Vivian Woodward
From 1906 onwards England fielded an amateur international team alongside the regular 'first team'.
There is conflict regarding the status of the matches played by this team. The Football Association does not count them as full internationals. However FIFA state that all full internationals played by the English (as well as Welsh) amateur national teams against non-British national teams until 1924 are to be considered as full "A" internationals.
In this post we will look at the England Amateur team (who played in the Olympic Games as Great Britain) up until the outbreak of the 1914 -18 War.
During this period England Amateurs played 40 games.
They won 35, lost 3 and drew 2.
They scored 232 goals (an average of 5.8 per game) and conceded 32. They recorded double figure scores on 7 occasions and failed to score in only one match.
1906:
France were defeated 15-0 in Paris under the captaincy of Stanley Harris, who scored 7 goals for good measure. It was the only time that Harris captained the side. Vivian Woodward added 4 goals.
The England Amateurs team that beat Netherlands 12-1
1907:Netherlands were beaten 8-1 in Den Haag- William Udal Timmis (Old Carthusians) having his only game as captain.
In the return at Darlington's Feethams England won 12-1. West Ham's Harold Stapely got 5. Captain was Vivian Woodward of Tottenham Hotspur who would go on to lead the Amateur XI on 28 occasions.
1908:
France were beaten 12-0 at London's Royal Park in March, and the following month saw victories in Brussels and Berlin.
September saw Sweden beaten in Gothenberg.
October 1908 brought the first international football tournament- the Olympic Games.
The 1908 Gold Medal winning squad
Playing as Great Britain England won the Gold medal. The matches were all held at The White City Stadium.1909:
Service as usual. Playing home games in the diverse venues of Oxford , White Hart Lane , Stamford Bridge and Hull , England maintained their 100% record, travelling to Amsterdam, Basle and Paris.
1910:
The gulf in class between the England part timers and the continental teams was beginning to narrow. Belgium has a 2-1 lead in Brussels and became the first team to hold England to a draw.
Switzerland and France visited Royal Park and the Goldstone Ground (Brighton) respectively and were dismissed with something approaching the old aplomb.
The team that lost to Denmark - back row in the cap is John Goodall ( an England professional)
1911:
A win over Belgium at Park Royal was followed by a victory at
Stade de Paris, but the scorelines were beginning to adopt a more modern respectability. On April 14th a crowd of 10,000 at Viktoria-Platz saw Germany hold England to a 2-2 draw. 3 days later in Amsterdam Netherlands restricted them to a 1-0 victory.
Switzerland were beaten 4-1 in Berne and a degree of revenge was inflicted on Denmark on their visit to Park Royal in October, England winning 3-0.
1912:
Netherlands were beaten 4-0 at Hull and Belgium 2-1 in Brussels before Great Britain travelled to Stockholm to defend their Olympic Title.
The 1912 Gold Medal winning squad
With only 3 members of the 1908 squad remaining GB beat Denmark 4-2 in the final.
Swindon Town's County Ground hosted a visit by Belgium in November, England were 4-0 winners.
1913:
The visit to Den Haag brought another defeat. Sparta Rotterdam's sprinter, Huug de Groot scored twice as Netherlands won 2-1. England got their revenge by the same scoreline when the Dutch visited Hull 3 months later. France and Germany had been routinely beaten earlier in the year.
1914:
Belgium beaten 8-1 in Brussels, Denmark 3-0 in Copenhagen and Sweden 5-1 in Stockholm.
The Captains:
8 men captained the England Amatuers / great Britain during this period. It's really a case of Vivian Woodward and 7 others:
Stanley Harris (Old Westminsters)- captain versus France (01.11.06).
Headmaster S.S Harris also captained the 'full' England team on one occasion. As this was his one match as captain of the Amateurs his 15-0 win and 7 goal personal tally must be some sort of record!
William Udal Timmis
Vivian Woodward (Tottenham Hotspur)- captain on 28 occasions, including both successful Olympic Tournaments, first tasted defeat in his 24th game as captain. Woodward also captained the 'full' England team on 14 occasions.
Bob Hawkes (Luton Town) In 4 games as captain Bob Hawkes endured a defeat and a draw, which as captain of England Amateurs was tantamount to disaster!
Herbert Smith (Reading)- I'm sure most English players would settle for a 9-0 home win over Germany in their only match as captain. (Oxford, 16.03.1909).
Frederick Chapman (Oxford City)- The former Nottingham Forest center half captained in the 10-1 win over France at Brighton (16.04.1910).
Arthur Berry (Everton)
2 matches in charge for Berry- a 3-0 win away over France (23.3.1911) and a 2-2 draw with Germany the following month.
2 matches in charge for Berry- a 3-0 win away over France (23.3.1911) and a 2-2 draw with Germany the following month.
Gordon Hoare (Glossop North End)
Leading scorers:
Goals
|
Games
|
Goals per Game
|
|
Vivian Woodward
|
44
|
30
|
1.46
|
Harold Stapley
|
26
|
12
|
2.16
|
Gordon Hoare
|
11
|
12
|
0.91
|
Harold Walden
|
11
|
3
|
3.66
|
Cyril Dunning
|
11
|
4
|
2.75
|
Arthur Berry
|
9
|
24
|
0.375
|
William Steer
|
8
|
6
|
1.33
|
James Raine
|
8
|
7
|
1.14
|
Stanley Harris
|
7
|
1
|
7
|
Thomas Christopher Porter
|
7
|
5
|
1.4
|
George Webb
|
7
|
5
|
1.4
|
Claude Victor Purnell
|
7
|
6
|
1.16
|
William Charles Jordan
|
6
|
1
|
6
|
Arthur Bell
|
5
|
2
|
2.5
|
Syd Owen
|
5
|
3
|
1.6
|
Lionel Louch
|
5
|
4
|
1.25
|
Tommy Wilson
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
Walter George Bailey
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
Sammy Day
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
George Douglas
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
