Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain, an official football tournament between national representative selections was contested for the first time: football at the two previous games had been played between club teams.[1][2] Eight teams entered (including two from France, the main team and a "B" side)[3], although Hungary and Bohemia withdrew before the start. Denmark's Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen set a record by scoring 10 goals in a 17-1 win against France. Great Britain won the gold. Among those representing the Danish team was the famous mathematician Harald Bohr.

Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics
The "Challenge Cup", awarded to
the winning team
Tournament details
Host countryGreat Britain
Dates19–24 October
Teams6
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Great Britain (2nd title)
Runners-up Denmark
Third place Netherlands
Fourth place Sweden
Tournament statistics
Matches played6
Goals scored48 (8 per match)
Top scorer(s) Sophus Nielsen (11 goals)
Winner's certificate

Venue
The White City Stadium hosted all the matches

Squads
Main article: Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads

Tournament

The matches:[4][5]

First round
Denmark 9–0 France B
N. Middelboe  10', 49'
Wolfhagen  15', 17', 67', 72'
Bohr  25', 47'
S. Nielsen  78'		 Report
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Thomas Kyle (Great Britain)
Great Britain 12–1 Sweden
Stapley  15', ??'
Woodward  ??', ??'
Berry  ??'
Chapman  ??'
Purnell  ??', ??', ??', ??'
Hawkes  ??', ??'		 Report Bergström  65'
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: John Ibbotson (Great Britain)

Byes: Netherlands  (drawn against  Hungary, who withdrew due to the Bosnian crisis) and France  (drawn against  Bohemia, who withdrew after losing their FIFA membership).

Semi-finals
Great Britain 4–0 Netherlands
Stapley  37', 60', 64', 75' Report
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: John Howcroft (Great Britain)
Denmark 17–1 France
S. Nielsen  3', 4', 6', 39', 46', 48', 52', 64', 66', 76'
Lindgren  18', 37'
Wolfhagen  60', 72', 82', 89'
N. Middelboe  68'		 Report Sartorius  16'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Campbell (Great Britain)

Bronze medal match

The French were so shocked by their 17–1 defeat against Denmark that they declined to play for the bronze medal; therefore, the Netherlands played Sweden for third place.[6]

Netherlands 2–0 Sweden
Reeman  6'
Snethlage  58'		 Report
Attendance: 1,000

Gold medal match
Great Britain 2–0 Denmark
Chapman  20'
Woodward  46'		 Report
Attendance: 8,000

Medal summary

Medal table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1  Great Britain (H) 3 3 0 0 18 1 +17 6 Champions
2  Denmark 3 2 0 1 26 3 +23 4 Runners-up
3  Netherlands 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2 2 Third place
4  Sweden 2 0 0 2 1 14 −13 0 Fourth place
5  France 1 0 0 1 1 17 −16 0 Eliminated in semi-finals
6  France B 1 0 0 1 0 9 −9 0 Eliminated in first round
Source: FIFA[8]
(H) Host.

Medalists

Complete list of medal winners:[9]

Great Britain won the Gold Medal after beating Denmark at the final
Denmark won the Silver Medal
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's tournament  Great Britain
Horace Bailey
Arthur Berry
Frederick Chapman
Walter Corbett
Harold Hardman
Robert Hawkes
Kenneth Hunt
Herbert Smith
Harold Stapley
Clyde Purnell
Vivian Woodward
George Barlow[10]
Albert Bell
Ronald Brebner
W. Crabtree
Walter Daffern
Thomas Porter
Albert Scothern		  Denmark (DEN)[11]
Peter Marius Andersen
Harald Bohr
Charles Buchwald
Ludvig Drescher
Johannes Gandil
Harald Hansen
August Lindgren
Kristian Middelboe
Nils Middelboe
Sophus Nielsen
Oskar Nørland
Bjørn Rasmussen
Vilhelm Wolfhagen
Magnus Beck [10]
Ødbert E. Bjarnholt
Knud Hansen
Einar Middelboe		  Netherlands (NED)
Reinier Beeuwkes
Frans de Bruyn Kops
Karel Heijting
Jan Kok
Bok de Korver
Emil Mundt
Louis Otten
Jops Reeman
Edu Snethlage
Ed Sol
Jan Thomée
Caius Welcker
Jan van den Berg[10]
Lo la Chapelle
Vic Gonsalves
John Heijting
Tonie van Renterghem

Statistics

Goalscorers
Danish Sophus Nielsen, topscorer with 11 goals
11 goals
8 goals
6 goals
  • Harold Stapley
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Goalkeeping
PlaceNameTeamGoals allowedGamesGAA
1Horace Bailey Great Britain130.33
2Ludvig Drescher Denmark331.00
3Reinier Beeuwkes Netherlands422.00
4Oskar Bengtsson Sweden1427.00
5Fernand Desrousseaux France B919.00
6Maurice Tillette France17117.00

Bibliography
  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.

References
  1. Olympic Football Tournament London 1908, FIFA.com
  2. "Football at the 1908 London Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  3. Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure by Jon Carter on ESPN, 26 July 2012
  4. Games of the IV. Olympiad - Football Tournament (London, England, October 19 - 24, 1908) by Lars Aarhus on the RSSSF
  5. Olympic Tournament - 1908 London on IFFHS
  6. IFFHS
  7. "Netherlands 2 Sweden 0 (Match summary)". www.footballdatabase.eu. 23 October 1908. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  8. "Men's Olympic Football Tournament (Statistics, Facts & Figures 1908–2016): Statistical Kit (including Rio 2016) – Ranking by tournament 1908–2016" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 27 March 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. Footballers in London
  10. Those players were also in squad, but did not play any matches.
  11. (in Danish) Slutrundetrupper 1908-2004 at Danish Football Union Archived 2012-08-09 at the Wayback Machine

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