Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

The "Challenge Cup", awarded to the winning team
Tournament details
Host country	Great Britain
City	London
Dates	19–24 October 1908
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)
← 1904 (1906) 1912 →

Winner's certificate

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]}

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). ^[3] 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. ^[4]

Legend

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		SF	B	F

Venue

The White City Stadium hosted all the matches

Squads

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

Bracket

	First round				Semi-finals				Gold medal match
	19 October 1908
	Denmark	9
					22 October 1908
	France B	0
					Denmark	17
					France	1
	France	2
									24 October 1908
	Bohemia	0
									Denmark	0
	20 October 1908
									Great Britain	2
	Great Britain	12
					22 October 1908
	Sweden	1
					Great Britain	4
					Netherlands	0			Bronze medal match
	Netherlands	2
									23 October 1908
	Hungary	0
									Netherlands	2
									Sweden	0

Tournament

The matches: ^{[5] [6]}

With eight entries, the tournament draw had a full quarterfinal round of four matches.

However, after the draw and appointment of referees,   Hungary (on 12 October) and   Bohemia (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

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19 October 1908

Netherlands	2–0 Awarded	Hungary

Referee: Wagstaffe Simmons (Great Britain)

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19 October 1908

Denmark	9–0	France B
N. Middelboe 10', 49' Wolfhagen 15', 17', 67', 72' Bohr 25', 47' S. Nielsen 78'	Report

White City

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: Thomas Kyle (Great Britain)

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19 October 1908

France	2–0 Awarded	Bohemia

Referee: George Muir (Great Britain)

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20 October 1908

Great Britain	12–1	Sweden
Stapley 13', 75' Woodward 17', 31' Berry 20' Chapman 25' Purnell 30', 35', 66', 85' Hawkes 70', 80'	Report	Bergström 65'

White City

Attendance: 2,000

Referee: John Ibbotson (Great Britain)

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Semi-finals

22 October 1908

Great Britain	4–0	Netherlands
Stapley 37', 60', 64', 75'	Report

White City, London

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Jack Howcroft (Great Britain)

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22 October 1908

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'

White City, London

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Campbell (Great Britain)

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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. ^[7]

23 October 1908

Netherlands	2–0	Sweden
Reeman 6' Snethlage 58'	Report

White City, London

Attendance: 300

Referee: Pearson (Great Britain)

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Gold medal match

1908 Summer Olympics Football Final

24 October 1908

15:00

Great Britain	2–0	Denmark
Chapman 20' Woodward 46'	Report

White City, London

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: John Lewis (Great Britain)

Team details

Great Britain Denmark 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 Rasmussen Head Coach: Charlie Williams Assistant referees: F. Styles (England) W. Woollett (England)

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	2	4	−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) Hosts

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  (GBR) 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

• 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	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

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. "Match Schedule for Olympic Football Tournament London 1908". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
5. Games of the IV. Olympiad - Football Tournament (London, England, October 19 - 24, 1908) by Lars Aarhus on the RSSSF
6. Olympic Tournament - 1908 London on IFFHS
7. "Consolation tournament (tournament for third place and bronze medals)". RSSSF. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
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". Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2006.
10. Those players were also in squad, but did not play any matches.
11. (in Danish) Slutrundetrupper 1908-2004 at Danish Football Union Archived 9 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine

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