Народная команда - The People's Team

Krasnaya Presnya 1924

Although the name Spartak was not adopted until 1935, Spartak Moscow can trace their history back to 1922.
The club came into being when the Communist Party committee in the Sokolniki region of Moscow brought about the merger of two multi-sport clubs, the RGO (Russkoe gimnastisticheskoe obshchestvo) and the OFV (Obshchestvo fizicheskogo vospitania). The club was initially named Moscow Sports Circle of Krasnopresenskoga Region (МКС)  but after one year became Krasnaya Presnya. 

Nikolai Pashintsev, president of the Party's Krasnopresenskii Region Executive Committee, was the team's chief patron, and the clubs 'branding' changes tended to reflect C. Pashintsev's involvement in various organizations.
Over the next 12 years the club was associated with a succession of different organizations- I hesitate to call them sponsors as the Soviet Union was a Socialist state. 


When the club were seeking a new name in 1935 Nikolai Starotsin was inspired by Raffaello Giovagnoli's novel Spartacus, and the qualities that this name evoked ( according to Starotsin 'courage, the will to fight, endurance and strength, loyalty to ideals').
Here is a timeline of the various guises the club took during the first 12 years of its existence. 

Year	Name	English	Origin / Patronange
1922	Московский кружок спорта Краснопресненского района (МКС)	Moscow Sports Circle of Krasnopresenskoga Region (MKS)	Krasnaya Presnya is a district in Moscow.  The Communist Party and Komsomol were influential in the development of the club and its facilities.
1923	Красная Пресня	Krasnaya Presnya
1926	Пищевики	Pishchevik	The union of workers employed in the food packaging industry.
1931	Промкооперация	Promkooperatisa	A collective retailing organization.
1932 – Дукат (Dukat) During 1932 a significant portion of Promkooperatisa’s squad moved to Dukat. Dukat was the trade name of a tobacco manufacturer- Comrade Pashintsev was involved in the company and his influence led to the players moving there. However, Dukat was actually a separate organization and Promkooperatisa continued to operate, and it is debatable whether Dukat should be seen as a part of the heritage of Spartak or as something of an aside.
1932	Промкооперация	Promkooperatisa
1935	Спартак (Москва)	Spartak Moscow

Summary of the club achievements 1922-1937:

		Spring	Autumn	Cups
1922	MKS	Moscow Championship 2nd Division – finished top of a 6 team league with a 100% record.	Moscow Championship 2nd Division- not completed.	Maytova Cup winners.	Red jerseys.
1923	Krasnaya Presnya	Moscow Championship- winners- won a play-off.	Moscow Championship- Finished last in a 4 team league.
1924		Moscow Championship- winners (6 teams).	Moscow Championship- 2nd (4 teams).	Won Tosmena Cup, beating Spartak Petrograd in the final.
1925		Moscow Championship- outcome is unknown.		Discovery Cup Winners.
1926	Pishchevik	MGSPS Championship- 2nd in a 14 team league.			Sky blue jerseys
1927		Moscow Championship- 3rd (6 teams).	Moscow Championship- winners (6 teams).		Red and white stripes.
1928		Moscow Championship- 3rd (6 teams)			White with a red horizontal band on the chest
1929		Moscow and Trades Unions Championship – winners. (knockout format).	MGSPS and MSFK Championship- 2nd (8 teams ).	Won Tosmena Cup beating Pishchevik Leningrad in the final.
1930		Moscow Championship winners (4 teams).	Moscow Championship 8th (8 teams).
1931	Promkooperatisa	Moscow Championship- 7th		Won a tournament contested by the physical culture co-operatives of Moscow, Leningrad and Kharkiv.
1932		Very little evidence remains from these  seasons due to a lack of press coverage of football.
1933
1934		Moscow Championship winners (8 teams).	Moscow Championship 4th (8 teams).	MGSFK tournament winners. All-Union co-operatives competition winners.	Red with a white band on the chest.
1935	Spartak	Moscow Championship-3rd (8 teams).	Spartak and Dinamo were excused from the Autumn competition in the interests of the national team.	Won a cup competition for various ‘Spartak’ clubs in the Soviet Union – 6 in all!
1936		Soviet Union Championship- 3rd (7 teams).	Soviet Union Championship- winners (8 teams).
1937		Soviet Union Championship- 2nd (9 teams).

Some landmarks in the growth of football in Africa

I am doing African football something of a disservice by condensing the development of the game across a huge and culturally diverse geographical area over a period of 60 years into one post. This is intended as just an overview. However, the history of African football is, generally speaking, rather recent, particularly in terms of international competition - only South Africa and Egypt had played international football during the pre 1937 era. 

The history of football in the region which later became South Africa is covered elsewhere. It is worthy to note, however, that football was played by Europeans in the ‘Cape’ district in the pre-association days, and that organised soccer was being played by both settlers and the indigenous population by 1880.
Football was introduced into Africa via the usual sources- firstly European military/ naval or commercial visitors and later colonial institutions and schools spread the game. The  major colonising powers were  France, Belgium and Great Britain. 
The list below is not exhaustive- I have looked at various sources and identified key dates in the development of the game in across Africa. 

1870s – Zanzibar 
European employees of The Eastern Telegraph Company were playing informal football matches in Zanzibar in the 1870s. The game was adopted by the locals, who began organizing their own teams. 

1897- Oran (Algeria) 
French colonists were responsible for founding  Club des Joyeusetés d'Oran in 1894, and a football section was established in 1897.  

1890s –Cape Coast (Gold Coast / Ghana) 
 British sailors played the first football in what is now known as Ghana.

1902- Calabar (Nigeria)

Rev. James Luke, a Scotsman, introduced football at Hope Waddell Training Institution in the tradition of  muscular Christianity.

Excelsior

1903 - Cape Coast (Gold Coast / Ghana)
Ghana's first club,  Excelsior was founded by Mr. Briton, the Head Teacher of Philip Quaicoe Government Boys School in Cape Coast.

1904- Tunisia

French colonists founded Football Club de Tunis , later  changing its name to Racing Club.

1904 - Calabar (Nigeria)
 In June 1904 the first competitive football match in Nigeria was played between Hope Waddell Training Institution and the crew of the British gunboat HMS Thistle. The match was won by the Nigerians, 3-2. 

1904-Algeria
National championships first contested between Sporting Club Oranais (Oran) and FC de Bône (Algiers).

1905- Conakry (Guinea)
The French founded Union Sportive,  Artistique et de Tir, which included a football section.

1906 - Calabar (Nigeria)
What seems to be the first tournament held outside the Southern Cape region  was played in Calabar. The competition was called The Beverley Cup (the cup was donated by Captain Beverly, an officer of the Colonial Government). The first edition was won by the Southern Nigeria Regiment (which was, incidentally, the regiment to which Captain Beverly was attached).

1907- Tunisia

The first league in Tunisia was inaugurated .

1910s-Lagos (Nigeria)
 Frederick Mulford, affectionately known as  Baba Eko (our father)- a British Commercial Agent, organised matches at Lagos racecourse, initially for Europeans but later extended invitations to Nigerian teams. Mulford also coached local schoolboys at  at CMS Grammar School (Nigeria’s premier high school).

1907- Cairo (Egypt) 
The club Al Ahly (National Club) was formed. The first chairman was an Englishman, Mitchell Ince, but in 1910 the club limited their membership  exclusively to Egyptians and becme a focus for nationalists.

1911-  Belgian Congo (DRC)

Ligue de Football du Katanga was founded, but was open only to teams of Europeans.


1911-12 North Africa
FC Blidéen (of Blida in Algeria) won a tournament for teams from French colonies in North Africa.

1911- Cairo (Egypt) 
 Belgian lawyer George Marzbach formed Qasr El-Neel Club , which became the present day Zamalek Sports Club.

1912- Leopoldville (Belgian Congo/DRC)

Football played by Europeans .

1913- Brazzaville (French Equatorial Africa/ Congo)

Football played by Europeans .

1913- Morrocco

Union Sportive Marocaine is founded, but locals are not included in the membership. 

1913-Dakar (French West Africa/ Senegal)
French colonists were playing regular matches in Dakar by 1913, and the organization Union Sportive et Artistique de Dakar was founded. 

1914- Brazzaville 
A match was played between white teams representing French Equatorial Africa and  Belgian Congo.

1917- Cairo
Sultan Hussein Cup - the 1st 4 editions of this 'Egyptian' tournament were won by British military teams.

1917- Leopoldville (Belgian Congo/DRC)
 Father Raphael de la Kethulle arrived in Leopoldville. Tata Raphael, as he was known to the locals,  actively promoted Congolese football, forming clubs and associations  for Africans . He was also responsible for establishing a decent pitch on what had been swampland near a church.  In 1919 he founded the Association Royale Sportive Congolaise.
Fr, Raphael's influence on Congo football extended into the 1930s, and he was  responsible for developing  Stade Reine Astrid, completed in 1937.

1918-Leopoldville

First championship won by FC Castermans.

1919-Leopoldville 

A formal association (later known as Federation de Football Association du Pool) was formed. Football in both Belgian Congo and French Equatorial Africa remained strictly racially segregated, and organized football remained the preserve of Europeans.

1920-Antwerp
 Egypt play in the Antwerp Olympics. They beat Belgium 4-2 in a friendly before the Olympics. In the tournament  itself they lost 2-1 to Italy and beat Yugoslavia 4-2.

1920- Accra (Gold Coast / Ghana)

League football introduced. 

1920- North Africa
The first Championnat d'Association de Football Nord-Africain is held, featuring teams from the french colonies of Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Tunis and Morrocco.

1923-Leopoldville /Brazzaville 
Stanley Pool Championship introduced . The competition was exclusively for Europeans.

1920s –Sudan

At Atbara employees of the Sudan Railways co, introduce the game to the area.

1921-22 - Cairo
Zamalek won Prince Farouk's Cup, the 1st Egyptians only edition of the national cup competition.

1922- 23- Cairo
Zamalek (Mokhtalat) won the first Cairo league competition.

1923- French West Africa 
In what are now the nations of Mauritania, Senegal, Mali,Guinea,Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger, the French Colonial Authorities introduced compulsory physical education in schools, introducing more African boys to football.

1923- Egypt joins FIFA

1924- Paris
A second Olympic outing for Egypt. They beat Hungary 3-0 and were then eliminated in a 5-0 defeat to Sweden.

1926 - Brazzaville 

Étoile du Congo founded as Club Scolaire Brazzavillois.

1926 - Zanzibar 
Zanzibar Football Association founded and the  Zanzibari Cup first contested. 

1927- Yaounde (Cameroon) 
Celebrations to mark the completion of the Douala to Yaounde railway connection included 2 racially segregated football matches played at Yaounde. Yaounde Africans defeated Douala Africans and their European counterparts shared a draw.

1927-Leopoldville 

Federation de Football Association du Pool affiliates with the Belgian FA.

1928- Leopoldville /Brazzaville
First edition of  the Stanley Pool Cup

1928-Amsterdam
Egypt reach the Olympic semi finals but are thrashed 11-3 by Italy in the bronze medal match.

1929- Brazzaville
The Native Sports Federation founded. 2 years later the Federation came under the control of the colonial authorities. These authorities insisted that African players should play without boots, even though some of the more established teams had been playing in boots for a number of years. 

1930- Brazzaville
16 years after white teams from Brazzaville and Leopoldville had first met, black players repeated the feat as L' Etoile played Leopoldville's Mutuelle.

1931-Brazzaville
Etoile de Poto-Poto won a league competition for African teams.

1930-31- North Africa

First edition of the Coupe d'Afrique du Nord  won by Club des Joyeusetés (Oran- Algeria).

1933-Brazzaville
Federation Athletique Congolaise, organized by the Catholic church, broadens the opportunities for African players to participate in organized football.

1934- Naples
Africa's first World Cup participation- Egypt are beaten 4-2 by Hungary.

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.

Queen's Park v Druids, 1877

On October 6th 1877 Queen's Park entertained a visiting side from Wales. Although contemporary reports and Queen's Park histories suggest that this was a representative side of the best of Welsh football, it was in fact the Druids club of Ruabon (giants of early Welsh football), with a trio of guests, including Sheffield Heeley half back Jack Hunter, who would go on to represent  England 7 times. There were also 6 players in the Druids line up who would experience international football with Wales, including the captain and Welsh FA founder Llewelyn Kenrick .
Scottish internationals, of course, featured prominently for Queen's Park.

The attendance at Hampden was 6,000 and the home side won by 3-0, the goals coming from Weir, MacKinnon and Highet. 

Queen’s Park		Druids
A.R Anderson	G		C Quilter
C Campbell*	B		L Kenrick*
R.W Neill*	B		J Powell*
D Davidson*	HB		E Morris
J Phillips*	HB		J Hunter (Sheffield)*
J.B Weir*	F		W Williams*
J.T Richmond*	F		G.F Thompson*
W MacKinnon*	F		J Hughes *(Cambridge University)
F Tod	F		D Quilter
H McNeil*	F		W.H Davies *(Oswestry)
C. T Highet*	F		G.B  Ramsay

*Internationals 

Sandy Tait

Sandy Tait began his football career in his home village, with Glenbuck Athletic. Having played in the Scottish League for Glasgow Rangers and Motherwell, full-back Tait joined Preston North End in 1894. Tait played 76 first team games for Preston in 5 seasons.
 He then moved to Tottenham Hotspur. In 8 seasons at Spurs Tait played a total of 322 first team games (207 in the Southern League, 79 in the Western League and 36 in the FA Cup).
In 1899-1900 Tottenham won the Southern League and in 1901 the FA Cup.
Tait's robust tackling earned him the nickname Terrible Tait, but he was fair- never being cautioned or dismissed in his career.