Plánička

František Plánička played  969 games for Slavia Prague, 76% of which ended in victory. During thirteen seasons that Plánička was at the club between 1925 and 1938, Slavia won seven league titles. He played 73 games for Czechoslovakia. The English influence on central European football was evident in one of his nicknames-  Majster Robinzonád- The Master Diver. The diving save being known as a Robinzonád after the turn of the century Southampton and England 'keeper Jack Robinson.

 Plánička was 172cm.

The picture above shows Plánička as captain of Czechoslovakia at the 1934 World Cup Final. He is shaking hands with Gianpierro Combi- the goalkeeper and captain of Italy.

El Tigre e Homem-Borracha

This photograph, taken in September 1938  shows 2 early superstars of Brazilian football.
On the right is Arthur Friedenreich. On the left is Leônidas da Silva.
Fried's career lasted from 1909 to 1925. He was top scorer in the Liga Paulista in 9 seasons. He represented Brazil 23 times, scoring 10 goals. He was a South American Championship winner in 1919 and 1922. He missed out on the 1930 World Cup squad as São Paulo players were overlooked. Friedenreich scored over 1,200 goals in his first class career.
Leônidas began his career in 1929 and played until 1946. His international goal return was 21 goals in 19 matches.
Most of Leônidas' triumphs came after 1937- but he did feature in the 1934 World Cup. During his first 4 years in top football (including a season at Peñarol) his strike rate was greater than a goal a game.

Umberto Caligaris

Umberto Caligaris was a full back  who played for Casale (1919-28), Juventus (1928-35) and Brescia (1935-37). He won 59 caps for Italy between 1922 and 1934. This remained the record number of caps for Italy until 1971. 
Caligaris won a bronze medal at the 1928 Olympics and was part of the Italy squad that won the Coupe Internationale européenne that concluded in 1930. He was picked for Italy's 1934 World Cup Squad but didn't play in any of the matches. 
He featured in  Juventus's run of five consecutive Serie A wins (Il Quinquennio d'oro).
Notice that his name is misspelled on the card.

National Challenge Cup Winners 1930-32

A look at the winners of the United States' National Challenge Cup in the early 1930s reveals the following interesting sequence:

1930
The Fall River Marksmen of the Atlantic Coast League defeated Bruell Insurance of Cleveland over 2 legs.  At New York Polo Grounds (30.03.30) Marksmen won  7-2. Jimmy McAuley (3),Werner Nilsen (3) and Alex McNab were the scorers. Luna Park, Cleveland hosted the second leg on 06.04.30- , Marksmen winning  2-1, with goals by McNab and Bob McAuley.

1931
Fall River Marksmen don't appear in the league tables for the 1931 season, as the club had relocated to New York and had become the New York Yankees. However, for the National Challenge Cup they played under the name of Fall River Marksmen, having entered the tournament before the move to New York.
In the final the Marksmen/Yankees faced Chicago Bricklayers.
The 1st leg at the Polo Grounds (05.04.31) finished 6-2, Bert Patenaude scoring 5 goals and Bill McPherson 1.  
Bizarrely the rules of the contest meant that a 1-1 draw in the 2nd match (played at Chicago's Mills Stadium 12.04.31) meant that a 3rd match was required.  (Billy Gonsalves scored the Fall River goal). 
The deciding game at Sparta Stadium ,Chicago, was played on 19.04.31. Alex McNab had broken his arm in a midweek friendly and Fall River played the entire match with 10 men , winning 2-0 with goals from Patenaude and Gordon Burness.

1932
The New York Yankees relocated after just one season, becoming The New Bedford Whalers. Under their new guise they again reached the final of the National Challenge Cup, where they defeated Stix, Baer & Fuller of St. Louis.
Both games were played at Sportsman's Park, St. Louis. On 26.03.32  the result was a 3-3 draw (some discrepancies exist over the identities of the scorers). The following week Whalers won 5-2.White, Nilsen, Gonsalves, McPherson and Florie scored the goals.

Marksmen 1930
1st leg	2nd leg
Johnny Reder	Johnny Reder
Bob McAuley	Charlie McGill
McArthur	Bob McAuley
Bill McPherson	Bill McPherson
Priestley	Priestley
Bobby Ballantyne	Bobby Ballantyne
Alex McNab	Alex McNab
Billy Gonsalves	Billy Gonsalves
Werner Nilsen (Gavin)	Werner Nilsen
Jimmy McAuley	Bert Patenaude
James Tec White	James Tec White

Marksmen (New York Yankees) 1931
1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg
Johnny Reder	unchanged	Johnny Reder
Charlie McGill		Charlie McGill
Augusto John Rebello		Augusto John Rebello
Bill McPherson		Bill McPherson
Johnny Caldwell		Johnny Caldwell
Bobby Ballantyne		Bobby Ballantyne
Alex McNab
Werner Nilsen		James Tec White
Bert Patenaude		Bert Patenaude
Billy Gonsalves		Billy Gonsalves
James Tec White		Gordon Burness

New Bedford Whalers 1932
1st leg	2nd leg
Watson	unchanged
Augusto John Rebello
McMillen
Johnny Caldwell
Montgomerie
Bill McPherson
Tom Florie
Billy Gonsalves
Werner Nilsen
James Tec White
Alex McNab

Some players of note:-

Johnny Reder
 Born in Poland, Reder also played baseball for Boston Red Sox.

Bob McAuley
Born in Glasgow, raised in Montreal. McAuley later played for Glasgow rangers, Chelsea and Cardiff City and won 2 caps for Scotland in 1931.

Bill McPherson
Began his career with his hometown club Greenock Morton and joined Beith before emigrating to the USA,

Bobby Ballantyne
Another Glasweigian , he later returned to Scotland and played for Aberdeen and St Johnstone.

Alex McNab
Another nastive of Greenock who played for Greenock Morton. Represented scotland twice in 1921. Went to the states in 1924 

Werner “Scotty” Nilsen
In a team of many Scots it was Norweigian Nilsen who was known as Scotty. He moved to the USA as a 19 year old. Represented the USA at the 1934 World Cup. Was also a male model!

Billy Gonsalves
Adelino Gonçalves was born in Rhode Island, his parents were from Madeira . Played for the USA in the 1930 and 1934 World Cups. His  professional career spanned 25 years.

Jimmy McAuley
An Irishman who had played for Ards before moving to the USA where he first played for Philedelphia Celtic. 

James Tec White
Another Scotsman, White played for Albion Rovers, Maidstone united and motherwell before Sam Mark persuaded him to join Fall River Marksmaen.

Charlie McGill
McGill had previously played for Third Lanark. 

Bert Patenaude
A native of Fall River, he played for the USA at the 1930 World Cup. 

Tom Florie
Played for the USA in the 1930 and 1934 World Cups.

Lo Sport Fascista - February 1933

Mussolini, although not a great football fan, realised the propaganda potential of sport and exploited the success of Italian sportsmen during the Fascist Era for these purposes.
The player featured on this magazine from  February 1933 is Bologna centre forward Angelo Schiavio.
Schiavio spent 16 seasons at Bologna (1922-1938), scoring  109 goals in 179 Serie A appearances and 242 senior goals in a total of 348 appearances. In the 1931–1932 season he was Capocannoniere  with 25 goals. He featured in 4 scudetto winning squads and won the Mitropa Cup twice.
His international record with Italy (1925-1934) was 15 goals in 21 matches, He won Olympic Bronze (1928) and was a World Cup Winner (1934), scoring the winning goal in the final. Schiavo also featured in 2 successful  Coupe Internationale européenne campaigns. 

Poldi Kielholz

Footballers who wore spectacles. It's been a pet subject of mine for many years. Nearsighted footballers in the pre war years didn't have the option of contact lenses or corrective surgery. If you've ever played with glasses on (and remember these were heavy glass lenses) you'll appreciate what a challenge it is.

It didn't seem to hamper Leopold 'Poldi' Kielholz. He played at the highest level in Switzerland and France for 18 years and appeared at 2 World Cups. In the pre Challenge National era  Kielholz played for BSC Old Boys Basel (1927-28), Black Stars Basel (1928-30) and FC Basel (1930-32). He joined Servette in 1932.

In 1933 the Challenge National kicked off, and Kielholz was top scorer with 40 goals. This haul has never been bettered. In all he played 188 league games, scoring 101 goals.

In 1935 Kielholz became player coach at FC Bern, a role he also undertook at Stade Reims . In 1937 he returned to Switzerland where he played for St. Gallen and later Young Fellows Zurich.

 Kielholz represented Switzerland 17 times, scoring 12 goals.

Postage Stamps

I have it on good authority that the above stamps were the first issued in the World to depict/ commemorate Association football. Uruguay's golden age, which culminated in their 1930 World Cup triumph, got underway with their successful 1924 Olympic campaign. Uruguay beat Yugoslavia (7-0), the United States (3-0), France (5-1), Netherlands (2-1) and Switzerland (3-0) to claim gold.

Fascist Italy probably had a very good postal service. These stamps were issued to commemorate the 1934 World Cup, which was, of course, won by the host nation.

Extranjeros

Foreigners who played international football for Argentina pre 1937:

Héctor Henman (1906)
Harold James Henman was born in Oxford England and moved to South Africa when he was a boy. In 1906 , having toured Argentina with a South Africa XI  (playing in an unofficial international) he settled in the country, playing for Alumni before representing Argentina  in a Copa Newton match v Uruguay.

 Leonel (Alfredo?) Peel Yates
All the reference sites tell us that Alfredo Peel Yates was born in England and represented Argentina 4 times in 1911. When I tried to find out a bit more about Peel Yates I found that he was referred to in Argentinian sources as either Leonel or Lionel Peel Yates.  
A history of AA Estudiantes De Río Cuarto Cordoba tells us that Peel Yates, ' a vigorous man, of medium height and enormous mustaches' had played for Alumni in 1911 and had become the first Englishman to represent Argentina. The same source states that in 1912 he joined Quilmes AC, with whom he won the national championship.

An online history of Quilmes AC celebrating the centenary of this championship win lists Lionel Peel Yates as being one of 6 former Alumni players joining the club that season

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I have also come across references to Leonel Peel Yates as having paid into a subscription that aided the introduction of Polo to Argentina.

Horacio Vignoles 
Born in Uruguay!  Belgrano Athletic's Horacio Vignoles played for Argentina in a 2-1 win over the country of his birth on July 9 1913.

Zoilo Canavery (Caneveri)
Canavery played most of his football for Independiente, though he was at CARP when capped. He  was  the second Uruguayan to play for Argentina, playing on the right wing in a Copa Lipton match against Uruguay on August 15,1916.

Marius Hiller, also known as Eduardo Hiller, was born in Pforzheim. Hiller made his debut for Germany on 3 April 1910, and (at 17 years, 241 days) remains the youngest player to score an international goal for the Germans. In 1912 Hiller joined  FC La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) . In 1913 he emigrated to Argentina (due to his job) and played for All Boys and River Plate .On August 15, 1916 he made his debut for Argentina  in a 3-1 victory over Uruguay, scoring on his international debut for a second time. His 2 international appearances for Argentina yielded 4 goals. In the 1917  season Hiller scored 52 goals in 39 games. 

Renato Cesarini
A genuine oriundo! Cesarini was born in Italy, raised in Argentina. He played twice for Argentina before returning to Italy (signed by Juventus in 1929), where he gained a further 11 caps.

Pedro "Arico" Suárez
Arico was born in Gran Canaria. His family moved to Argentina when he was a baby. He enjoyed considerable success with Boca Juniors and was in the Argentina team for the 1930 World Cup final. He represented Argentina 12 times between 1930 and 1940.

Constantino Urbieta Sosa 
Midfielder Sosa played 2 internationals for his native Paraguay in 1931. That year he left Nacional (Asuncion) to play his club football with Newell's Old Boys. He settled in Argentina, playing for a succession of clubs, and featured for Argentina in the 1934 World Cup .

Aarón Wergifker 
Born in São Paulo, "Brazuca" played in defence for River Plate, making more than 400 appearances. He represented Argentina 4 times (1934-36).

Manuel De Sáa  
2 caps in 1935 for the Spanish born Vélez Sarsfield player.

World Cup Qualifiers

If, like me, you come from a country that falls in to the category of  international minnows, World Cup Qualifiers is a phrase that conjures up memories and expectations of frustration or humiliation. We watch the big countries contesting the prizes whereas to us even qualifying for a major tournament would be like lifting the World Cup itself.
The Qualifying process was introduced by FIFA  for the 1934 tournament, 32 teams entering (FIFA had more sense then, and limited the finals to 16 teams for the purposes of logistics and quality).
So, let's look at the first 16 teams to experience the ignominy of  'not qualifying for the World Cup'.
Firstly, some absences can be explained by reason of not entering- England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (ie Northern Ireland- Irish football history is complex) did not deign to enter. Bolivia and Paraguay who both featured in 1930, did not enter.Uruguay, World Champions- refused to enter in response to Europe's poor show at the 1930 tournament.
Italy, on the other hand, who have been accused of having the tournament virtually sewn up before a ball was kicked, had to qualify.

Europe
21 teams in 8 groups contested 12 places

Group 1 was a northern European affair- Sweden progressed after beating both Estonia and Lithuania , who pragmatically decided not to bother playing their fixture as neither of them could qualify.
Group 2 pitted Spain against Portugal. A 9-0 defeat in the first leg ensured that Portugal missed out on the World Cup. 
Group 3 was another 2 team affair- hosts Italy beat Greece 4-0 in Milan and Greece withdrew just to be on the safe side. 
Group 4 saw Bulgaria withdrawing, making qualification for Austria and Hungary a formality. 
Group 5- Czechoslovakia progressed after Poland withdrew after the first leg of their qualification tie.  
Group 6- Yugoslavia were eliminated after defeats at the hands of Switzerland and Romania. 
Group 7- The Irish Free State (predecessors of the ROI) were grouped with the relatively hugely experienced Netherlands and Belgium and yet were eliminated only on goal average. 

 Luxembourg v France

 Luxembourg v Germany

Group 8- probably the earliest 'minnows', Luxembourg were grouped with Germany and France. In fairness to the Red Lions they scored in both their games, losing 9-1 to Germany and 6-1 to France, who then didn't bother playing each other having already qualified. 

South America
The 2  groups (9&10) were non events, Peru and Chile withdrawing, allowing Brazil and Argentina a clear route to Italy. Bolivia and Paraguay who both featured in 1930, did not enter. 

Central/ North America
Group 11 was the sort of convoluted path to qualification that we still see today.
Haiti played Cuba in a 3 match series (all held in Haiti) and were eliminated (L 2 D 1)
Cuba then traveled to Mexico and were eliminated (L 3)

Mexico traveled to Rome and played USA in a play off to settle the final qualification place. 
A 4-2 defeat saw Mexico eliminated. 

Other

Group 12 was a middle eastern arrangement. Turkey withdrew. Palestine, (British Mandate), forerunners of the modern Israel, were eliminated over 2 legs by Egypt. 

Ricardo Zamora

He liked a drink (Cognac) and he liked a smoke (60 a day or Havana cigars, which he was once arrested for smuggling into Spain). Noted for spectacular saves and a trademark white sweater, Ricardo Zamora Martínez was probably the greatest goalkeeper of the first half of the 20th century. 

Club career:

RCD Espanyol  (1916–1919) Zamora's first success came in 1918 when Espanyol won the Campionat de Catalunya . He argued with the club directors and was transferred to Barcelona.

Barcelona (1919–1922)  At Barcelona  Zamora enjoyed 3 great years in which they won the Campionat de Catalunya 3 times (1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22) and the Copa del Rey twice (1920, 1922).

RCD Espanyol (1922–1930) During Zamora's second spell at Espanyol he enjoyed another Campionat de Catalunya / Copa del Rey double (1928–29). He had begun inauspiciously though- suspended for a year for tax evasion relating to his signing on fee. 

Real Madrid (1930–1936) From 1931 onward the club was known as Madrid Football Club (during the Second Spanish Republic). The Copa del Rey became known as Copa de España: Madrid were winners in 1934 and 1936. They also won  La Liga twice (1931–32, 1932–33).

Catalunya
 Zamora played for the Catalunya team on a regular basis in the 1920s, winning the Copa Princep de Asturies 3 times (1922, 1924, 1926).

Spain
Zamora made his international debut in Spain's first official international- the 1-0 defeat of Denmark at the 1920 Olympics. Zamora's performances won him rave reviews during the tournament , but in only his 4th game, against Italy, he was sent off in the 79th minute for striking an opponent. Following the chaos of the final , Spain played Netherlands for the silver medal and won 3-1.
In the 1934 World Cup Spain beat Brazil in the first round. They then held hosts Italy to a 1-1 draw. Italy's roughhouse tactics put Zamora out of the replay (which, of course, Italy were never going to lose).

Zamora won 46 caps for Spain (W31-D7-L8). He conceded 42 goals and kept 20 clean sheets.

Despite being awarded the Order of the Republic in 1934, Zamora was not a Republican or a Catalan nationalist. 
During the Fascist war against the Republic the Fascists promoted the rumour that Zamora had been killed by Republicans. He was later taken prisoner by the Republicans (accused of having Fascist sympathies) and went into exile in France. 

South America v Europe in International Football

Paris 1924

The first Europe v South America clashes took place at the 1924 Olympic games in Paris. Uruguay, qualifying via the South American Championships, were the only South American team. They defeated 4 European opponents on their way to the gold medal:

Yugoslavia

26.05.24 Uruguay 7-0 Yugoslavia

01.06.24 France  1-5 Uruguay  
06.06.24 Netherlands  1-2 Uruguay
09.06.24 Switzerland  0-3 Uruguay 

Amsterdam 1928 

The next round of intercontinental football came 4 years later in the 1928 Olympic Games Uruguay were joined by Argentina (who they beat in the final) and Chile.
Argentina played a friendly on their way to the tournament:
01.04.28 Portugal v Argentina 0-0  (Lisbon)

In the tournament itself South America remained dominant: Portugal became the first European teams to defeat South American opposition.

27.05.28 Portugal 4-2 Chile 
30.05.28 Uruguay 2-0 Netherlands
02.06.28 Belgium  3-6 Argentina 
03.06.28  Uruguay 4-1 Germany 
07.06.28  Uruguay  3-2 Italy  
08.06.28 Netherlands 2-2 Chile

Uruguay 1930

Uruguay

The first World Cup was contested by 13 teams, The continental representation was as follows: Europe 4, North America 2, South America,7. The tournament produced 8 South America-Europe meetings.  France played South American opposition twice, losing both games.

14.07.30 Romania 3-1 Peru 
14.07.30 Brazil 1-2 Yugoslavia
15.07.30  Argentina 1-0 France  
19.07.30 Chile 1-0 France
17.07.30 Bolivia 0-4 Yugoslavia
20.07.30 Paraguay 1-0 Belgium
21.07.30 Romania  0-4 Uruguay
27.07.30 Uruguay 6-1 Yugoslavia

Post World Cup Friendlies 1930
The following matches were played by European teams in South America following the World Cup:

01.08.30 Brazil  3-2 France (Rio de Janeiro-France did not consider this to be a full international) 03.08.30 Argentina 3-1 Yugoslavia (Buenos Aires)
10.08.30 Brazil 4-1 Yugoslavia (Rio de Janeiro-Yugoslavia did not consider this to be a full international)

 Italy 1934

Uruguay didn't travel to defend their title and it turned out to be a bad tournament for South American teams (probably for football in general). With the tournament being a straight knock out both South American representatives were eliminated after just 90 minutes of football.

The referee didn't give this handball as the defender on the line saves Leonidas' shot.

27.05.34 Brazil 1-3  Spain (Genoa) 
27.05.34 Sweden  3-2 Argentina (Bologna)
Following the World Cup Brazil paid a visit to Belgrade where they featured in a high scoring friendly with Yugoslavia:
03.06.34 Brazil 4-8 Yugoslavia (Belgrade) 

1936 Olympic Games

06.08.36 Finland 3-7  Peru (Hertha-BSC )

Snazzy Juan Valdivieso punches clear.

09.08.36 Peru 4-2 Austria  (Hertha-BSC )

 Austria were awarded this tie 2-0 after Peru refused to replay- the possibility is that they were removed from the tournament by a Nazi plot. We accept the 4-2 result and do not include the 2-0 default result.

	South America	Europe
Wins	18	7
Wins in Europe	10	4
Wins in South America	8	3
Draws	2
Goals	79	53

Unfortunately during this era neither England or Scotland played South American opposition, nor did the Austrian Wunderteam.