Football at the 1906 Intercalated Games

 To return to the subject of early, non- official international competitions, if the 1900 and 1904 Olympics had boasted strange football tournaments then the 1906 Intercalated Games at Athens exceeded them in eccentricity.
The organisers had been keen to arrange a quality representative  international  tournament. However, they received only one application from abroad (Denmark), and one from Greece itself.
Eventually four teams entered:
Denmark- so far so good? Not quite. Denmark had not yet entered the international footballing arena, and the country had two football governing bodies. This team was sanctioned by... neither of them. It was an independent venture.
Athens- Ethnikos GS were the only Greek club to apply for entry to the tournament (gymnastics was the club's main concern). They strengthened their side (theoretically) by enlisting help from neighbours Panellenios GS.
 Smyrna was a scratch side made up of five members of the (English) Whittal family, five Frenchmen and an Armenian. These players were all sons of  foreign merchants resident in Izmir ( the modern name for Smyrna) and officially the team was regarded as representing The Ottoman Empire.
 Thessaloniki- ethnically a Greek team (plus one English player), although Thessaloniki was then part of The Ottoman Empire.Possibly the best looking and finest named football team ever. Their regular name was Omilos Filomouson, which can be translated as Friends of The Arts, or Lovers of the Arts. I have also seen it given as Thesaloniki Music Lovers. This club evolved into Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C., who were a prominent Greek team up until a  2012 merger.

The format was a knockout- The two losers from the first round would contest the third place while the two winners would advance to the final.
 First Round (semi-finals):

Denmark	5	-	1	Smyrna
Athens	5	-	0	Thessaloniki

 So, the following day Denmark faced Athens in the final. Denmark were 9-0 up at half time. Athens didn't return to the pitch for the second half, thus forfeiting the final.
This didn't prevent the organisers from suggesting that Athens should now play in  the competition for third place. Athens refused on the grounds that they had already beaten Thessaloniki. Consequently Athens were expelled from the tournament. Smyrna beat Thessaloniki 12-0 in the play off.

Possibly the best looking and finest named football team ever.

Thus Thessaloniki 'won' bronze with a record of played 2, lost 2, for 0 against 17