | Venue and Attendances | Match Details | Final Ranking | Topscorers | Squad Lists | Referees | About this document

Introduction

The 1908 Olympics featured the first ever official Olympic football tournament. As the United Kingdom was allowed to enter four sides (England, who were the only British F.I.F.A. members, having joined the international federation in 1905, Scotland, Ireland (still comprising the entire island) and Wales), the other eleven F.I.F.A. member federations (as of 1907: Austria, Belgium, Bohemia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland) were also entitled to enter up to four teams. Spain, who had been represented at the 1904 foundation of F.I.F.A. by Madrid F.C., did not yet have a national football federation (the only condition for entering a team; F.I.F.A. membership was not: France had in fact left the F.I.F.A. by the time of the Olympic football tournament) and therefore could not participate.
A similar rule (allowing countries to enter multiple teams because the United Kingdom was entitled to do so) applied for the 1908 Olympic tournaments in golf (but eventually no Olympic golf tournament took place) and rugby union (for which only Australia and United Kingdom registered a team, Cornwall representing the hosts); in (grass) hockey the United Kingdom did avail itself of the opportunity to enter four sides, England defeating Ireland 8-1 in the final; in the preliminary rounds, England had eliminated France (10-1) and Scotland (6-1) while Ireland had ousted Wales (3-1).

By October 1907, Ireland, Switzerland and Wales had already officially renounced on entering the football tournament, while Austria and the Netherlands had confirmed their intention to send one side (i.e. their official national team). Eventually, days before the close of registration, Austria decided not to enter, and neither did Belgium, Germany and Italy, apparently all mostly for financial reasons. Also Scotland, who (like Ireland and the English amateur federation A.F.A.) had been denied F.I.F.A. membership at the Vienna congress in June 1908 at which Bohemia had been refused an extension of its provisional membership (since 1906), declined to send a team south.
Unlike the foursome of A.F.A., Bohemia, Ireland and Scotland, both Finland and Norway had been admitted to F.I.F.A. at the Vienna congress, and the Finns seriously considered entering the Olympic football tournament, even started fundraising, but eventually the (financial) difficulties proved insurmountable.

France, who had left the F.I.F.A. immediately after that 1908 congress to found the U.I.A.F.A. together with the A.F.A. and the Bohemian federation, was the only country to avail itself of the possibility to send more than one side (in their case, two), perhaps out of a misplaced sense of grandeur; neither team would cover itself in any gloire. (However, the margin of their semi-final loss (sixteen) is a record that will stand for eternity.) At the close of registration, on 1 September 1908, they had even entered three sides, but ten days later the U.S.F.S.A. had decided to send only two, discarding all players suggested by the catholic rival federation F.G.S.P.F. The United Kingdom only entered one side, usually referred to as Great Britain but in fact an all-English (amateur) team.

Thus, seven countries fielding eight sides entered the draw on 22 September 1908 (note that together with boxing, (grass) hockey, lacrosse, rugby and figure skating, football was part of the so-called "Winter Olympics" held in October; the Olympic events in all other sports had been contested between the end of April and mid-August).
However, one week before their first round match against the Netherlands, Hungary withdrew for financial reasons ("infolge ungenügender Mittel", as reported in the Neues Wiener Abendblatt of 14 October), and two days later Bohemia, considered favourites for the silver medals in Dutch press previews, also decided not to travel due to lack of either funds ("da hiefür die nötigen Mittel nicht aufgebracht werden konnten", as communicated by the same paper on 16 October) or available players (the morning edition of the Prager Tagblatt of the same day stated the withdrawal was caused by "Mangel an Spielern"), leaving only six sides in the tournament.
The official report stated (p. 173) that Hungary and Bohemia had to scratch "owing to political trouble in the Balkans", ostensibly referring to the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Habsburg empire at the beginning of October 1908, but that appears to have been nothing more than a pretext (neither Budapest, which would have provided all Hungarian players, nor Prague, from where the entire Bohemian squad would have come, are anywhere near the Balkans, and it would seem unlikely, if perhaps not quite impossible, that even a British geographical ignoramus would have confused Bohemia with Bosnia and Hungary with Herzegovina); that Bohemia and Hungary were forced out of the Olympic football tournament because of political pressure from the government in Vienna, as often stated, e.g. [IFF 00 (Band 1)] (pp. 18-19), is not substantiated by any contemporary sources the author is aware of – and, in the case of Hungary, an utterly absurd suggestion; in fact, Hungary was represented at the Olympics by far more athletes (153 according to the official report, Appendix B; only the hosts, France, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States registered more entrants) than Austria (34), with Bohemia not far behind (31).
Likewise, it was due to financial constraints that the two French sides did not stay overnight in London but only crossed the Channel on the morning of their matches against Denmark and returned home immediately afterwards; it is not surprising they were not prepared to repeat that stunt for the consolation tournament.

In the original announcement of the Olympic football tournament, the only prizes mentioned were gold medals for the winners. It is therefore sometimes claimed (cf. [Klu 97], p. 286, note 174) that no silver and bronze medals were awarded, but that is incorrect (although it should be mentioned that the silver and bronze medals were offered by the British rather than the International Olympic Committee). The official report of the Games published by the B.O.C. [Coo 09] (which mystifyingly gave the result of the match between the Netherlands and Sweden as two goals to one, a baffling error in view of the numerous contemporary press reports on the encounter) described the ceremony (p. 179) at which the Rt. Hon. J. Bell, the Lord Mayor of London, gave the bronze, silver and gold medals to, respectively, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom, in the presence of, among others, Lady Bell, the Sheriffs, the Sword and Mace-Bearers, Lord Kinnaird, the Rt. Hon. A.J. Balfour (former prime minister, at the time Leader of the Opposition, and author of the 1917 letter containing the "Balfour Declaration"), Lord and Lady Desborough, Baron and Baroness de Tuyll, Count Brunetta d'Usseaux, Lord Roberts, and "many more".

Those bronze medals were not contested by the two semi-final losers only, but by all teams eliminated before the final, in a separate tournament for the "consolation prize", which was followed closely by the Dutch press after the outcome of the draw, which had ensured the Netherlands could not reach the final without first beating the hosts, meaning that winning this "consolation tournament" was the best the Dutch side could hope for. It is therefore not the case, as often claimed, that Sweden were "chosen" to replace the humiliated French as opponents for the Netherlands in the bronze medal match. All information on the "consolation tournament" as given below was taken from contemporary Dutch newspapers.


Tournament Set-Up

OS1908draw Contrary to how it is usually presented, the 1908 Olympic football tournament consisted of two parts. (Buschmann and Lennarts [BuL (Band 1)] suspected as much (p. 178), but either failed to find or did not look for corroborating evidence.) The gold medals were decided by a straight knock-out tournament, starting with the quarter-finals as eight teams had registered for the event. Since travelling to the Olympics for a single match only hardly was an attractive prospect (but one awaiting half the entrants), all teams eliminated before the final of the tournament were to enter a "consolation tournament", initiated by the Dutch football association N.V.B., as reported in the morning edition of De Telegraaf on 23 September (cf. the article to the right), the day after the draw, nearly four weeks before the start of the tournament.

OS1908consolation The set-up of this "consolatie-competitie", as published two weeks before the start of the tournament in an article in Het Vaderland on 5 October (see to the left), was as follows: the four first round losers (on 19 and 20 October) were to meet in two matches on 21 October; the winners of those matches were to play the two semi-final losers two days later, one day after the semi-finals and one day before the final; the winners of those two matches on 23 October were then to play for the bronze medals ahead of the gold medal match; this way, twelve matches would have been played, a double-header at each of the six match days. For all of them, referees and linesmen were appointed in the first week of October.

The withdrawals of Bohemia and Hungary meant only two teams present in London were eliminated in the quarter-finals, rendering the first round of the consolation tournament superfluous: France B and Sweden both qualified for its second round by default. There, they were to meet the two semi-final losers, France A and the Netherlands respectively; Dutch press reports after the semi-final loss against the hosts explicitly mentioned that defeating Sweden would qualify the team for the bronze medal match against one of the French sides, considered a certain win in either case.
However, both French sides had rushed home immediately after their devastating defeats to Denmark, with no intention of returning to the slaughterhouse, thus reducing the consolation "tournament" to a single match whose winners were guaranteed to win the bronze medals offered by the British Olympic Committee (B.O.C.). The two countries who contested that match, in their first ever meeting, would meet again only two days later in a friendly in The Hague, which had already been arranged before the start of the Olympic tournament; the goal sequence and the order of the Dutch scorers in that second meeting are given incorrectly in all modern sources.


Venue and Attendances

All matches were played at the Stadium of the British Olympic Association, later known (after a reconstruction in the early 1920s, although the IFFHS used the name, anachronistically, in its publication on the early Olympic football tournaments) as the White City Stadium (as such, it hosted one group match at the 1966 World Cup, in which Uruguay defeated France 2-1). It was located in the West London district of Shepherd's Bush, another name by which the single 1908 Olympic football venue is occasionally referred to.
According to the official report (p. 21) it had a capacity of 70,000, although nearly 100,000 awaited the finish of the marathon there (p. 78), meaning there was little to no atmosphere at the football matches, which averaged an attendance of less than three thousand; not even the final attracted enough spectators to fill much more than one tenth of the oval.

Venue                       Capacity    Matches    Total Att. Average    Paying Att. Average

Stadium                       70,000       6         16,000     2,700        n/a       n/a

total                                      6         16,000     2,700        n/a       n/a

NB: capacity refers to capacity at the time of the tournament;
    estimated total attendance rounded to thousands, corresponding average to hundreds.

Match Details

Olympic Football Tournament | Consolation Tournament | Friendlies

OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

Quarter-Finals

NB: fixtures were drawn on 22 September 1908 (the date of 2 October mentioned by
    [BuL (Band 1)] (p. 167) and [IFF 00 (Band 1)] (pp. 18-19) is incorrect, given
    that the result of the draw was published in the Dutch press on 23 September;
    in fact, 2 October was the day referees were appointed for all 12 matches).

19 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London
Ref: Wagstaffe Simmons (Eng) - Lin: T.A. Deacock (Eng), E.C. Jarvis (Eng)
NETHERLANDS won by walk-over.
HUNGARY     withdrew on 12 October.

19 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London - Att: 2,000
Ref: Thomas Kyle (Eng) - Lin: E.C. Jarvis (Eng), L.F. Morrison (Eng)
DENMARK  9 (N. Middelboe 10, 50, Wolfhagen 14, 17, 67, 72, Bohr 25, 46, S. Nielsen 78)
FRANCE B 0
HT: 4-0
Denmark: Drescher - Buchwald, H. Hansen - Bohr, K. Middelboe (cap), N. Middelboe -
         O. Nielsen, Lindgren, S. Nielsen, Wolfhagen, Andersen.
France B: Desrousseaux - Verlet (cap), Bilot - Dastarac, Gressier, Vialaret -
          Six, Jenicot, Holgard, Mathaux, Filez.
NB: attendance usually listed as 2,000; estimates in Dutch press reports ranged from
    "a few hundred" to "not quite two thousand"; E.C. Jarvis replaced W. Walker, who
    had originally been appointed linesman.

20 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London
Ref: George Muir (Eng) - Lin: W.H. Bellamy (Eng), F.J. Wall (Eng)
FRANCE A won by walk-over.
BOHEMIA  withdrew on 14 October.

20 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London - Att: 2,000
Ref: Jack Ibbotson (Eng) - Lin: M.C. Frowde (Eng), capt. W.C. Clover (Eng)
UNITED KINGDOM 12 (Stapley 11, 76, Woodward 14, 30, Berry 18, Chapman 21,
                   Purnell 25, 31, 64, 82, Hawkes 71, 79)
SWEDEN          1 (G. Bergström 62)
HT: 7-0
United Kingdom: Bailey - Corbett, Smith - Hunt, Chapman, Hawkes - Berry,
                Woodward (cap), Stapley, Purnell, Hardman.
Sweden: Bengtsson - Fjästad, Malm - S. Olsson, Lindman (cap), O. Ohlsson -
        Almkvist, G. Bergström, Gustafsson, S. Ohlsson, Ansén.
NB: attendance usually listed as 2,000; Dutch press reports had it as "a few
    hundred more" than the previous day; W.C. Clover (whose rank was given as
    lieutenant in [Coo 09] but as captain in contemporary newspapers) replaced
    J.R. Benson, who had originally been appointed linesman.

Semi-Finals

22 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London - Att: 1,000
Ref: Tom Campbell (Eng) - Lin: F. Lockwood (Eng), A.G. Hines (Eng)
DENMARK 17 (S. Nielsen 3, 4, 6, 39, 46, 48, 52, 64, 66, 76,
            Lindgren 18, 37, Wolfhagen 60, 72, 82, 89, N. Middelboe 68)
FRANCE A 1 (Sartorius 16)
HT: 6-1
Denmark: Drescher - Buchwald, H. Hansen - Bohr, K. Middelboe (cap), N. Middelboe -
         Gandil, Lindgren, S. Nielsen, Wolfhagen, Rasmussen.
France: Tilliette - Wibaut, J. Dubly - Bayrou, Renaux, Schubart -
        Sartorius, Albert, François (cap), Cyprès, Fenouillère.
NB: after the withdrawals of Hungary and Bohemia this match was rescheduled to
    21 October (to replace the two matches of the consolation round), but as the
    French team had arranged to arrive in London on the morning of the original
    match date (22 October) it eventually was played as planned, as the first
    match of a double-header with the other semi-final; attendance given as
    "a few hundred" in Dutch press reports; the official report incorrectly
    listed the second linesman as A.C. Hines (he was called Arthur George).

22 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London - Att: 3,000
Ref: Jack Howcroft (Eng) - Lin: H. Gray (Eng), W.E. Roberts (Eng)
UNITED KINGDOM 4 (Stapley 37, 63, 65, 75)
NETHERLANDS    0
HT: 1-0
United Kingdom: Bailey - Corbett, Smith - Hunt, Chapman, Hawkes -
                Berry, Woodward (cap), Stapley, Purnell, Hardman.
Netherlands: Beeuwkes - Heijting, Otten - Sol, De Korver, Mundt (cap) -
             Welcker, Snethlage, Reeman, Thomée, De Bruyn Kops.
NB: most reports in Dutch newspapers credited the first goal to Purnell; attendance
    usually listed as 6,000 but Dutch press reports estimated it as "between 2,000
    and 3,000" and also stated that prior to the final no match was attended by more
    than 3,000 spectators.

Final

24 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London - Att: 8,000
Ref: Johnny Lewis (Eng) - Lin: F. Styles (Eng), H. Woollett (Eng)
UNITED KINGDOM 2 (Chapman 7, Woodward 67)
DENMARK        0
HT: 1-0
United Kingdom: Bailey - Corbett, Smith - Hunt, Chapman, Hawkes -
                Berry, Woodward (cap), Stapley, Purnell, Hardman. 
Denmark: Drescher - Buchwald, H. Hansen - Bohr, K. Middelboe (cap), N. Middelboe -
         O. Nielsen, Lindgren, S. Nielsen, Wolfhagen, Rasmussen.
NB: attendance often listed as 10,000 but the official report (which did not give
    numbers for any other football matches) had it as "some 8,000 spectators"; in
    Dutch press reports one finds estimates between 6,000 and 10,000.

CONSOLATION TOURNAMENT (TOURNAMENT FOR THIRD PLACE AND BRONZE MEDALS)

All teams eliminated before the final were to enter the separate tournament for
the "consolation prize", whose winners were handed the bronze medals after the
final of the tournament proper; as France withdrew both its teams after their
embarrassing losses against Denmark (both travelled home directly after their
matches with no intention of returning to London), only one match was played.

Consolation Tournament First Round

NB: two matches were to be played on 21 October between the four first round
    losers; the pairings were drawn prior to 7 October (when they appeared
    in Sporting Life – as "Hungary or Holland v. France (B Team) or Denmark"
    and "Bohemia or France (A Team) v. United Kingdom or Sweden") but both
    were cancelled on 15 October because Hungary and Bohemia had withdrawn,
    leaving only two first round losers, France B and Sweden, who qualified
    by default for the semi-finals of the consolation tournament.

21 October - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London
Ref: Dicky Schumacher (Eng) - Lin: H.A. Hants (Eng), C.W. Gillett (Eng)
FRANCE B won by walk-over.
HUNGARY  withdrew on 12 October.

21 October - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London
Ref: capt. Walter Clover (Eng) - Lin: H.C. Platt (Eng), A. Briggs (Eng)
SWEDEN  won by walk-over.
BOHEMIA withdrew on 14 October.

Consolation Tournament Semi-Finals

23 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London
Ref: Wagstaffe Simmons (Eng) - Lin: F.J. Wall (Eng), C.D. Crisp (Eng)
FRANCE A withdrew.
FRANCE B withdrew.

23 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London - Att: 300
Ref: Jacky Pearson (Eng) - Lin: J.T. Hornby (Eng), J. Dickerson (Eng)
NETHERLANDS 2 (Reeman 6, Snethlage 48)
SWEDEN      0
HT: 1-0; missed penalty: Bergström (Swe, at 1-0 in first half)
Netherlands: Beeuwkes - Heijting, Otten - Sol, De Korver (cap), Kok -
             Welcker, Snethlage, Reeman, Thomée, De Bruyn Kops.
Sweden: Bengtsson - Fjästad, Andersson - S. Olsson, Lindman (cap), Lidén -
        G. Bergström, O. Ohlsson, Gustafsson, Fagrell, Ansén.
NB: attendance often listed as 1,000 but given as "two to three hundred" in
    Dutch press reports;
    as France had withdrawn, this match effectively settled third place and
    the bronze medals, although technically it only qualified its winners 
    for the final match of the consolation tournament, originally intended 
    as the first match of a double-header with the gold medal match.

Consolation Tournament Final (Match for Third Place)

24 October 1908 - Stadium of the British Olympic Association, London
Ref: capt. Henry Lovett (Eng) - Lin: W. Burgess (Eng), J.R. Benson (Eng)
NETHERLANDS won by walk-over.
FRANCE      withdrew.
NB: this match was to have been played ahead of the final, but cancelled
    as both French sides had taken French leave (or, as the French would
    put it: "les deux équipes françaises se furent filées à l'anglaise").

FRIENDLIES

Before the start of the Olympic football tournament, Sweden had arranged to
play two friendlies in the Low Countries on their way home.

25 October 1908 - H.V.V.-terrein "De Diepput", Den Haag - Att: 4,000
Ref: Joseph Brauburger (Bel) - Lin: Kees van Hasselt (Net), Bep Willing (Net)
NETHERLANDS 5 (Francken 20, Snethlage 45+2, 51, Thomée 70, Welcker 76)
SWEDEN      3 (Gustafsson 13, 45+3, O. Ohlson 24)
HT: 2-3
Netherlands: Beeuwkes - Heijting, Kuneman - Bekker, De Korver, Mundt (cap) -
             Welcker, Snethlage, M. Francken, Thomée, Groskamp.
Sweden: Bengtsson - Fjästad, Andersson - S. Olsson, Lindman (cap), Lidén -
        Almkvist, G. Bergström, O. Ohlsson, Gustafsson, Ansén.
NB: the attendance is usually given as eight thousand but contemporary
    newspaper estimates ranged from three to four thousand;
    moreover, goalscorers are usually but incorrectly given as:
NETHERLANDS 5 (Snethlage 6, 51, Welcker 41, Francken 49, Thomée 73)
SWEDEN      3 (Gustafsson 8, 28, O. Ohlsson 21)
    which is in flat contradiction with all contemporary newspaper reports
    as well as the match description published in "Het sportblad" (official
    publication of the N.V.B.) of 29 October 1908, which unanimously stated
    the scoring went 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, 5-3, and listed the
    Dutch goalscorers as: Francken 1-1, Snethlage 2-2 and 3-3, Thomée 4-3,
    Welcker 5-3; the goal minutes as indicated above are taken from a report
    which appeared in the "Nieuwe Tilburgsche courant" of 26 October 1908,
    which gave exact times for the start and end of both halves and for all
    the goals; the additional time at the end of the first half was not due
    to injuries but the fact that the first few minutes of the match were
    officiated by veteran referee Herman Tromp, secretary of hosts H.V.V.,
    before Brauburger took over. 

26 October 1908 - stade du Vivier d'Oie, Uccle - Att: 800
Ref: Charles Barette (Bel)
BELGIUM 2 (Kevorkian 30, Goossens 31)
SWEDEN  1 (Gustafsson 39)
HT: 2-1
Belgium: Leroy - Joux, Hubin - Van Den Eynde, Cambier, Van Hoorden (cap) -
         Meulders, Goossens, Kevorkian, Paternoster, Van Boxtaele.
Sweden: Bengtsson - Fjästad, Andersson - S. Olsson, Lindman (cap), Malm -
        Almkvist, G. Bergström, S. Ohlsson, Gustafsson, Ansén.


Final Ranking

Records Tournament Proper
Rk  Country         P  W  T  L   F  A  Pts   GAvg
 1  UNITED KINGDOM  3  3  0  0  18- 1    6  18.00  [*]
 2  Denmark         3  2  0  1  26- 3    4   8.67
 3  France (A)      1  0  0  1   1-17    0   0.06
    Netherlands     1  0  0  1   0- 4    0   0.00
 5  Sweden          1  0  0  1   1-12    0   0.08
    France (B)      1  0  0  1   0- 9    0   0.00
 -  Bohemia         withdrew
    Hungary         withdrew

[*] like all participating countries, the United Kingdom was entitled to enter
    four teams, in their case specifically to allow each of the home nations to
    be represented; only England availed itself of this opportunity (whereas all 
    four entered the (grass) hockey tournament), and thus the United Kingdom (or
    Great Britain) team was in fact the England Amateur side.

NB: records do not include the consolation tournament; after the medalists, teams
    are only ranked by the round in which they were eliminated.

Records Consolation Tournament
Rk  Country         P  W  T  L   F  A  Pts   GAvg
 3  Netherlands     1  1  0  0   2- 0    2   inf.
 4  Sweden          1  0  0  1   0- 2    0   0.00
 -  France (A)      withdrew
    France (B)      withdrew

Topscorers

11 S. Nielsen (Den)
 8 Wolfhagen (Den)
 6 Stapley (UK)
 4 Purnell (UK)
 3 Woodward (UK), N. Middelboe (Den) 

Squad Lists

Denmark | France A | France B | France C | Netherlands | Sweden | United Kingdom (England)

NB: countries could name 33 players for each team, to be registered by 1 September; these appeared in
    the official report, at times erratically spelled (e.g. C.F. (Frans) de Bruyn Kops is listed as
    E.F. de Bruyn Hoyels), presumably caused by handwritten and occasionally barely legible originals;
    the final squads (in all cases reduced to 18 players or less) were announced around 7 October;
    both Bohemia and Hungary registered at the last moment (possibly even shortly after 1 September)
    and it is not known whether either ever submitted a squad list before withdrawing again;
    Pos = Position (GK = Goalkeeper; DF = Defender; MF = Midfielder; FW = Forward); tr. = Trainer;
    the part of the Full Name used in the Match Details section is given in bold face;
    DoB = Date of Birth; DoD = Date of Death;
    Club refers to that at which player was active in September 1908;
    Caps and Goals refer to full international matches in entire career (does not include matches for
    the England Amateur side);
    additions and corrections are welcome.

Denmark

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
GK    Ludvig Drescher                       21- 7-1881    14- 7-1917    K.B.                           4    0
DF    Charles von Buchwald [*]              22-10-1880    19-11-1951    A.B.                           7    0
DF    Harald Hansen                         14- 3-1884    10- 5-1927    B. 93                          7    0
DF    Knud Hansen                            5- 1-1885                  Olympia                        0    0
MF    Ødbert Bjarnholt                      24-12-1885     3- 1-1946    Frem                           2    0
MF    Harald Bohr                           22- 4-1887    22- 1-1951    A.B.                           4    2
MF    Einar Middelboe                       25- 9-1883    31-12-1968    K.B.                           0    0
MF    Kristian Middelboe                    24- 3-1881    20- 5-1965    K.B.                           4    0
MF    Nils Middelboe                         5-10-1887    21- 9-1976    K.B.                          15    7
FW    Peter Marius Andersen                 25- 4-1885    20- 3-1972    Frem                           1    0
FW    Magnus Bech                            8-12-1889     4-10-1940    B. 93                          0    0
FW    Johannes Gandil                       21- 5-1873     7- 3-1956    B. 93                          1    0
FW    August Lindgren                        1- 8-1883     1- 6-1945    B. 93                          4    3
FW    Oskar Nielsen                          4-10-1882    18- 5-1941    K.B.                          14    0
FW    Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen              15- 3-1888     6- 8-1963    Frem                          20   16
FW    Bjørn Rasmussen                       19- 5-1885    24- 9-1962    K.B.                           2    0
FW    Vilhelm Wolfhagen                     11-11-1889     5- 7-1958    K.B.                          18   14
tr.:  Charlie Williams (England)            19-11-1873    29- 7-1952
NB: whereas the above 17 players travelled to London, the following 9 players are listed in the official report
    of the Olympic Games but did not travel to London:
GK    Sophus Hansen                         16-11-1889    19- 2-1962    Frem                          31    0
DF    Hans Hvilsted                                                     Ø.B.                           0    0
DF    Peder Mikkelsen                                                   Frem                           0    0
MF    Robert Jensen                                                     Frem                           0    0
MF    Oscar (Sørensen) Windinge              8- 7-1882                  B. 93                          0    0
FW    Kristian Gyldenstein                  16- 7-1886    11- 1-1954    A.B.                           3    3
FW    Carl Frederik Pedersen                 9-12-1883    11- 1-1967    A.B.                           0    0
FW    Axel Petersen                         10-12-1887    20-12-1968    Frem                           2    0
FW    Henry Rambusch                        16-10-1881    20- 5-1954    B. 93                          0    0
[*] Buchwald himself refrained from using the nobiliary "von".

France A

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
GK    Maurice Tiliette                      29-12-1884    26- 8-1973    US Boulonnaise                 2    0
GK    Jules Signoret                                                    Racing Club de France          0    0
DF    Jean Dubly                             9- 8-1886    21-11-1953    RC de Roubaix                  1    0
DF    Ulysse Wibaut                         18- 6-1887    17- 6-1968    Olympique Lillois              1    0
MF    Georges Bayrou                        21-12-1883     5-12-1953    Gallia Club                    1    0
MF    Charles Renaux                        31-12-1884    17-10-1971    RC de Roubaix                  1    0
MF    Louis Schubart                         8- 4-1885    23-11-1954    Olympique Lillois              3    0
FW    Emile Sartorius                        1- 4-1885       11-1933    RC de Roubaix                  5    2
FW    Georges Albert                              1885                  CA de Paris                    1    0
FW    Gaston Cyprès                         19-11-1884    18- 8-1925    CA de Paris                    6    2
FW    Albert Dubly                                                      RC de Roubaix                  0    0
FW    René Fenouillère                      22-10-1882     4-11-1916    Red Star AC                    1    0
FW    André François                        13- 1-1886    17- 3-1915    RC de Roubaix                  6    3
NB: whereas the above 13 players travelled to London, the following 4 players were listed as squad members
    on 9 October (for the match against Bohemia) but not anymore on 16 October:
DF    Oscar Desaulty                                                    AS Française                   0    0
MF    Julien Du Rhéart                      30-11-1880    28- 2-1963    Club Français                  3    0
MF    Jean Zimmermann                                                   AS Française                   0    0
FW    Gabriel Hanot                          6-11-1889    10- 8-1968    US Tourquennoise              12    3
NB: the following 4 players were chosen as reserves, but did not travel:
MF    H. Pouillet                                                       CA XIVe                        0    0
MF    Marius Royet                          19- 6-1880     8-11-1918    US Parisienne                  9    2
FW    André Puget                           12- 1-1882     9- 5-1915    Racing Club de France          1    0
FW    André Saint-Ignan                                                 Club Français                  0    0
NB: the following 4 players were originally chosen for France A but were unavailable due to military service:
DF    Emile Fontaine                                                    Olympique Lillois              0    0
DF    Henri Moigneu                          9- 3-1887    14- 3-1937    US Tourquennoise               8    0
DF    Victor Bentall-Sergent                 8- 8-1886    28-12-1925    Racing Club de France          5    0
FW    Louis Mesnier                         15-12-1884    10-10-1921    CA de Paris                   14    6

France B

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
GK    Fernand Desrousseaux                  23-10-1879    26- 8-1956    US Tourquennoise               1    0
DF    Charles Bilot                         11- 3-1883    17- 9-1912    CA de Paris                    6    0
DF    Joseph Verlet                         16- 8-1883    22- 7-1924    CA de Paris                    7    1
MF    Sadi Dastarac                         14- 6-1888     2- 2-1911    Gallia Club                    1    0
MF    Raoul Gressier                        19-11-1885     6-10-1915    RC de Calais                   1    0
MF    Justin Vialaret                       12-11-1883    30- 9-1916    CA XIVe                        1    0
FW    Adrien Filez                          27- 8-1885    15-10-1965    US Tourquennoise               5    0
FW    Henri Holgard                         17-12-1884    21- 8-1927    Amiens AC                      1    0
FW    Albert Jenicot                        15- 2-1885    22- 2-1916    RC de Roubaix                  3    0
FW    Paul Mathaux                          19- 2-1888    18- 9-1966    US Boulonnaise                 5    0
FW    Georges Prouvost                                                  US Tourquennoise               0    0
FW    Pierre Six                            18- 1-1888     7- 7-1916    Olympique Lillois              1    0
NB: whereas the above 12 players travelled to London, the following 2 players were also chosen for the match but
    withdrew at the last moment:
DF    Etienne Morillon                                                  Red Star AC                    0    0
FW    Albert Schaff                          8- 4-1885    21- 4-1968    CA XIVe                        1    0
NB: the following 2 players were listed as squad members on 9 October but not anymore on 16 October:
MF    Victor Denis                          12- 1-1889     3- 3-1972    US Tourquennoise               1    0
FW    Robert Eucher                         14- 6-1884    23- 5-1940    AS Française                   1    0
NB: the following 7 players were chosen as reserves, but did not travel:
DF    G. Goût                                                           CA XIVe                        0    0
MF    Julien Denis                          20- 3-1886    15- 8-1914    US de Calais                   2    0
MF    L. Schalbart                                                      Stade Français                 0    0
FW    M. Deleglise                                                      RC de Calais                   0    0
FW    Raymond Gigot                         11- 5-1885    25- 9-1915    Club Français                  1    0
FW    Ernest Guéguen                        30- 5-1885    25- 9-1915    Gallia Club                    1    0
FW    Raymond Jouve                         10- 2-1886                  Gallia Club                    1    0
NB: the following 2 players were originally chosen for France B but were unavailable:
GK    Zacharie Bâton                        20- 9-1886    21- 2-1925    Olympique Lillois              4    0
DF    Fernand Canelle                        2- 1-1882    11- 9-1951    Club Français                  6    0

France C

NB: the following 29 players are listed in the official report of the Olympic Games, but did not travel
    due to the fact that the U.S.F.S.A. decided to send only two instead of three teams:

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
MF    Pierre Allemane                       19- 1-1882    24- 5-1956    Racing Club de France          7    0
DF    G. Artault                                                        AS Française                   0    0
DF    J. Bastien                                                        Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
FW    Henri Bellocq                         16-12-1884     5- 9-1959    Etoile des Deux-Lacs [!]       6    1
FW    A. Bienvenu                                                       Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
FW    Georges Bon                           14- 7-1886    18-12-1949    US Boulonnaise                 1    0
FW    René Camard                            8- 2-1887    16- 3-1915    AS Française                   1    0
FW    J. Carlier                                                        Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
      Albert Cochelin                                                   Club Athlétique Français       0    0
FW    G. Darbonville                                                    Club Français                  0    0
MF    Jacques Davy                          26- 9-1883    12-10-1944    US Parisienne                  1    0
      A. Grain [*1]                                                                                    0    0
MF    Henri Guerre                          23- 2-1885    29- 2-1924    Patronage Olier [!]            1    0
FW    Félix Julien                           7-12-1884     1- 3-1915    AS Bon Conseil [!]             2    0
FW    Eugène Laplace                                                    Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
GK    G. Laplace                                                        Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
FW    Eugène Maës                           15- 9-1890    30- 3-1945    Patronage Olier [!]           11   15
MF    J. Maillard                                                       Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
FW    Henri "Léon" Mouton                   20- 4-1881    10- 3-1962    Etoile des Deux-Lacs [!]       5    1
MF    Eugène Nicolaï                        26- 6-1885    18- 2-1958    United SC (?)                  2    0
      Pierre Roze                           14- 1-1887                  ES Bienfaisance [!]            0    0
      P. Têtard                                                         Olympique Lillois              0    0
DF    Ernest Tossier                        20- 6-1888    19-12-1948    Patronage Olier [!]            1    0
      R. Verbrugge [*2]                                                                                0    0
GK    Arthur Vinche                                                     Club Français                  0    0
MF    E. Vuillemot                                                      Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
MF    Charles Wilkes                         2- 6-1879    27- 8-1939    Havre Sports                   4    0
FW    E. Wurslin                                                        Patronage Olier [!]            0    0
MF    Paul Zeiger                            8- 9-1881    18- 2-1959    US Parisienne                  1    0
[*1] listed as A. Grain in the official report but possibly:
MF    Raymond Gouin                         23-10-1888    28-10-1954    Jeanne d'Arc de Levallois [!]  2    0
[*2] listed as R. Verbrugge in the official report but possibly:
FW    Julien Verbrugghe                     26-12-1889    21- 8-1916    AS Française                   4    0
[!] AS Bon Conseil, ES Bienfaisance, Etoile des Deux-Lacs, Jeanne d'Arc de Levallois and Patronage Olier
    were members of the F.G.S.P.F. (Fédération Gymnastique Sportive des Patronages de France); eventually
    only players from U.S.F.S.A. (Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques) member clubs were
    selected for the two teams sent to London.

Netherlands

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
GK    Reinier Beeuwkes                      17- 2-1884     1- 4-1963    D.F.C.                        19    0
GK    Lo la Chapelle                        22- 6-1888    23- 7-1966    H.V.V.                         1    0
DF    Karel Heijting                          1- 5-1883        8-1951    H.V.V.                        17    0
DF    Lou Otten                              5-11-1883     7-11-1946    Quick (Den Haag)              12    0
MF    Kees Bekker [*1]                      26- 1-1883    28-12-1964    H.B.S.                         6    0
MF    Vic. Gonsalves [*2]                   20-10-1887    29- 8-1922    H.B.S.                         3    0
MF    Jan Kok [*3]                           9- 7-1889     2-12-1958    U.D.                           1    0
MF    Bok de Korver                         27- 1-1883    22-10-1957    Sparta                        31    2
MF    Miel Mundt                            30- 5-1880    17- 7-1949    H.V.V.                         4    0
MF    Eetje Sol                             10- 6-1881    21-10-1965    H.V.V.                         3    0
FW    Jan van den Berg                      22- 8-1879    21-12-1951    Haarlem                        0    0
FW    Frans de Bruyn Kops                   28-10-1886    22-11-1979    H.B.S.                         3    0
FW    Wim Groskamp                           8-10-1886    13- 1-1974    Quick (Den Haag)               1    0
FW    Jops Reeman                            9- 8-1886    16- 3-1959    Quick (Den Haag)               2    1
FW    Edu Snethlage                          9- 5-1886    12- 1-1941    Quick (Den Haag)              11   10
FW    Jan Thomée                             4-12-1886     1- 4-1954    Concordia (Delft) [-]         16   16
FW    Caius Welcker                          9- 7-1885    13- 2-1939    Quick (Den Haag)              17    5
tr.:  Edgar Chadwick (England)              14- 6-1869    14- 2-1942
NB: whereas the above 17 players travelled to London, the following 13 players are listed in the official report 
    of the Olympic Games (implying they were registered at the beginning of September) but did not travel to London:
GK    Hendrik Linthout                      11- 1-1887     3- 6-1960    D.V.S. (Rotterdam) [-]         0    0
DF    John Heijning [*2]                     12-12-1884    19- 5-1947    H.V.V.                         8    0
DF    E. Jacobi                                                         Haarlem                        0    0
DF    Henny Visman [*4]                                                 Achilles (Rotterdam) [-]       0    0
MF    Willem Boerdam                         2-11-1883     9-12-1966    Sparta                         2    0
MF    Jan Brutel de la Rivière [*5]         16- 4-1885    30- 9-1972    Ajax (Leiden)                  0    0
MF    Noud Stempels                          4- 4-1882    12-10-1970    Quick (Den Haag)               3    0
MF    Sim Veen                                                          Haarlem                        0    0
FW    Jan Akkersdijk                          8- 1-1887    31- 3-1953    Velocitas (Breda)              2    1
FW    Tok Begeer                                                        Hercules (Utrecht)             0    0
FW    Albert Haak                                                       Haarlem                        0    0
FW    F.G. Pluim                                                        U.D.                           0    0
FW    Toine van Renterghem                  17- 4-1885     1- 3-1967    H.B.S.                         3    0
[*1] Bekker, who was to have started the first match, was indisposed and replaced by Sol.
[*2] Heijning, who apparently was based in London at the time, was to be a (reserve) member of the squad
     but withdrew on 19 October and was replaced by Gonsalves.
[*3] Kok also used the nom de plume "Davo".
[*4] Visman was listed as H.L. Visser in the official report.
[*5] Brutel de la Rivière was to have replaced De Korver, whose availability was in doubt at the beginning
     of October, but as De Korver eventually travelled, Brutel de la Rivière did not.
[-] Achilles, Concordia and D.V.S. all played at the second domestic level.

Sweden

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
GK    Oscar Bengtsson                       14- 1-1885    13-10-1972    Örgryte IS                     9    0
DF    Nils Andersson                        10- 3-1887    15- 8-1947    IFK Göteborg                   5    0
DF    Åke Fjästad                           16-12-1887    10- 3-1956    IFK Stockholm                  5    0
DF    Theodor Malm                          23-10-1889     2-10-1950    AIK                           26    0
MF    Walter Lidén                          10- 3-1887    13- 1-1969    IFK Göteborg                   2    0
MF    Hans Lindman                           6- 9-1884    24- 1-1957    IFK Uppsala                    7    0
MF    Olof Ohlsson                           4-10-1888    21- 7-1962    IFK Eskilstuna                 4    1
MF    Helge Olsson                                                      IFK Stockholm                  0    0
MF    Sven Olsson                            3-10-1889    19- 5-1919    Örgryte IS                     7    0
FW    Sune Almkvist                          4- 2-1886     8- 8-1975    IFK Uppsala                    4    0
FW    Karl Ansén                            26- 7-1887    20- 7-1959    AIK                           17    0
FW    Gustaf Bergström                       4- 7-1884     9- 2-1938    Örgryte IS                     6    1
FW    Arvid Fagrell                         10- 8-1888     6-12-1932    IFK Göteborg                   2    0
FW    Karl Gustafsson                       16- 9-1888    20- 2-1960    IFK Köping                    32   22
FW    Sven Ohlsson                          14- 2-1888    27-12-1947    Mariebergs IK                  2    0
NB: whereas the above 15 players travelled to London, the following 5 players are listed in the official report of
    the Olympic Games (implying they were registered at the beginning of September) but did not travel to London:
GK    Arvid Mellin                          16-11-1890    13- 3-1984    IFK Stockholm                  0    0
MF    Thor Ericsson                          9-10-1885    20- 4-1975    Örgryte IS                     4    0
FW    Erik Bergström                         6- 1-1886    30- 1-1966    Örgryte IS                     7    6
FW    Erik Börjesson                         1-12-1886    17- 7-1983    IFK Göteborg                  17   14
FW    Tore Lindbom                                                      IFK Gävle                      0    0

United Kingdom (England)

Pos   Full Name                                DoB           DoD        Club                        Caps  Goals
GK    Horace Bailey                          3- 7-1881     1- 8-1960    Leicester Fosse                5    0
DF    Watty Corbett                         26-11-1880    23-11-1960    Birmingham City                3    0
DF    Herbert Smith                         22-11-1877     6- 1-1951    Oxford City                    4    0
MF    Frederick Chapman                     10- 5-1883     7- 9-1951    South Nottinghamshire          0    0
MF    Bob Hawkes                            18-10-1880    12- 9-1945    Luton Town                     5    0
MF    Kenneth Hunt                          24- 2-1884    28- 4-1949    Wolverhampton Wanderers        2    0
FW    Arthur Berry                           3- 1-1888    15- 3-1953    Oxford University              1    0
FW    Harold Hardman                         4- 4-1882     9- 6-1965    Northern Nomads                4    1
FW    Clyde Purnell                         14- 5-1877    14- 8-1934    Clapton                        0    0
FW    Harry Stapley                         29- 4-1883    29- 4-1937    Glossop                        0    0
FW    Vivian Woodward                        3- 6-1879    31- 1-1954    Tottenham Hotspur             23   29
NB: the above 11 players contested all matches; the following 7 players were registered as reserves: 
GK    Ron Brebner                           23- 9-1881    11-11-1914    Stockton                       0    0
DF    Albert Bell                                                       Woking                         0    0
DF    Albert Scothern                       12- 9-1882    20- 3-1970    Oxford City                    0    0
MF    corp. William Daffern                       1882    21-11-1953    Depot Batt. Royal Engineers    0    0
FW    George Barlow                         19- 9-1885     3- 3-1921    Wigan Grammar School Old Boys  0    0
FW    Wilfrid Crabtree                          2-1885    17- 2-1957    Blackburn Crosshill            0    0
FW    Chris Porter                          25-10-1885     4- 6-1915    Northern Nomads                0    0
NB: the following 14 players are listed in the official report of the Olympic Games (implying they were
    registered at the beginning of September) but were not part of the final squad:
GK    Ernest Proud                           6-12-1880    15- 6-1967    Bishop Auckland                0    0
DF    Bill Bayley                                 1882                  Clapton                        0    0
DF    John Charnley                         18- 1-1883    16- 2-1959    Blackburn Crosshill            0    0
DF    Paul Hayden                                                       Chorlton-cum-Hardy             0    0
MF    Charles Pearce                                                    Ilford                         0    0
MF    Arthur Prest                          28- 2-1880          1950    South Bank                     0    0
MF    John Prosser                                1887    25- 5-1917    Stockton                       0    0
FW    Arthur Bell                              11-1882    22- 4-1923    Burnley                        0    0
FW    Lionel Louch                           4- 7-1888     1- 2-1967    Portsmouth                     0    0
FW    Eversley Mansfield                          1886    18-10-1954    Northern Nomads                0    0
FW    James Raine                            3- 3-1886     4- 9-1928    Sunderland                     0    0
FW    Harold Uren                           23- 8-1885     7- 4-1955    Liverpool                      0    0
FW    Ernest Williams                       24- 8-1882     5- 8-1943    Ryde                           0    0
FW    Gordon Wright                          3-10-1884     5- 6-1947    Hull City                      0    0

Referees

All referees and linesmen were English; this did not cause any problems or complaints, perhaps partially due to the lopsidedness of most matches (in the only two matches in which the losers managed to score at all, the winners reached double figures). It also may have helped that Bohemia did not enter after all.

Full Name                                Country              DoB            DoD       Matches   Fin   SF 
John "Johnny" Lewis                      England           30- 3-1855     13- 1-1926      1       1
John Thomas "Jack" Howcroft              England           23-10-1874     27-12-1962      1             1
Thomas Pickup "Tom" Campbell             England                 1865     12- 3-1938      1             1
James Tweed "Jack" Ibbotson              England           12-10-1869     10- 5-1950      1
Thomas Kyle                              England           10-10-1858      7- 3-1932      1
John Hargreaves "Jacky" Pearson          England           25- 1-1868     22- 6-1931      1

NB: Johnny Lewis also refereed two matches (a semi-final and the final) in 1920;
    Wagstaffe Simmons, who was appointed referee for two matches that eventually did not take place,
    refereed one match in 1912.

overview file 1908


olympic games 1912 match details | olympic games 1916 match details | olympic games 1920 match details | olympic games 1924 match details | olympic games 1928 match details | olympic games 1936 match details

About this document

Sources included: [BuL (Band 1)], [CCO 98], [Coo 09], [IFF 00 (Band 1)], [Jør 02], [Klu 97], [SPL 57], [Ver 01], Olympedia, Linguasport (archived by the Wayback Machine), wikipedia, eu-football.info, Chroniques bleues, various contemporary French newspapers (available through Gallica), various contemporary Austrian newspapers (available through ANNO), various contemporary Dutch newspapers (available through Delpher), various contemporary Swedish newspapers (available through Svenska tidningar) as well as contemporary English papers (in particular Sporting Life and Athletic News).

Thanks to Macario Reyes for an earlier version of this file and to Cris Freddi and Eduardo Mendoza for additions and corrections.

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

Author: Karel Stokkermans (karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 8 Sep 2024

(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1999/2024
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.