9th Far Eastern Games

The football tournament of the 9th Far Eastern Games was played in Tokyo in May 1930. 

 25.05.30  Japan 7-2 Philippines 
 27.05.30  China 5-0 Philippines 
 30.05.30  Japan 3-3 China 

 Japan conceded the final match rather than play extra time. China were therefore the champions.

Chinese Universities v New Zealand 1924

In 1924 a Chinese Universities team toured New Zealand. They played 22 games, of which they won 4.
Their 4 meetings with national representative XIs are considered full internationals by New Zealand. 

 16.08.24      New Zealand  2-1 Chinese Universities  (Auckland)
 23.08.24     New Zealand  2-2 Chinese Universities (Wellington)
 06.09.24     New Zealand  5-3 Chinese Universities  (Dunedin)
 13.09.24     New Zealand  4-2 Chinese Universities (Christchurch)

China in Europe 1936

China v Great Britain 1936

The China squad for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin consisted of ethnic Chinese players from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Java. Following a couple of trial matches the squad was named in April, and then, following 7 warm -up games in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Nanking, undertook an arduous 27 match tour of Indo China, the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, Burma and India before travelling to Europe.
Their record in these preparation games, played between May 8th and July 8th was:
Played: 34
Won: 28
Drawn: 4
Lost: 2
For: 141
Against: 41

The 1936 Olympic football tournament was a straight knock-out.  China were drawn against Great Britain in the first round. Great Britain won 2-0 through second half goals by John Dodds (Queen's Park) and Lester Finch (Barnet).
So after months of preparation and thousands of kilometers of travelling China's Olympics lasted 90 minutes.

The following week China played the first match of a three week tour of Europe.
The details of the first match on August 13th are unclear- they played a South-West Germany representative team in Frankfurt and lost (some sources give the score as 8-1 and others 8-3)*.
The Chinese then travelled to Vienna where they lost 4-2 to Rapid on August 15th and were thrashed 11-0 by Admira the following day.
On August 20th they defeated Servette 3-2 in Geneva.
Next stop was France and a 2-2 draw with Red Star Olympique in Paris on August 22nd followed by a 6-0 beating at the hands of Le Havre on the 23rd.
Ajax were the next team to entertain the China team, the Dutch winning 5-3 on August 27th.
The tourists then crossed the channel and met two English amateur sides. Their detour to England ended winless- On August 31st Islington Corinthians FC beat them 3-2 and Casuals 5-2 on September 1st.

The record of the European part of the tour (excluding the Olympic match) was:
Played: 9
Won: 1
Drawn: 1
Lost: 7
For: 15 or 17*
Against: 46

The star of the China squad was Lee Wai Tong. He received offers of contracts whilst in Europe, but, approaching his 31st birthday, he had resolved to retire from the game after the tour.

李惠堂

Lee Wai Tong was a forward with South China AA, the de facto China national team that won the 1925, 1927, 1930, and 1934 Far Eastern Games, and in 1936, he captained of the China squad that competed at the Berlin Olympics . This team was made up of ethnic Chinese players from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Java.


In a 24 year career, mostly with South China AA, Lee reputedly scored 1260 goals.

Forget racial stereotypes. He was 1.80 m tall, taller than Dixie Dean, Matthias Sindelar, Giuseppe Meazza or Hector Scarone.

Far Eastern Games

Japan 1927

The Far Eastern Games were a multi sport event run under the supervision of the IOC. They were conducted between 1913 and 1934.  The ten football tournaments were dominated by China and also featured plenty of controversy.

China wins-9 runners up-1
Phillipines wins-1 runners up-6 third-2
Japan runners up-2 third-5
Dutch East Indies runners up-1 

The first Football competition, in 1913 (Manila), was contested by Philippines and China. The records are vague over what actually took place. The RSSSF lists two matches, (China 1-0, Philippines 2-1) whereas other sources list a single match and credit Philippines with either a 2-1 or 3-1 victory. China were represented by club side South China A.A., and Philippines by Bohemians. This was a source of controversy as the team consisted of British, Spanish and American players.

In 1915 (Shanghai) South China A.A. again represented China (having won a tournament for the right to do so). They drew 0-0 with Philippines in a game that saw both sides have a player dismissed and won the second game 1-0.

There was mayhem at the 1917 tournament (Tokyo). Japan (represented by  Tokyo Higher Normal School) lost their first game 15-2 to Philippines.  When in the next match China scored a penalty to take a 4-0 lead the Philippines goal keeper responded by punching the goal scorer. A brawl ensued and Philippines withdrew from the tournament.

Japan didn't enter the football tournament of 1919 (Manila)- China prevailed in a three game series against Philippines

1921 (Shanghai) Japan returned but South China A.A made it 4 wins a row.
1923 (Osaka) and 1925 (Manila) saw the Hong Kong based club extend their winning streak with little drama.

Controversy returned in 1927 (Shanghai). China beat Japan 5-1 in the opener and then Japan secured their first win, beating the Philippines 2-1. Then all hell broke loose in the final match of the round- robin. China were awarded an early penalty and the Philippines team walked off the pitch in protest. Persuaded to return after some ten minutes they then had a player dismissed. China's second goal led to fighting on the pitch. Philippines forfeited the match at half-time.

 1930- China

1930-Japan

 1930-Philippines

Philippines star was waning, and Japan benefited from both this and their own improvement.
1930 (Tokyo) Both Japan (7-2) and China (5-0) made light work of Philippines, but when the decisive match was tied at 3-3 Japan refused extra time, choosing instead to forfeit.

1934 (Manila)- the opening game , in which China beat the hosts 2-0, was a very spirited affair. China, apparently reduced to 7 men by injuries and the Philippines to 9 suggests it was a very physical encounter (one newspaper report described the pitch as a battlefield) and both Japan and the Dutch East Indies lodged complaints with the tournament organizers after watching this fixture. The following day Dutch East Indies made their international debut in style, beating Japan 7-1.
China were the eventual winners, undefeated in their 3 matches.