Italy 1912

back (L-R):  Angelo Binaschi, Franco Bontadini, Felice Berardo, Giuseppe Milano, Pietro Leone, Renzo De Vecchi, Piero Campelli;
 front (L-R):. Carlo De Marchi, Enrico Sardi, Enea Zuffi, Edoardo Marian 

Vittorio Pozzo had 4 spells as the manger/coach of the Italian national team. His first period in charge lasted 5 days, being for the duration of Italy's involvement in the 1912 Olympic Games at Stockholm.
Here are the teams that Pozzo fielded in Italy's 3 games.

Campelli (Internazionale)	Campelli	Campelli
Binaschi (Pro Vercelli)	De Vecchi	De Vecchi
De Vecchi (Milan C&FC)	Valle (Pro Vercelli)	Valle
De Marchi  (Torino)  *	Binaschi	Binaschi
Milano (c) (Pro Vercelli)	Milano (c)	Milano (c)
Leone (Pro Vercelli)	Leone	Leone
Zuffi (Torino)	Bontadini	Zuffi
Bontadini (Internazionale)	Berardo	Bontadini
Berardo (Pro Vercelli)	Sardi	Berardo
Sardi (Andrea Doria)	Barbesino (Casale)	Barbesino
Mariani (Genoa C&FC)	Mariani	Mariani
di Popolo (Torino)*

*di Popolo replaced  De Marchi at half time.

In the opening game Italy lost 3-2 to Finland in extra time. Italy's goalscorers were Bontadini (1-1:10 min) and Sardi (1-2:25min).

Italy then beat Sweden 1-0 in the consolation tournament (Bontaini the scorer).

Pozzo in conference with William Garbutt (centre)

In the next match they met Jimmy Hogan's Austria and were beaten 5-1, Berardo Italy's scorer. 

Pozzo's next period as coach of the Azzuri began in the build up to the Paris Olympics 12 years later. 

Montes

Arturo Montesinos Cebrián , usually called Montes, also known as Tellà, was one of the early greats of Valencia. A prolific centre forward, Montes scored 254 goals in 259 games  for Valencia. His most successful seasons were :

1922-1923- 49 goals in 46 games
1924-1925 - 45 in 47 
1925-1926  - 37 in 30

He scored the first ever goal at the Estadio de Mestalla.

Prehistory

Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle - 16.01.59

A brief dip into pre-history here. We know that the Football Association Laws of the game didn't just materialise from the ether, and it was a fair assumption that the desire to formulate a  unifying code arose from a sustained period of conflict between the interested parties.

Here in 1859 we find the editor of Bell's Life taking a pessimistic view of the situation that the Association would attempt to resolve some 4 years later. 

Our Winter Game

Summer is here. Time to remember, perhaps, that Association Football is primarily a winter game. Queen's Park started off playing in the summer but on the whole, whether in the Northern or Southern hemisphere it's the winter months that see the bulk of the football action. Those lovely sunlit Cup Finals and sweltering international matches are the exception rather than the rule.
Thursday 14th January 1926, an FA Cup 3rd round replay at Craven Cottage. Fulham beat Everton 1-0 thanks to a Bert White goal. Snow fell throughout the game, which was, according to newspaper reports, played in semi darkness. Here the groundsman is uncovering the pitch markings.

We at Before the D are taking our customary May break- be back about June 5th.

Everton v Newton Heath 1889

Dancing and funerals...

As the 1888-89 season drew to a close the press reveals that clubs were engaged in an intense schedule of friendlies. The programme above is from Newton Heath's first ever visit to Anfield.
Everton had finished in 8th place in the Football League , Newton Heath had topped the Combination.
Note that the Everton line up was not as advertised, with the following changes made:
J Angus (Waugh)
W Brown (Chadwick)
R Watson (Parry)
W Briscoe (Wilson)
W Wilson (Weir)


These two well known teams appeared at Anfield last evening it being the first appearance of Newton Heath on the ground. The visitors brought a good team with them and Everton were presented by two or three of their second team. About 3,500 spectators assembled. Williams kicked off, and Everton at once pressed. Farmer and Ross punted into goal-Briscoe sent over to Watson and he parted judiciously to Angus, who scored with a splendid oblique shot, four minutes from the start. Good play by Farmer kept Powell busy, but at length Dobson was beaten by Gotheridge. Ross cleared but Brown put the ball though when he had a good opportunity to pass. The play was kept on the Everton right, which was not to the best advantage. From a foul the ball was taken over the Everton lines for the first time. Parry passing by the whole of the home forwards took the ball down,, and Angus obtained a foul, which Farmer put over the bar. Williams and Jarrett rushed away, but Smalley cleared. Watson was fouled when clear away, but the referee gave a foul. Excellent play by Holt gave Watson and Briscoe possession, they passing to Milward and he shot into Hay's hands, who only partially cleared and Briscoe shot through. Good combined play on the part of the home forwards kept the sphere in the opponents goal, Milward at last give Hays a handful, which he had no difficulty in clearing. A good shot by Owen was diverted by Williams who headed out. Everton then secured a foul near goal, and Watson shot through, but as the ball was wrongly placed it was brought back. Williams started, and Tait and Williams ran down. Williams shot to Smalley's hands, and from some inexplicable cause he allowed the ball to fall and scored for the visitors. Back play by Dobson gave Jarratt a possible chance, but Ross came to the rescue. Hays next had a busy time, as he had to fist out five consecutive shots. Doughty and Gotheridge worked their way down, but found Ross good enough for them, and Angus gave to Brown, who raced away, but nothing came of it. This was directly afterwards followed by a foul in goal and Ross scored the third point for Everton. The home team still maintained the pressure but breaks away by Tait and Gotheridge relieved the monotony. Ross gave a foul in goal, but Holt sent up the field, and Watson forced the pace considerably, and the home forwards again became the aggressive. Score Everton 3 goals; Newton Heath 1 goal, Teams Newton Heath:- Hays (T), goal, Mitchell and Powell, backs Burke, Owen, and Jones, half-backs, Tait, Jarrett, Williams, Doughty, and Gotheridge, forwards. Everton:- Smalley, goal, Dobson, and Ross (captain), Weir, Holt, and Farmer, half-backs, Briscoe, Watson, Milward, Angus, and Brown, forwards.

The Liverpool Mercury  16.04.89

1914

The football authorities came in for a great deal of criticism when play continued following the outbreak of war in 1914. There was no reluctance, however, to exploit the potential of the game as a vehicle to promote voluntary enlistment (conscription was not introduced until 1916).
The above posters appealed to the patriotic inclinations of supporters of Millwall and Tottenham Hotspur.

O ataque dos 100 gols

In the 1927 Campeonato Paulista (the version run by APEA) Santos racked up 100 goals in 16 games, an average of  6.25 goals per game. Remarkably this wasn't enough to secure the title. Palestra Itália were champions, having lost 1 game fewer than Santos (and done the double over them).

03.05.27	Santos	12	1	Ypiranga
	Araken [7], Feitiço [2], Hugo, Camarão,Evangelista
13.05.27	Santos	10	2	República
	Marino (og), Araken [5] , Feitiço [4]
22.05.27	Santos	4	2	Primeiro de Maio
	Feitiço [2], Araken , Omar
05.06.27	Santos	11	2	Barra Funda
	Feitiço [4], Araken [2], Evangelista [2], Camarão [2] , Omar
26.06.27	Santos	5	2	Portuguesa
	Evangelista, Hugo, Omar, Feitiço [2]
03.07.27	Santos	11	3	Americano
	Feitiço [3], Araken [6], Camarão [2]
31.07.27	Santos	9	3	São Paulo Alpargatas
	Araken [4], Feitiço [3],Omar [2]
14.08.27	Comercial	3	4	Santos
	Feitiço [4]
21.08.27	Santos	10	1	Guarani
	Araken [4], Feitiço [3], Camarão [2]. Omar
29.08.27	Santos	4	1	Corinthians
	Araken [2], Caio (og), Camarão
04.09.27	Corinthians	3	8	Santos
	Camarão [3], Araken [3], Feitiço ,Omar
27.11.27	Santos	4	1	Sílex
	Siriri [2], Evangelista, Araken
22.01.28	Palestra Itália	4	1	Santos
	Araken
At the end of the regular season Santos were in 4th place in the league and progressed into a quadrangular play off.
Second Tournament (Play offs)
05.02.28	Guarani	2	4	Santos
	Siriri [2], Camarão, Evangelista
26.02.28	Santos	1	0	Corinthians
	Evangelista
04.03.28	Santos	2	3	Palestra Itália
	Siriri , Camarão

P	W	D	L	F	A
16	14	0	2	100	33

The front line, known as  O ataque dos 100 gols (the attack of 100 goals) is generally listed as Omar, Camarão, Feitiço, Araken and  Evangelista. Siriri also deserves to be included. The principal scorers shared the goals as follows: Araken Patusca – 36, Feitiço - 28,  Camarão - 15, Evangelista - 7, Siriri - 6, Omar - 6.   

Araken

Araken Patusca (Abraham Patusca da Silveira)
Santos was in the genes of Abraham Patusca da Silveira. His father was founder and president of the club. Araken made his debut as a 15 year old, scoring 4 goals in his first match. In all he scored 177 goals in 193 matches for Santos. In 1925 he had toured with Paulistano , and wrote a book about  the tour called Os reis do futebol. Unsurprisingly he was top scorer in the Campeonato Paulista of 1927. My calculation of his tally for that season is 36. Araken played 1 game for Brazil, at the 1930 World Cup. 

Feitiço

Feitiço (Luís Macedo Matoso)

The name Feitiço translates to something like 'magic spell'. Wikipedia states that he represented Uruguay but this is incorrect (he did spend some time at Peñarol). He played 1 official international for Brazil. Feitiço got off to a ridiculously good start in the 1927 season, scoring 27 goals in 9 consecutive matches. In the Paulista v Carioca match of  November 13th a remarkable incident occured. Rio were awarded a penalty and the resulting dispute held the game up for 30 minutes. The President of Brazil was in attendance, and even he was unable to persuade the Paulista players to continue. They left the field. Feitiço was then suspended by Santos for his role in this incident. 
Feitiço was a consistently prolific scorer. In 151 games for Santos he scored 214 goals. He was top scorer in the Campeonato Paulista in 6 seasons.

Camarão (Aníbal de Andrade Torres)
Camarão, whose nickname means Shrimp, was a versatile player, a capable half back, outside right or centre forward. He played 270 games for Santos, scoring 150 goals. He later managed the club. 

Evangelista (João Evangelista Rocha dos Santos), Siriri (Jose Torres) and Omar played their part, sharing 19 goals, but at present I have been unable to unearth much information about them. 

Die Pfarrwiese

Simply adore this panoramic postcard of Rapid Vienna's Pfarrwiese ground. Football in La Belle Époque. 

There is an air of gentility about the scene. People in their Sunday best attending the game.

An assortment of headwear and plenty of walking-canes...

... and this lady has really made an effort!

Note the high fences to prevent the ball being booted out of the ground- this was before Jimmy Hogan taught the Austrians to play it on the carpet.

Rapid moved to this ground  in the Hütteldorf area of Vienna in 1911. The initial capacity was 4,000,

This site has some pictures of the ground as it is today. 

Invincibles - John Goodall & Jimmy Ross

In the first ever season of the Football League John Goodall was the leading scorer, with 20 goals in 21 games for Preston North End.
He scored 2 hat tricks

Jimmy Ross was Preston's next highest scorer, with 19 goals in 21 games.

De Bal van Cyril Bernard Morrogh

College Melle

Royal Antwerp were formed in about 1880 by British expatriates and the Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond was established in 1895. Football had first arrived in Belgium in 1863. One football, a leather ball, a luxury item, was taken to The College of the Josephite Fathers at Melle by Cyril Bernard Morrogh . Morrogh was a young student from Ireland. Apparently it was his English classmates who showed most enthusiasm for the game. How closely their activities adhered to the Association Laws of the Game we will never know. Very little, I suspect. 
The information, illustration and post title are taken from Kroniek van het Belgisch Voetball (Fraiponts & Willcox, 2003)

Not the actual ball. This one dates from the 1880s

Металлист Хабаровск

Khabarovsk is 7,000 kilometers east of Moscow, just 30 km from the border with the People's Republic of China.  This is the Metallist Khabarovsk team of 1927. Notice they wear striped shorts- very unusual in any era.