At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, an official football tournament between national representative selections was contested for the first time; football had been played between club teams at the Games of 1900 and 1904.Olympic Football Tournament London 1908, FIFA.com
Like the hockey tournament, the rules allowed countries to enter up to four separate teams. Unlike hockey, Scotland, Wales and Ireland did not enter teams. There were eight entries, including two from France (the main team and a B team).Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure by Jon Carter on ESPN, 26 July 2012 Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew after the draw and appointment of referees, leaving six teams to contest the tournament.
Great Britain won the gold medal representing the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland), although all the players were from England.
Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen of Denmark set a record by scoring 10 goals in a 17–1 win over France A. The famous mathematician Harald Bohr, brother of the even more famous Niels Bohr, also played for Denmark, who won the silver medal.
Competition schedule The match schedule of the tournament. +LegendR1First roundSFSemi-finalsBBronze medal matchFGold medal match 19 Mon20 Tue21 Wed22 Thu23 Fri24 SatR1 R1 SF B F
Venue
Squads
Bracket
Tournament The matches:Games of the IV. Olympiad - Football Tournament (London, England, October 19 - 24, 1908) by Lars Aarhus on the RSSSFOlympic Tournament - 1908 London on IFFHS
With eight entries, the tournament draw had a full quarterfinal round of four matches.
However, after the draw and appointment of referees, (on 12 October) and (on 14 October) were both forced to withdraw due to financial reasons: their opponents, the Netherlands and France respectively, were awarded a 2–0 victory.
First round
Semi-finals
Bronze medal match Originally, all six teams eliminated before the final were to participate in a consolation tournament for the bronze medal, with two first-round matches to be played on 21 October between the four quarter-final losers.
After Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew, the first round was scratched on 15 October, with France B and Sweden qualifying for the semi-finals of the consolation tournament.
France B, Sweden, and the two semi-final losers, France and the Netherlands, were scheduled to play the semi-finals on 23 October: the French teams were drawn against each other, and the Netherlands were drawn against Sweden, with the winners playing off in the bronze medal match prior to the gold medal match on 24 October.
However, both French teams had returned home immediately after their crushing defeats to Denmark on 19 October and 22 October: therefore, their semi-final and the 24 October bronze medal match were both scratched, with the Netherlands v Sweden semi-final becoming the bronze medal match.
Gold medal match
Team details GK Horace Bailey RB Walter Corbett LB Herbert Smith RH Kenneth Hunt CH Frederick Chapman LH Robert Hawkes OR Arthur Berry IR Vivian Woodward CF Harold Stapley IL Clyde Purnell OL Harold Hardman Head Coach: Alfred Davis
GK Ludvig Drescher RB Charles Buchwald LB Harald Hansen RH Harald Bohr CH Kristian Middelboe LH Nils Middelboe OR Oskar Nielsen-Norland IR August Lindgren CF Sophus Nielsen IL Vilhelm Wolfhagen OL Bjørn RasmussenHead Coach: Charlie Williams
Assistant referees: F. Styles (England) W. Woollett (England)
Medal summary Medal table
Medalists Complete list of medal winners:
Event Gold Silver Bronze Men's tournament Horace BaileyArthur BerryFrederick ChapmanWalter CorbettHarold HardmanRobert HawkesKenneth HuntHerbert SmithHarold StapleyClyde PurnellVivian Woodward George BarlowThose players were also in squad, but did not play any matches. Albert Bell Ronald BrebnerW. CrabtreeWalter DaffernThomas PorterAlbert Scothern Slutrundetrupper 1908-2004 at Danish Football Union Peter Marius AndersenHarald BohrCharles BuchwaldLudvig DrescherJohannes GandilHarald HansenAugust LindgrenKristian MiddelboeNils MiddelboeSophus NielsenOskar NørlandBjørn RasmussenVilhelm Wolfhagen Magnus Beck Ødbert E. Bjarnholt Knud Hansen Einar Middelboe Reinier BeeuwkesFrans de Bruyn KopsKarel HeijtingJan KokBok de KorverEmil MundtLouis OttenJops ReemanEdu SnethlageEd SolJan ThoméeCaius Welcker Jan van den BergLo la ChapelleVic GonsalvesJohn HeijtingTonie van Renterghem
Statistics Goalscorers
11 goals
Sophus Nielsen
8 goals
Vilhelm Wolfhagen
6 goals
Harold Stapley
4 goals
Clyde Purnell
3 goals
Nils Middelboe Vivian Woodward
2 goals
Harald Bohr August Lindgren Frederick Chapman Robert Hawkes
1 goal
Émile Sartorius Arthur Berry Jops Reeman Edu Snethlage Gustaf Bergström
Goalkeeping
Place Name Team Goals allowed Games GAA 1 Horace Bailey 1 3 0.33 2 Ludvig Drescher 3 3 1.00 3 Reinier Beeuwkes 4 2 2.00 4 Oskar Bengtsson 14 2 7.00 5 Fernand Desrousseaux 9 1 9.00 6 Maurice Tillette 17 1 17.00
Bibliography
References