FC Winterthur v FC Zürich 1897

This picture shows the first match played at Winterthur's Schützenwiese ground on 24.10.97. The visitors were FC Zürich. FC Winterthur won 2-0 with goals from  Spinzio and Notz.

FC Winterthur	FC Zürich
Arthur Fink	Machwürth
Louis Rossi	Willy Imhoof ©
Heinrich	Wettstein
Paul Heubi	Keller
Sidney Jacobs ©	Heinrich Escher
Emil Moser	Staub
Balli (FC St. Gallen)	Mädler
Masterman	K. Meier
Notz (Lausanne)	Hans Enderli
Alfred Spinzio	Wiederkehr
Rudolf Soldati	Kram

Both clubs were formed in 1896. The Swiss Football Association was founded in 1895.

Serie A was first contested in 1898 following an unofficial championship in 1897.
The teams that  featured in the 1897 tournament were: 
Grasshopper Zürich 

FC Zürich

Villa Longchamp Lausanne
FC Yverdon
Lausanne FC et CC
Maison Neuve Vevey
Villa d'Ouchy (Lausanne)
Château de Lancy (Geneve)
Racing Club de Geneve
La Châtelaine Geneve

Wembley 1923

Bolton Wanderers		West Ham United
Dick Pym	GK	Ted Hufton
Bob Haworth	FB	Billy Henderson
Alex Finney	FB	Jack Young
Harry Nuttall	HB	Syd Bishop
Jimmy Seddon	HB	George Kay (c)
Billy Jennings	HB	Jack Tresadern
Billy Butler	F	Dick Richards
David Jack	F	Billy Brown
Jack Smith	F	Vic Watson
Joe Smith (c)	F	Billy Moore
Ted Vizard	F	Jimmy Ruffell
Charles Foweraker	M	Syd King

This was one of those iconic events that has had so much written about it that there's not much to add.

It was a game that shouldn't have been played and a result that shouldn't have been allowed to stand. But there was a game of football, of sorts, played at Wembley Stadium on April 28th 1923.
The crowd, it goes without saying, frequently interfered with the play. Bolton's first goal, scored by David Jack, came when a West Ham defender was trying to extricate himself from the crowd. Jack Smith's second half strike was even more controversial. The ball was played to Vizard by a spectator. Vizard centred and Smith shot. The ball cannoned back into the field of play and the referee awarded a goal, despite the protests of the West Ham players that the shot had hit the post.

Some Famous Referees

In the earliest years of the Football Association referees and umpires were drawn from the ranks of current players. Charles Alcock, for example umpired in international matches before participating as a player. In the 1880s Major Marindin bestrode the world of refereeing like a colossus.  As football's mass appeal burgeoned  the referees themselves became celebrities. As the illustration above shows the favoured uniform was tweed plus fours and a deerstalker.


Arthur Kingscott
From Long Eaton, Mr Kingscott refereed in 3 FA Cup Final matches (1900 and 1901, including the replay). He officiated for 14 seasons in the Football League. There was controversy when he made a call on a goal line incident resulting in a Sheffield United goal when he was distant from the action.

Patrick Harrower
Mr Harrower took charge of the 1905 FA Cup Final. He was a Scottish Rugby Union internationalist. He refereed international matches on the continent.

A. J Barker
Hanley's Mr Barker refereed the 1904 FA Cup Final.
On the opening day of the 1906 season Mr Barker (whose moustache is worthy of note) oversaw a game between Manchester City and Woolwich Arsenal in which 5 City players left the pitch due to the effects of the 32C temperature.

John Adams
In charge at the 1903 FA Cup Final.

John Lewis
In his distinguished career the Prince of Referees took charge of 3 FA Cup Finals (1895,1897 & 1898) and 9 internationals, including  2 Olympic Finals (1908 &1920). The 1920 Final was a shambles and the Czechs, having walked off in the 40th minute, were extremely critical of the performance of the 65 year old Mr Lewis.

Tom Kirkham
Mr Kirkham officiated in 3 internationals and the 1902 FA Cup Final (including the replay). This is the referee pursued by William Foulke in the legendary story.

Scotch Professors

The Scottish Umpire, 23.10.88

The legalization of professionalism in England led to a surge in the numbers of Scottish players moving south.
The days of denial and sinecure posts gave way to an open market.
The Scottish Association placed an embargo on all players who had signed as professionals for English clubs, banning them from ever representing Scotland or Scottish clubs. As we have seen in the case of  Dr John Smith, they went so far as to ban players who had played against professionals.
Despite the influx 70% of the players who took part in the first Football League fixtures were English born (101, as compared to 27 Scots and 4 Welshmen).

More from Vivian Woodward

 Vivian Woodward's career with the full England international side saw him play 23 matches, scoring 29 goals.
FIFA also give full international status to a further 30 matches that Woodward played, 24 for the England Amateur XI and 6 for the Great Britain Olympic team , scoring 44 goals.
That's a total of  53 appearances and 73 goals,
FIFA  did not extend official status to the annual matches the England Amateurs played against Ireland and Wales' amateur selections.
Let's take a look at the 13 matches Woodward played in against  Ireland and Wales amateurs.

					VJW
15.12.06	Ireland	1	2	England	1
07.12.07	England	6	1	Ireland	1
22.02.08	England	1	0	Wales	1
21.11.08	Ireland	1	5	England
20.11.09	England	4	4	Ireland	1
19.02.10	England	6	0	Wales	1
18.02.11	Wales	1	5	England	2
18.11.11	England	2	0	Ireland	1
17.02.12	England	3	0	Wales
05.10.12	Ireland	3	2	England
08.02.13	Wales	1	3	England
08.11.13	Ireland	0	2	England
07.02.14	England	9	1	Wales	2

If we take these matches with England and Wales into account Woodward's totals stand at: matches 66 goals 83.

Ezelî Rekabet

Players of Galatasaray and  Fenerbahçe (in stripes) mingle in 1913. 
Unthinkable as it may seem now there were plans at the time to merge the 2 clubs . The new club was to be called Türkkulübü. The plans fizzled out during the Balkan Wars and the Transcontinental neighbours have now enjoyed their fierce rivalry for 107 years. 

Ángel Zárraga

During the 1920's the Mexican artist Ángel Zárraga produced a series of vibrant paintings of footballers.
More to follow...

Sectarianism in 19th century Edinburgh

  Edinburgh Evening News 07.09.80 

John Sweeney played in the first match between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian on Xmas Day 1875. He played for Hearts until 1881, making 53 appearances and scoring 10 goals. 

Ramón Unzaga

Ramón Unzaga, pioneer of the bicycle kick, was a versatile sportsman who excelled at sprinting, javelin, high jump, diving, and waterpolo as well as football.
He made 8 appearances for Chile, featuring at the 1916 and 1920 South American Championships.

Irish Association Football in Argentina

Lobos Athletic Club 1892

Here is a link to the article Irish Association Football in Argentina by Víctor Raffo. 
The influence of Irish settlers on the development of football in Argentina, particularly the Lobos Athletic and Club Atlético Porteño is examined. Lobos A.C were important in the development of Alumni A.C.
Lobos were also the first Argentine side to play abroad: In 1899 they traveled to Montevideo, beating  Albión (2-1) and Peñarol (2-0) before a revolution forced their departure aboard a battleship!

Petrograd

August 1914:  2 matches featuring Petrograd champions Kolomyagi. The first against  Moscow champions KFS, the second, as far as I can make out, against a team from Samara (KVOD).