Paris 1900

 'Belgium'

The 1900 Olympics were a rather protracted affair lasting from May 14th  to  October 28th. It ran concurrently with L'Exposition de Paris 1900.
Association football, making its first appearance, was effectively an exhibition sport. 2 matches were played  at The Vélodrome de Vincennes on 20th and 23rd of September. The 'tournament' provides us with an illustration of how misleading the IOC's practise of retrospectively designating medal status to these early tournaments is. At best it creates a false impression of the nature of international competition at the time. At worst it detracts from the achievements of later winners.
The original plan had been to hold a series of matches in which 'France' would play against leading club teams from England, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.
Switzerland and Germany did not take up the offer.
Great Britain were eventually represented by the rather modest Upton Park. Union des Sociétés Françaises des Sports Athlétiques selected Havre Athletic Club to represent France, but they declined and  the reigning Parisian champions Club Français stood in.
Similarly Racing Club de Bruxelles declined to represent Belgium. Frank König, a Racing player, was asked by the KBVB to put together a representative side, but he was unable to come up with the goods. The "Fédération Universitaire"were then asked to assemble a team of students. Again this was not a success and newspaper advertisements were placed. eventually a party of 10, including an Englishman (Thornton) and a Dutchman (van Heuckelum) travelled to Paris. Eugène Neefs was in Paris at the time, saving the Belgians the embarrassment of turning out one short.
The Belgian XI was:
Marcel Leboutte (Spa FC) - René Kelecom (FC Liégois), Ernest Moreau de Melen (FC Liégeois) - Alphonse Renier (Racing Club de Bruxelles), Gustave Pilgrims (Léopold Club de Bruxelles), Eugène Neefs (Sporting Club de Louvain) - Eric Thornton* (Léopold Club de Bruxelles), Hendrik van Heuckelum (Léopold Club de Bruxelles), Hilaire Spanoghe (Skill FC), Marius Delbecque (Skill FC), Lucien Londot (FC Liégeois)
As you can see, the players turned out in their club kit.
The Belgians were a goal down inside a minute, but came back to lead 2-1 at the interval. 
The second half was one-way traffic, however, with the France XI eventually winning 6-2.

And on the back of this defeat the record of the IOC lists this scratch team of  Belgian students as being  Olympic bronze medalists. Hoe belachelijk!

 *Thornton would later represent Belgium in 2 internationals (as a goalkeeper).

The Low Countries

Intrepid spectators at a Belgium v Netherlands match, Antwerp, 1913.

During our era (pre 1937) the neighbours from the Low Countries played each other 54 times. (Argentina and Uruguay had played each other an incredible 132 times during this period, Austria and Hungary 81 and the originators, England and Scotland  met 61 times). 
The first meeting was Belgium's 2nd international, first for the Netherlands. Both countries were founding members of FIFA.
In the very first meeting The Coupe van den Abeele was contested, having previously been played for by representative XIs of the 2 countries in matches that are nor recognized as full internationals. The 'cup tie' status of these matches explains why extra time was played on 3 occasions .  The Coupe van den Abeele was played for when the teams met in Belgium. When the Netherlands were hosts the Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad Beker was the prize. 
The high scoring first meeting  (Netherlands winning 4-1 in extra time) set the tone-  the first 54 fixtures produced an average 3.9 goals a game. 

	Wins	Goals
Belgium	16	89
Netherlands	28	122
Drawn	10

14.05.05- a newspaper illustration shows  Eric Thornton saving a shot.

Netherlands 1905- white shirts with a red white and blue sash motif.

14.05.05- Thornton in the Belgian goal- Netherlands attacking. 

Pre 1937 the 2 sides also met twice in Olympic Games matches. In 1920 at Antwerp Belgium, on their way to gold, beat Netherlands 3-0 in the semi final. In 1928 at Rotterdam in the consolation tournament  (recognized by FIFA but not by the IOC) Netherlands won 3-1.

Netherlands also came out on top of the World Cup qualifying match played in Antwerp in  1934, winning 4-2. Both teams qualified for the Finals out of a 3 team group.

Belgium v France 07.05.05

These days, of course, International football is the centre of  a multi million euro industry that involves sponsorship, media rights, endorsements...
It might be refreshing to look back at the earlier days, when the amateur ethic prevailed and there was an altogether more relaxed attitude to the arrangement and completion of fixtures. 
Let's look at one of the oldest continental football rivalries, Belgium against France.

The second meeting between the 2 countries took place on 7th May 1905  at Vivier d'Oie, Brussels  An attendance figure of 300 is recorded.

The first incident of note occurred when France objected to the inclusion of Eric Thornton in the Belgian side.  

Eric Thornton

Goalkeeper Thornton was British. He studied in Belgium and had represented Brussels University in the 1900 Olympic Games. Thornton played his club football with Leopold Club de Bruxelles. He had played an international for Belgium against Netherlands.  The French, however, were not happy at Belgium  having an Englishman in their line up and their protest delayed the kick off by an hour. 
Robert Hustin of Racing Club de Bruxelles was sent for to replace Thornton and so the match could begin...


Except that Belgium only had ten players...
Gustave Vanderstappen (Union St.-Gilloise) arrived at the ground late despite the hour delay.

But Belgium could begin with ten men, so the game could kick off...
Except that there was no referee...
Mr John Lewis, the highly respected English referee was travelling to Brussels to officiate in the match. Mr Lewis was an ardent traveler who clocked up thousands of miles in order to referee matches, always refusing to claim his expenses.  Mr Lewis had arrived in Brussels routinely. However, the coach taking him to the ground had got lost. Very lost...
Fortunately Rodolphe Seeldrayers was on hand. Herr Seeldrayers was a German, but his role in the development of Belgian sport is inestimable. He was a founder member of the Royal Belgian Union of the Football Association Societies. Later he served  as president of FIFA. The French had no qualms about him stepping into the breech.
Fifteen minutes of football, no goals , but the arrival , firstly of Vanderstappen to make his country's number up to XI, and then of Mr Lewis (suitably agitated I'm sure).
The 15 minutes played were allowed to stand. Mr Lewis relieved Herr Seeldrayers of the refereeing duties. 

Fernand Canelle 

Belgium were winning 4-0 when in the 65th minute the French reaped something of a reward for their earlier protest. Their own goalkeeper, Georges Crozier (Union Sportive Parisienne), was on military service. He had to leave in order to catch a train to get back to his barracks on time. Team Captain Fernand Canelle went in goal for the remainder of the match.
Belgium won the eventful encounter 7-0.