South Georgia - Football History

This island is now uninhabited but until 1964 there were a number of settlements of whalers, including some football pitches. At the time it was a dependency of the Falkland Islands.
Matches were played between the various whaling stations; the first known such match took place on 19 January 1913. The Grytviken station hosted its matches in Hestesletten until the inauguration of the field in Grytviken, in 1928. Since 1928 annual sports meetings were held between the various whaling stations, including athletics and football competitions. These meetings continued until the early thirties.
After that there were matches between the whaling stations and against teams from visiting ships. In the late fifties, another championship between the whaling stations was set up, and held on three occasions before whaling was forbidden and the island deserted.

Palmares

Sports Meeting

Ed Season   Winners
 1  1928    Grytviken
 2  1929    Leith Harbour
 3  1930    Leith Harbour     
 4  1931    Leith Harbour
 5  1932    Leith Harbour     
    1933      not held
    1934      planned but cancelled

South Georgia Inter Whaling Station Football Championship

Ed  Season     Winners
 1  1958/59 Leith Harbour     
 2  1959/60 Leith Harbour     
 3  1960/61 Leith Harbour 

NB: played on three occasions; later in the sixties, whaling was forbidden and
    the whaling stations were deserted.

Available Match Information

1913

First documented football match on the island:

[Jan 19]
A/S Ocean Whaling Co.        bt  Grytviken Whaling Station    
  [A/S Ocean Whaling Co. were from the whaling station New Fortuna Bay (later
   called Ocean Harbor) and its team consisted mostly of workers from Larvik
   in Norway; Grytviken included some players from Buenos Aires]

1914

[Jan ?, New Fortuna Bay (now called Ocean Harbour)]
A/S Ocean Whaling Co.        9-2 Grytviken Whaling Station
  [the hosts' team had nine players from Larvik and two Swedes; Grytviken
   included players from Argentina, Cape Verde, Norway, Sweden,  Finland,
   Great Britain and Russia]

[Feb ?, Grytviken]
Grytviken Whaling Station    3-5 A/S Ocean Whaling Co.

1928

On Feb 23 the first sports meeting was held in Prince Olav Harbour.

Final
Grytviken                    4-0 Husvik

NB: both sports clubs were founded 1928, shortly before the match.

1929

Second sports meeting, Feb 10-12.

Final
Leith Harbour                3-1 Strømness 

1930

League (5 participants)

[Feb 2]
Pesca                        5-2 Vestfold 
South Georgia Company       11-1 Southern Whaling and Sealing Co. 
Tonsberg Co. (Husvik)        bye

NB: no other results available

Third sports meeting, Feb 22-23.

Round 1 [Feb 22]
Grytviken                    bt  Strømness
 
Final [Feb 23]
Leith Harbour                4-1 Grytviken

1931

Fourth sports meeting, Feb 14-15; this was the largest ever tournament on
the island, with teams from 5 stations (Grytviken, Leith Harbour, Husvik,
Strømness and Prince Olav Harbour).

Final
Leith Harbour                5-0 Strømness

One of the competitions was for the Falkland Islands Government Cup.

1932
 
Fifth sports meeting, Feb 13-14; 3 participants: Leith Harbour, Grytviken
and Husvik/Strømness combined; the latter did not enter the football
tournamwent, which thus consisted of a single match:

Final [Feb 14]
Leith Harbour                4-3 Grytviken

1933-1946

No information

1947

[Dec 26]
Grytviken                    6-3 Leith Harbour

1948-1957

No information

1958/59

South Georgia Inter Whaling Station Football Championship 

NB: Grytviken and Leith Harbour met in Grytviken on Dec 26, 1958 but
    it is not entirely sure that was the final match.

Final
Leith Harbour                4-1 Grytviken

1959/60

South Georgia Inter Whaling Station Football Championship 

Final
Leith Harbour                3-1 Husvik

1960/61

South Georgia Inter Whaling Station Football Championship 

Final
Leith Harbour                7-4 Strømness

2016 

[Feb 16]
South Georgia Island         3-0 Antarctic Endurance  

NB: Antarctic Endurance formed by the mixed team Royal Navy and Royal Marines

2023 

[Jan 25?]
Grytviken Workins            2-1 HMS Protector

About this document

Sources: Pat's Football Blog , J.N. Tønnessen and A. O. Johnsen: The History of Modern Whaling (1982), page 289; E. Thoresen: Fotball blant is og pingviner (2022); Federaciones Independientes

Prepared and maintained by Carlos Santos and Hans Schöggl for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Authors: Carlos Santos and Hans Schöggl
Last updated: 21 Aug 2025