Austria 5 Scotland 0, 16 May 1931

1930-31 saw Scotland share the British Home Championship with England. Having drawn with Wales and Northern Ireland Scotland had beaten England at Hampden in front of almost 130,000.

7 weeks later Scotland traveled to Vienna where they faced Austria in a friendly. Dr.Hugo Meisl was a great admirer of Scottish football, a passion that dated back to the visit of Glasgow Rangers in 1904.
Scotland's place in the world game was only possible to judge via its relationship to England. Whereas England remained isolated as far as serious international competition was concerned, we can assess the relative strength of English football by the ease with which England Amateurs were able to squash most continental teams in the first third of the century. Given that during the period 1900-30 Scotland beat England 11 times and lost to them 7 times, with 8 draws, it is fair to assume that Scotland were generally the superior team.
However, the summer tour of 1931, like Scotland's previous overseas foray, was not used as an opportunity to steamroller lesser opposition.
Even though the win over Scotland is seen as a central element of the Wunderteam mythology, we should look at the Scotland team that day:

John (Jakey) Jackson* (Partick Thistle)
Daniel Blair [c] (Clyde)
Joseph Nibloe (Kilmarnock)
Colin Duncan McNab (Dundee)
James McDougall* (Liverpool)
George Walker (St Mirren)
Andy Love* (Aberdeen)
James Paterson* (Cowdenbeath)
Jimmy Easson* (Portsmouth)
James Robertson* (Dundee)
Danny Liddle* (East Fife)

Only 3 of the 11 had faced England (Blair, Nibloe and McNab) and there were 7 debutantes. The forward line (all making their fist appearance) went on to make a total of 14 appearances between them, producing just 2 international goals.And there were no Celtic or Rangers players.

What made Austria's demolition of this lightweight Scotland side so poignant was the manner in which it was achieved. The Austrian approach was founded on what had been recognized around the world for 50 years as The Scottish style of football.
Meisl had been impressed by Rangers in 1904, and the Austrian national style had been inspired by Jimmy Hogan, a great believer in the keep it on the carpet short passing game.
Austria, of course were on the up. The previous may they had held England to a 0-0 draw in Vienna.

Evolution of the European game

Some very interesting footage here.

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)

La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale 1927

International club competitions had been tried before, Early examples were (theoretically at first) TheAustria/Habsburg Monarchy Challenge Cup ,The Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy and the Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz.
Hugo Meisl believed that football would benefit from international club competitions. By the middle of the 1920s the situation in central Europe was right for putting such a theory into practice. Austria (1924), Hungary (1925) and  Czechoslovakia (1926) had all introduced professionalism into their league football, and they remained the strongest nations in continental football. Nearby Italy was also enjoying a meteoric rise. Public interest was high, games were well attended and international competition would provide a good source of extra revenue for the professionalized clubs.
In the summer of 1927 Meisl and his Hungarian counterpart Dr.Fischer Mór ironed out the arrangements for La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, more popularly known as the Mitropa Cup.
Meisl invisaged an international league, but this would have added to fixture congestion, so a cup format was settled on. In theory the league champions and runners up (or cup winners) from each country would qualify. Germany and Italy were approached to participate. Italy declined on account of their complex and  protracted domestic arrangements.Germany were concerned by professionalism and the fact that the play offs that they needed to decide their national championships went on into the summer. 
The initial tournament was contested by two teams each from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia:

Austria
SK Admira Vienna (league champions)
SK Rapid Wien (cup winners-Wiener Cup)

Czechoslovakia
Sparta Prague (league champions)
Slavia Prague (cup winners-Stredoceský Pohár)

Hungary
MTK (Budapest)
 Újpesti  
(Neither of these sides won a league or cup - they finished 3rd and second respectively behind Ferencváros in Nemzeti Bajnokság I)

Yugoslavia
Hajduk Split (league champions)
BSK (Belgrade) (league runners up)

First Round
		1st Leg	2nd Leg	Aggregate
MTK	BSK	4-2	4-0	8-2
Rapid Wien	Hajduk Split	(14.8.27) 8-1	(21.8.27) 1-0	9-1
Sparta Prague	Admira Vienna	5-1	3-5	8-6
Slavia Prague	Újpesti	4-0	2-2	6-2

Semifinals
		1st Leg	2nd Leg	Aggregate
Slavia Prague	Rapid Wien	(28.09.27) 2-2	(02.10.27) 1-2	3-4
MTK	Sparta Prague	2-2	0-0	2-2*

* history tantalizes us here: Sparta were awarded the tie because 'a player of MTK had occupied an irregular position'. I can find no explanation for this ruling.

Final

30.10.27: Sparta Prague  6-2 Rapid Wien 
(Letná Stadium, Pague, attendance: 25,000)
13.11.27: Rapid Wien 2-1 Sparta Prague 
(Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna, attendance: 40,000)
Sparta won 7-4 on aggregate.

 Rapid Wien

Sparta Prague

Many sources state that John Dick was the manager of Sparta when they won the Mitropa in 1927. However, it would appear that this is incorrect, as Dick was with the Antwerp club Beerschot from 1923 (when he first left Sparta) until his return to Prague in either 1928 or 1929. Václav Špindler was the 'trainer' in 1927.

Der Papierene

He was truly symbolical of of Austrian soccer at its peak period: no brawn but any amount of brain.Technique bordering on virtuosity , precision work and an inexhaustible repertoire of tricks and ideas.
Willy Meisl Soccer Revolution

He was endowed with such an unbelievable wealth of  variations and ideas that one could never really be sure which manner of play was to be expected. He had no system , to say nothing of a set pattern. He just had...genius.  
Friedrich Torberg Die Erben der Tante Jolesch

I'm going to step outside our 1863-1937 time zone for a moment, and mention Ferenc Pukas, Pele, Johann Cruyff and Lionel Messi. Hopefully, in invoking these great names I will convince you that there is no paradox in a great side, the success of which relies on united play (Total Football is a handy term), having one star who shines above the common effort.
Hugo Meisl's Wunderteam were early exponents of what we would now call Total Football. Supporting the man with the ball, filling the gaps left by teammates, moving seamlessly from defensive to attacking roles and vice versa, changing shape in response to the state of play.
The cherry on top of Meisl's cake was a lightweight, cerebral striker - Matthias Sindelar. He was 175 cm tall and weighed just 74 kg
Meisl initially discarded Sindelar in favour of a more robust and basic English style centre forward- Josef Uridil- he was still very much in love with British football- particularly the Glasgow Rangers team he had seen in Vienna in 1905. The Scottish game had instilled in Meisl a faith in the effectiveness of the short passing game, but he also wanted his centre forward to be a great physical presence. From his debut in 1926 Sindelar was an occasional in the national team, in 1931 though, Meisl made him a regular.
When Austria's Wunderteam enjoyed a run of 14 unbeaten matches (April 1931- December 1932) Sindelar played in 11 of the matches. In total 'The Mozart of Football' played 43 times for Austria (25 wins,11 draws, and 7 defeats) and scored 26 goals.



For my German readers:
(Friedrich Torberg)

Auf den Tod eines Fußballspielers

Er war ein Kind aus Favoriten
und hieß Matthias Sindelar.
Er stand auf grünem Platz inmitten,
weil er ein Mittelstürmer war

Er spielte Fußball, und er wußte
vom Leben außerdem nicht viel.
Er lebte, weil er leben mußte
vom Fußballspiel fürs Fußballspiel.

Er spielte Fußball wie kein zweiter,
er stak voll Witz und Phantasie.
Er spielte lässig, leicht und heiter,
er spielte stets, er kämpfte nie.

Er warf den blonden Schopf zur Seite,
ließ seinen Herrgott gütig sein,
und stürmte durch die grüne Weite
und manchmal bis ins Tor hinein.

Es jubelte die Hohe Warte,
der Prater und das Stadion,
wenn er den Gegner lächelnd narrte
und zog ihm flinken Laufs davon.

Bis eines Tages ein andrer Gegner
ihm jählings in die Quere trat,
ein fremd und furchtbar überlegener,
vor dem´s nicht Regel gab noch Rat.

Von einem einzigen harten Tritte
fand sich der Spieler Sindelar
verstoßen aus des Planes Mitte
weil das die neue Ordnung war.

Ein Weilchen stand er noch daneben,
bevor er abging und nachhaus.
Im Fußballspiel, ganz wie im Leben,
war´s mit der Wiener Schule aus.

Er war gewohnt zu kombinieren,
und kombinierte manchen Tag.
Sein Überblick ließ ihn erspüren,
daß seine Chance im Gashahn lag.

Das Tor, durch das er dann geschritten,
lag stumm und dunkel ganz und gar.
Er war ein Kind aus Favoriten
und hieß Mattihas Sindelar. 

Willy Meisl

Goalkeeper Dr.Willy Meisl of Wiener Amateur-Sportverein played one international match, for Austria against Hungary in Vienna on May 2nd 1920. The game ended 2-2.
Meisl was the brother of the legendary Wunderteam manager, Hugo Meisl. He later managed Hammarby IF in Sweden and moved to Britain in the 1930's. Dr Meisl's writings give us great insight into the development of football in Austria and it's Empire.

Austria 1920- Dr Meisl in the hooped top.

Meisl v Pozzo

It is a view shared by many that there were three colossal figures in European football management in the pre war era. In England Herbert Chapman changed the way in which the game was played and presented. On the continent Hugo Meisl oversaw the development of the Austrian team from keen Sunday morning amateurs to the strongest side in World football in the space of twenty odd years of absolute dedication to the game. Vittorio Pozzo led Italy to an Olympic Gold medal and two World Cup wins , taking  the concept of preparation to a new level.  The theories of all three* have influenced football right up to the present day.
During the Meisl - Pozzo era up until 1937, national teams managed by the two men met on 8 occasions:

Game 1:  3.7.12  Austria     5-1 Italy       (Olympic Games, Stockholm)

 Italy 1912

The first meeting of Meisl/ Pozzo teams came at the 1912 Olympics.

Italy were still relative newcomers to international football. It was only their 10th match. Vittorio Pozzo had been made coach for the Olympic tournament and this was his 3rd game in charge. It was Hugo Meisl's 6th game as Austrian manager, and the 4th in which Jimmy Hogan was alongside him. The outstanding player of the game was Austria's goalkeeper, Josef Kaltenbrunner.

The match was in the consolation tournament , Italy having lost 3-2 to Finland in the first round of the main tournament (a match refereed by Herr Hugo Meisl!) but defeating Sweden 1-0 in consolation round one. Austria had beaten Germany 5-1 in the first round of the main tournament before losing 3-1 to Netherlands in the second round. In consolation tournament they beat Norway 1-0 in round one and having seen off Italy they went on to lose 3-0 to Hungary in the final.

Pozzo returned to the Italian national side for the 1924 Olympics, from which Austria were absent, but his regular duties as national coach / manager did not resume until 1929.

 Game 2: 22.2.31       Italy    2-1 Austria     
 Italy's first ever win over Austria came in this Coupe Internationale européenne match in Milan, with goals from Meazza and Orsi.

 Game 3: 20.3.32      Austria   2-1   Italy      (Coupe Internationale européenne, Vienna)
Austria avenged the previous years defeat, Meazza was on the scoresheet again, but a Matthias Sindelar double won the match for the hosts.

 Game 4: 11.2.34      Italy   2-4   Austria     (Coupe Internationale européenne, Turin)
Two goals from Guaita for the Azzuri - a hat trick from  Zischek and a fourth from Binder for Austria.

Austria 1934

 Game 5:   3.6.34      Italy    1-0   Austria     (World Cup, Milan)
On form Austria should have been favourites for the 1934 World Cup. Italy appear to have enjoyed considerable home advantages during the tournament.

 Game 6: 24.3.35      Austria   0-2   Italy     (Coupe Internationale européenne, Vienna)
2 goals from Piola- Italy were on their way to a second Coupe Internationale européenne title.

 Game 7: 17.5.36      Italy   2-2   Austria     (Rome)

 Game 8: 15.8.36      Italy   2-1   Austria     (Olympic Games, Berlin aet)
Annibale Frossi scored 2 to give Italy Olympic gold.

Played: 8
Austria: wins 3 goals 15
Italy: wins 4 goals 13
Drawn 1

Hugo Meisl died at the age of 55 in February 1937. Austria's next match was against Italy in Vienna 2 months later. 

The match was abandoned after 74 minutes with Austria leading  2-0. 

The reason for abandonment was ' due to excessively hard play by Italy'.

* I am not forgetting Jimmy Hogan. His approach to coaching enabled Meisl's vision of fluid, attack based football to become a reality.

Hugo Meisl and Jimmy Hogan- The Danubian School

Under Meisl soccer became almost an exhibition, a sort of competitive ballet, in which scoring goals was no more than the excuse for the weaving of a hundred intricate patterns.
Brian Glanville.

Hugo Meisl was the most influential figure in European football during the first half of the 20th century. As a player he had represented Cricketer and also served as a referee. he was head of the Austrian Football Federation from 1912 to 1937, and managed the national team in two periods, in 1912-14   and from 1919 -1937.As manager of Austria the cosmopolitan Meisl envisioned a fluid and beautiful way of playing football, based on the principles of movement.
The style of play was described by Willy Meisl, Hugo's brother, as The Whirl. This involved a perpetual interchanging and fluidity between all 10 outfield players, in which there would be no such thing as a purely defensive or a purely attacking player. 
 with assistance of an English coach, Jimmy Hogan.


In 1912, Austria drew 1-1 against Hungary. The game was refereed by Englishman James Howcroft. Ever keen to develop, Meisl asked Mr Howcroft for some advice on how to improve his team. Mr Howcroft's opinion was that they needed a professional coach to work with them on basic technique. As it happened Mr Howcroft knew just the man they needed. He recommended Jimmy Hogan, the former Bolton Wanderers player who had been coaching in the Netherlands.
Meisl promptly appointed Hogan to work with leading Austrian clubs, but mainly to prepare the Austria national squad for the Stockholm Olympics.

There is a strong case for arguing that Hogan, a journeyman professional who had also played for Rochdale, Burnley, Nelson , Fulham , Swindon Town during an 11 year career was to become one of  the most influential coaches in the history of football. The origins of the great Hungarian post war style, Netherlands Total Football and even the development of tactical awareness in Brazilian football (via Dori Kruschner*) can be traced back to the work that Hogan did in Central Europe.  

Hogan helped Meisl to put his vision into action. Hogan promoted  a style that emphasized  greater ball-control, attacking freedom, creativity, quick passing, and better physical preparation  Football was to be played on the ground, not in the air, and it was a game for brains as well as muscles.  
Essentially the 2-3-5 pyramid remained untouched (in fact Willy Meisl remained an advocate of thew pyramid formation until well into the 1950s). The forward line was complemented by wide half-backs and an attacking centre-half.

We played football as Jimmy Hogan taught us. When our football history is told, his name should be written in gold letters 

Gusztáv Sebes- coach of the 1950s Hungarian Golden Team.



*Izidor "Dori" Kürschner was known as Dori Kruschner in Brazil

Wunderteam

1931-32

Austria had an unbeaten  run of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. 
In May 1931 they demolished a depleted Scotland team by outplaying them at their own game, based on short passing.

  12.4.31  Czechoslovakia 2-1 (Vienna, Coupe Internationale européenne) 
    3.5.31  Hungary 0-0  (Vienna, Coupe Internationale européenne)
  16.5.31  Scotland 5-0 (Vienna) 
    4.5.31  Germany 6-0 (Berlin)
  16.6.31  Switzerland 2-0 (Vienna)
  13.9.31  Germany 5-0 (Vienna)
  4.10.31  Hungary 2-2 (Budapest, Coupe Internationale européenne) 
29.11.31  Switzerland 8-1 (Basel, Coupe Internationale européenne) 
  20.3.32  Italy 2-1  (Vienna, Coupe Internationale européenne) 
  24.4.32  Hungary 8-2 (Vienna)
  22.5.32  Czechoslovakia 1-1 (Prague, Coupe Internationale européenne) 
  17.7.32  Sweden 4-3 (Stockholm)
  2.10.32  Hungary 3-2 (Budapest)
23.10.32  Switzerland 3-1  (Vienna, Coupe Internationale européenne)*
  7.12.32  England 3-4 (London)

*Austria winners of 2nd  Coupe Internationale européenne

The unbeaten run came to an end at Stamford Bridge - critics in England felt that they had had a narrow escape, and that had Austria played their natural game from the start that they would have embarrassed England:

English team lucky to win. There could not be the slightest doubt that as a team (Austria) were the superiors.
 Manchester Guardian

 It was victory and no more, and it was by no means easily earned.
The Times. 

The unbeaten run featured  the following personnel:

Goalkeeper: Rudolf Hiden
Right  Backs: Roman Schramseis, Karl Rainer
Left  Backs: Josef Blum, Karl Sesta
Right Halves: Georg Braun, Johann Mock
Center Halves: Josef Smistik, Leopold Hofmann
Left Halves: Karl Gall,  Walter Nausch
Outside Right: Karl Zischek
Inside Right: Friedrich Gschweidl
Center Forward: Matthias Sindelar
Inside Left: Anton Schall
Outside Left: Adolf Vogl

Manager: Hugo Meisl 
Trainer: Jimmy Hogan

Austria's place amongst the top teams in the world endured right up until the country was absorbed by Germany in 1938.
The retrospective Elo World Rankings have them briefly in top position (following a 3-2 win over France) in May 1934. They were favourites to win the 1934 World Cup, but in Italy only Italy could win. In the semi final  Enrique Guaita scored the only goal after Meazza had clattered into the Austrian keeper, Platzer, forcing him to spill the ball.

England European tour 1908

36 years after they played their first international England played their first official matches against opponents from outside the British isles, taking a mixed team of amateurs and professionals to Austria-Hungary. In one week in June they played 5 internationals against Austria (twice) Hungary and Bohemia.

Austria had played 10 previous internationals, all against Hungary.
6 June 1908 a crowd of 3,500 watched England beat Austria 6-1 at Vienna's Cricketer Platz. 2 days later at Hohe Warte Stadium, in the same city England ran out 11-1 winners (Attendance: 5,000).

England (standing) Hungary (seated)

 Hugo Meisl refereed the meeting between England and Hungary at Budapest on 10th June. It was Hungary's 16th international, all the previous ones being against either Austria or Bohemia. England won 7-0 in front of a 7,000 crowd.

Bohemia's team for the game at Prague on the 13th was made up of eleven Slavia Prague players. Bohemia's 5 previous internationals had all been against Hungary. A crowd of 12,000 saw England win 4-0. 

George  'Gatling Gun' Hilsdon

28 goals in 7 days for England, 8 for George Hilsdon (Chelsea), 6 for the captain, Vivian Woodward (Tottenham Hotspur) and 5 for Jimmy Windridge (Chelsea).