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.[1][2] Eight entries were accepted, and were included in the tournament draw, including two from France, the main team and a "B" side.[3] Hungary and Bohemia withdrew before the start of play, leaving six contestants.
 The "Challenge Cup", awarded to the winning team | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Great Britain |
| City | London |
| Dates | 19–24 October |
| Teams | 6 |
| Venue(s) | White City Stadium |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Great Britain (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Denmark |
| Third place |  Netherlands |
| Fourth place |  Sweden |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 48 (8 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Sophus Nielsen (11 goals) |
Great Britain won the gold medal representing the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland), although all the players were from England.[citation needed]
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 scheduleEdit
The match schedule of the tournament.[4]
| R1 | First round | SF | Semi-finals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
| 19 Mon | 20 Tue | 21 Wed | 22 Thu | 23 Fri | 24 Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R1 | ½ | B | F |
VenueEdit
SquadsEdit
BracketEdit
| First round | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | ||||||||
| 19 October – Stockholm | ||||||||||
| Denmark | 9 | |||||||||
| 22 October 1908 – Stockholm | ||||||||||
 France B | 0 | |||||||||
| Denmark | 17 | |||||||||
| France | 1 | |||||||||
| France | ||||||||||
| 24 October 1908 – Stockholm | ||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||
| Great Britain | 2 | |||||||||
| 20 October – Stockholm | ||||||||||
| Denmark | 0 | |||||||||
| Great Britain (a.e.t.) | 12 | |||||||||
| 22 October 1908 – Stockholm | ||||||||||
| Sweden | 1 | |||||||||
| Great Britain | 4 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 0 | Bronze medal match | ||||||||
| Netherlands | ||||||||||
| 23 October 1908 – Stockholm | ||||||||||
| bye | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | 2 | |||||||||
| Sweden | 0 | |||||||||
TournamentEdit
Eight entries were accepted and the tournament draw, or arrangement of the schedule by lot, generated a full quarterfinal round of four matches. Before the beginning of play, however, the Hungary national football team withdrew due to the Bosnian crisis, although Hungary participated in the Games (
Hungary). Bohemia withdrew from the football tournament after losing FIFA membership. So there were two quarterfinal byes.
First roundEdit
Bye (2):
- Netherlands
, drawn against Hungary - France
, drawn against 
Bohemia
| Denmark | 9–0 |  France B |
|---|---|---|
N. Middelboe  10', 49'Wolfhagen 15', 17', 67', 72'Bohr 25', 47'S. Nielsen 78' |
Report |
Semi-finalsEdit
| Great Britain | 4–0 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Stapley 37', 60', 64', 75' |
Report |
| 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' |
Bronze medal matchEdit
All teams eliminated before the final were to participate in a separate tournament for the "bronze medal", and two matches were to be played on 21 October between the four first-round losers, but both were canceled on 15 October because Bohemia and Hungary had withdrawn, leaving only two first-round losers, France B and Sweden, who qualified by default for the semi-finals of the consolation tournament, and there they would meet the two semi-final losers, France and Netherlands, but the French were so shocked by their 17–1 defeat to Denmark that they withdrew both their main and B teams; meaning only the Netherlands and Sweden were left to play for the third place.[7]
| Netherlands | 2–0 | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
| Reeman 6' Snethlage 58' |
Report |
Gold medal matchEdit
| Great Britain | 2–0 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Chapman 20' Woodward 46' |
Report |
| Team details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal summaryEdit
Medal tableEdit
| 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 |
MedalistsEdit
Complete list of medal winners:[10]
| 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[11] Albert Bell Ronald Brebner W. Crabtree Walter Daffern Thomas Porter Albert Scothern |
 Denmark (DEN)[12]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 [11] 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[11] Lo la Chapelle Vic Gonsalves John Heijting Tonie van Renterghem |
StatisticsEdit
GoalscorersEdit
- 11 goals
- 8 goals
- 6 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
GoalkeepingEdit
| Place | Name | Team | Goals allowed | Games | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horace Bailey | Great Britain |
1 | 3 | 0.33 |
| 2 | Ludvig Drescher | Denmark |
3 | 3 | 1.00 |
| 3 | Reinier Beeuwkes | Netherlands |
4 | 2 | 2.00 |
| 4 | Oskar Bengtsson | Sweden |
14 | 2 | 7.00 |
| 5 | Fernand Desrousseaux | France B |
9 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 6 | Maurice Tillette | France |
17 | 1 | 17.00 |
BibliographyEdit
- Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Olympic Football Tournament London 1908, FIFA.com
- ^ "Football at the 1908 London Summer Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure by Jon Carter on ESPN, 26 July 2012
- ^ "Match Schedule for Olympic Football Tournament London 1908". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ Games of the IV. Olympiad - Football Tournament (London, England, October 19 - 24, 1908) by Lars Aarhus on the RSSSF
- ^ Olympic Tournament - 1908 London on IFFHS
- ^ "Consolation tournament (tournament for third place and bronze medals)". RSSSF. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ "Netherlands 2 Sweden 0 (Match summary)". www.footballdatabase.eu. 23 October 1908. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Footballers in London
- ^ a b c Those players were also in squad, but did not play any matches.
- ^ (in Danish) Slutrundetrupper 1908-2004 at Danish Football Union Archived 9 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine