Renzo De Vecchi- Figlio di Dio

Precocious full back  Renzo De Vecchi  appeared for Milan as a 15 year old and played international football at 16. He remains Italy's youngest ever international, his debut coming (very unusually) as a half-time substitute in a friendly against Hungary on May 26th 1910. 
De Vecchi was a  small man (1.63m), but his status as a player was monumental. He was known by the Milan supporters as  Figlio di Dio  (The Son of God).
Football in Italy was amateur until 1926. De Vecchi however transferred from Milan to Genoa in 1913, a deal (instigated by Genoa's manager William Garbutt) that saw him pocket substantial relocation fees as he moved to take up a post as a bank clerk.
  De Vecchi became an idol at Genoa too, winning 3 national titles during a 16 year career that saw him make over 200 championship appearances. He later had 2 spells as Genoa's manager, guiding them into Serie A in 1935. 
Over the course of 15 years (interrupted by war) De Vecchi represented Italy 43 times, taking part in both the 1912 and 1924 Olympic Games.  

Harry Farrell

Just a great photograph. The USA Olympic strip for the 1924 Olympics sported by inside left Harry Farrell.
Farrell made 2 appearances in the 1924 Games at Paris. He was, at the time, a pure amateur, playing for Philadelphia's Fairhill FC. 
By the time the 1928 games came around Farrell could not meet the amateur requirement- so he only got the 2 international caps. He turned professional in 1926, joining Philadelphia Field Club, but was transferred to New York Nationals after just one appearance. Nationals won the National Challenge Cup in 1928. At the beginning of the following season Farrell briefly returned to Philadelphia Field Club before moving on to Jersey City. Like a moth to a flame, Farrell was back with  Philadelphia Field Club in 1929. He then retired. 
A highlight of Farrell's career came in 1927-28 when he featured for Philadelphia's All-Stars ( a select team that played touring sides) against Hakoah Wien and Maccabi FC. He was also selected for West Pennsylvania All-Stars to play an Italian XI. The following day he played against the Italians again, this time for New York Nationals. 

What a great little sport, what a nice little game.

 Miller

What a great little sport, what a nice little game... this was how Charles Miller remembered the views of his compatriots when he introduced them to Association Football - at the end of the 1894 São Paulo cricket season (how different the world of cricket might have been!).
Miller's associates in São Paulo were generally English ex-pats who since 1888 had been maintaining the São Paulo Athletic Club (SPAC). There was no Association Football played at the club until Miller's return to Brazil, in fact, several months later, in April 1895- what is recognized as the first organised football match in the country was played between São Paulo Railway and The Gas Company- both teams drawn from the ranks of the SPAC. 

Miller was in England from 1884 (when he was 10) until 1894. 
Descriptions of Miller as being a 'former Southampton player' (as in 'The Southampton player who introduced football to Brazil') are inaccurate. He turned out for St Mary's, the amateur team that evolved into Southampton (hence the nickname Saints). In fact St Mary's elevation to The Southern League (and the addition of Southampton to their name) coincided with Miller's return to Brazil.
Known as 'Nipper', Miller made his St Mary's debut as a 17 year old schoolboy on the 18th April 1892. It was  the last day of the season,a friendly against an Army XI from Aldershot. Miller scored the opener in a 3-1 win. 
During the 1892–93 season, St. Mary's (who now began to employ professional players) played 27 friendly matches. Miller's level of participation in these matches is not recorded. Saints played in 7 cup matches . Miller appeared in 1 of these. 
The following season St. Mary's played 23 friendlies. Again the details are not recorded. Of 11 cup matches played Miller appeared in 3. 
Miller'sconnection with Corinthian FC was even more casual (no pun intended). He made up the numbers when Corinth were a man short in a fixture against a Hampshire County XI. He was never a club member.

There is, of course, always a counter claim to any 'foundation myth'. It's hard to imagine that the ubiquitous 'English Sailors' who feature in the football foundation mythology of just about every country in the world were not having kick abouts in Rio or São Paulo in the 20 odd years before the São Paulo Railway v Gas Company fixture. 
One noteworthy challenge to Miller's status as the father of Brazilian football comes in the form of a  31 year old Scotsman called Thomas  Donohue. Donohue was an expert in the field of dyes, and worked at a textile factory in Bangu, Rio de Janeiro . He had played a lot of football back home in Busby, and was keen to get a game going in his new neighbourhood. He imported a ball and marked out a pitch next to the factory. 

Donohue

This was where the first football match in Brazil took place in April 1894, (six months before Miller started his team in São Paolo). One fly in the ointment as regards the Donohue claim is the fact that this match was a 5 a side, due to a lack of interested parties. 
10 years later the factory was the site of the foundation of  Bangu Atlético Clube. 
There is something about these two matches that sets the scene for the early decades of the Brazilian game in  that whereas Miller introduced the game in the context of an exclusive sporting club for well to do white immigrants, Donohue brought the game to poor black and working class people. 

Some Jewish Teams...

Up until the 1939-45 War Jewish people in central and eastern Europe lived in separate communities within communities. This insularity was a result of discrimination. Jewish people organised their own educational, cultural, sports and social institutions. We have already looked at such major organizations as Hakoah Wien and Hakoah Berlin .

Smaller communities also had their distinctly Jewish clubs. Here are some photographs of Jewish football clubs. 

Neustadt Tavrig  1928 ( Zemaiciu Naumiestis, Lithuania, USSR)

Kurenets 1920s (Belarus, USSR) 

Grodzisk Mazovyet (Poland)

                                                      Novogrudok Maccabi (Belarus, USSR) 

Monastir, August 1928 (Macedonia )

G'stutzte

Johann Studnicka joined  WAC ( Wiener Athletiksport Club) as a 13 year old. Known as  G'stutzte (Shorty) he was nippy and compact. He developed a technique of close control dribbling that became known as the Viennese style. He started out as a defender, but his explosive pace and ball control saw him move up to inside left.

By the time international football came to the Dual Monarchy (the Vienna v Budapest city Selection game of 1902, retrospectively afforded the status of a full international) the 19 year old  Studnicka was already a leading light in Austrian football. he scored 3 goals in this match, a feat he achieved twice before he was out of his teens.

Studnicka played in 28 internationals, scoring 18 goals. 

At club level he won 3  Challenge-Cups (1901, 1903, 1904), 4 Austrian League championships (1901, 1902, 1903, 1915)- all with WAC. Added to these honours he won the Swiss National championship with FC Zurich in 1924. 

Studnicka (2nd left) in action against Hungary in 1913. On the far right is referee Mr Jack Howcroft of England, who was instrumental in launching the continental coaching career of Jimmy Hogan 

Denmark- early internationals

If the ELO Ranking system is applied retrospectively, Denmark become the World number 1 ranked side on  17.5.1914.
This followed victory over the Netherlands in their 13th international. 

Denmark's first official international had seen them kick off international tournament football at the 1908 Olympic Games :

1908

Date					Venue
19.10.08	Denmark	9	0	France B	London White City
Denmark took 10 minutes to open their account in international football, Nils Middelboe  opening the scoring. They were 4 up at half time.  Vilhelm Wolfhagen got 4 goals as Denmark romped home. Sofus Nielsen got the 9th. Denmark’s trainer was Charlie Williams- the former Manchester City goalkeeper.
22.10.08	Denmark	17	1	France A	London White City
Sofus Nielsen had scored a hat trick by the 7th minute. He went on to get 10 goals in all. Wolfhagen got another 4.  3 days into their international football history Denmark had clocked up 26 goals, 11 of them by Nielsen. French football had 2 governing bodies at the time, both of whom entered teams for the Olympics. The A and B designation does not reflect the merit of the teams, theoretically they were equals.
24.10.08	England Amateurs (GB)	2	0	Denmark	London White City
The Olympic Final. This is not a bad result when one considers the drubbings that England’s Amateurs routinely meted out.  In the 10th match played by the selection, this was the narrowest victory they had achieved.
05.05.10	Denmark	2	1	England Amateurs	Copenhagen
Quite a sensational result. Poor weather conditions, goals from  Lindgren (10.) and Wolfhagen (75.)
21.10.11	England Amateurs	3	0	Denmark	London  Park Royal
Was Martin Axel Tufvesson the Faroe Islands’ first international footballer? England sportingly allowed a substitution when goalkeeper Hansen broke his ankle.
30.06.12	Denmark	7	0	Norway	Stockholm
The Stockholm Olympics. 3 goals from Ole Anton Olsen on debut.
02.07.12	Denmark	4	1	Netherlands	Stockholm
04.07.12	England Amateurs (GB)	4	2	Denmark	Stockholm
The Olympic Final. Charles von Buchwald left the pitch injured after 30 minutes, with England leading 2-1. Denmark battled hard but this turned out to be a routine victory for the British side.
06.10.12	Denmark	3	1	Germany	Copenhagen
The Danish public were now more football minded. 10,000 were at this game. Nils Middelboe had played in every one of Denmark’s matches to date, and he got 2 goals here.
25.05.13	Denmark	8	0	Sweden	Copenhagen
05.10.13	Sweden	0	10	Denmark	Stockholm
Poul Nielsen got a hat trick in each half.
26.10.13	Germany	1	4	Denmark	Hamburg
All 4 goals for Poul Nielsen.
17.05.14	Denmark	4	3	Netherlands	Copenhagen
1-3 down at half time. 3 goals for Poul Nielsen.

Sofus Neilsen 

Nils Middelboe 

Poul Nielsen

Denmark and Sweden in 1913- the 10-0 game. 

W.G. Grace

Charlie Alcock once wrote that the 'most blackguard thing' that had happened to him in his long and distinguished sporting career was being pushed off the ball by one of his teammates at Wanderers in order that they could score. That teammate was none other than DR W.G. Grace. 

The young W.G. Grace was an all round sportsman, considerably more athletic than the later depictions of him would suggest. He played a number of games for Wanderers, and featured in the 1872 FA Cup campaign, but didn't appear in the final.

The 2 giants of 19th century sport in later life.

 Dr. Grace was the first President of the Gloucestershire Football Association (founded in 1886) and also served as a  referee.

Jock Hamilton

Jock Hamilton was a centre half who signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers from Ayr FC in 1894. Injury restricted Hamilton to 5 appearances for Wolves. He then spent 2 seasons with Loughborough in Division 2, making 59 league appearances. On leaving Loughborough in 1897 Hamilton played for Bristol City in the Southern league for 3 seasons. He then returned to the Football League with Leicester Fosse (28 games in 2 seasons). Hamilton then had spells with Watford and Wellingborough before joining Fulham in 1903.
 The following season he took on the role of assistant trainer at Craven Cottage, graduating to trainer in 1908. He returned to Bristol City as reserve team trainer in 1910, becoming first team manager in 1915.
 This is an unremarkable career, a Scottish professional playing in England, a journeyman who moved into management. 
There is one episode, however, that sets Hamilton aside from his contemporaries. 
On April 23, 1907 he was appointed manager of Paulistano Athletic Club. He was the first professional coach in Brazilian football. He introduced what is known as Systema Ingleza - the short passing game, as well as a systematic programme of training and preparation. 
Hamilton was in São Paulo for 5 months before returning to Fulham, during which time Paulistano won the Campeonato Paulista.

Blades

Present day Sheffield Wednesday fans might be alarmed to see their team referred to as The Blades, but The Wednesday did go by that name. United were, in fact, referred to in the press of the 1890s as the Junior Blades.

The Wednesday became The Owls at the turn of the last century- they moved from Olive Grove to new venue in the Owlerton district of Sheffield- a site now known as Hillsborough. 

The illustration above shows scenes from the 1896 FA Cup Final in which The Wednesday beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at Crystal Palace. All 3 goals came in the first 18 minutes. Reportedly the Wolverhampton goalkeeper Billy Tennant was under the impression that the game was 1-1 at the final whistle. He had been stunned during the build up to Fred Spikesley's second goal. Spikesley's shot hit the net with such force that it cannoned back into the field of play. Allegedly Tennant, in his confusion, didn't notice the goal being awarded or his teammates re starting the game. 

The Wednesday Cup winning team: top (l-r): Martin Earp, Ambrose Langley, Lawrence Bell, Fred Spiksley; middle (l-r):Harold Brandon, James Massey, Bob Petrie; bottom (l-r): Tom Crawshaw, Bert Brash, Arthur Brady, Henry Davis.

Germany's simultaneous internationals

On April 4th 1909 Germany played 2 international fixtures on the same day. Prior to this date the Germans had played 3 official internationals, all of which they had lost. 

Germany (standing) v Hungary (seated)

One team traveled overnight by train to Budapest. They played on the grassless Millenáris pálya watched by a crowd of 9,000. Germany came from behind 3 times to secure a 3-3 draw. There were 6 debutantes on the team, including the enigmatic Edwin Dutton, an Anglo-German who played and coached in both Germany and England.  He may well have been born in England, but the evidence is inconclusive. Captain, Camillo Ugi , had spent time in 1905 playing for Sport Club Germânia in São Paulo.

The match was refereed by Herr Hugo Meisl. 

Germany:

Adolf Werner (Holstein Kiel) 

Herbert Hirth (Hertha Berlin)

Heinrich Riso (VfB Leipzig) 

Ernst Poetsch (Union 92 Berlin)

Camillo Ugi (FSV Franfurt)

Paul Hunder (Viktoria 89 Berlin) 

Edwin Dutton (Preußen Berlin)

Leopold Richter (VfB Leipzig)

Willy Worpitzky (Viktoria 89 Berlin)

Richard Queck (Eintracht Braunschweig)

Fritz Schulz (Hertha Berlin)

Germany team for the Switzerland game.

In Karlsruhe 7,000 were present to witness the other Germany team fare even better, securing their first international victory. A 1-0 win came courtesy of a 25th minute goal by Eugen Kipp.   There were 7 debutantes on the team. 

Germany:
Eberhardt Illmer (FV Strassburg) 
Otto Nicodemus (SV Wiesbaden)
Robert Neumaier (Phönix Karlsruhe) 
Karl Burger (SpVgg.Fürth),
Josef Glaser (Freiburger FC)
Arthur Hiller (1.FC Pforzheim) 
Hermann Schweickert (1.FC Pforzheim)
Fritz Förderer (Karlsruher FV)
Otto Löble ( Stuttgart Kickers)
Eugen Kipp (Sportfreunde Stuttgart)
Emil Oberle (Phönix Karlsruhe)

Martinez Shield

Trinidad 1936

Britain gave the world football, but as we have seen, her own colonies did not embrace it to the extent that they became significant powers in football, or even play the game as their national sport.

To British minds the Caribbean will always be more associated with cricket.

There was, however, throughout the colonies in The West Indies, a healthy interest in the association game. 

An international match was played between Trinidad & Tobago and  British Guiana (sic) as early as 1905.  regular internationals did not come to the area until the 1920s.

To quote the press of the day an 'Intercolonial Football Tourney' was introduced in 1923. This was the Martinez Shield. 

As a result of arrangements between the Association and the sister Colonies of Demerara and Barbados it is likely that this year will mark the institution of Intercolonial Football between the Colonies.

Trinidad Guardian 01.07.23

The first tournament was played in Trinidad in 1923. Barbados were unable to make it, infact Trinidad and Demerara were the sole contenders for the first 5 editions of the shield. They played 3 matches:

Trinidad  1-1  Demerara
Trinidad  1-0  Demerara
Trinidad  2-0  Demerara

The Martinez Shield was next contested in Demerara in 1925, Trinidad retaining the trophy by winning 2 games to the hosts' 1. 


Another  3 match series back at Trinidad in 1926 saw Trinidad winning 2, with one draw.  In 1928 Trinidad made it 4 in a row,  again winning 2 games to 1 in Demerara. 

Demerara first won the Martinez Shield in 1929. A 5 game series in Trinidad went as follows: 

Trinidad  0-0  Demerara
Trinidad  0-1  Demerara
Trinidad  3-1  Demerara
Trinidad  1-1  Demerara
Trinidad  0-1  Demerara

The Shield finally became a triangular tournament in 1931. Hosts Demerara retained the trophy, whilst new boys Barbados took some heavy beatings. Test Cricketer Ellis Achong was in the Trinidad side, and scored plenty of goals:  

Trinidad  7-1  Barbados
Demerara  1-1  Trinidad
Demerara  9-0  Barbados
Trinidad  5-1  Barbados
Demerara  7-0  Barbados
Demerara  2-0  Trinidad

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Demerara	4	3	1	0	19	1	7
Trinidad	4	2	1	1	13	5	5
Barbados	4	0	0	4	2	28	0

The following year the Shield was contested in Barbados. Demerara were the winners for the third time in succession, but Barbados were greatly improved, beating Trinidad and drawing with Demerara:

Demerara  1-0  Trinidad
Barbados  1-0  Trinidad
Barbados  0-1  Demerara
Barbados  2-2  Demerara
Trinidad  2-1  Demerara 
Barbados  1-3  Trinidad

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Demerara	4	2	1	1	5	4	5
Trinidad	4	2	0	2	5	4	4
Barbados	4	1	1	2	4	6	3

In 1933 Trinidad returned to their winning ways in front of a home crowd:

Barbados  0-2  Demerara
Trinidad  1-1  Demerara
Trinidad  3-1  Ba rbados 
Trinidad  1-0  Demerara 
Demerara  5-2  Barbados
Trinidad  6-0  Barbados

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Trinidad	4	3	1	0	11	2	7
Demerara	4	2	1	1	8	4	5
Barbados	4	0	0	4	3	13	0