Nils Middelboe

Before joining Chelsea in 1913 Middleboe represented Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, Frederiksberg. He made 15 appearances for Denmark (7 goals), and played at 3 Olympic tournaments (winning 2 silver medals).

Click here to view a great selection of images of Danish football.

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.

De Voetballer

There was a time when the Olympic Games extended to non- athletic disciplines such as art, architecture and music.
In 1920 when his countrymen were victorious in the controversial Association football final, the Belgian artist Alfred Ost won the bronze medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games for his painting De Voetballer / Joueur De Football.

Czechoslovakia 1920

Czech international football had endured a 12 year hiatus following Bohemia's loss of international status in 1908.

The new Czechoslovakian team made their international bow at the 1920 Olympics, although the core of the squad had competed in the 1919 Inter Allied Games.
On 28th August 1920 Czechoslovakia made their international debut- beating Yugoslavia 7-0 ( scorers: Vanik (3), Janda (3) , Sedláček).
The following day Janda scored another hattrick as Norway were beaten 4-0.
In the semi final (31.08.20) France were beaten 4-1. On this occasion Otakar Škvajn  was the hattrick scorer.

The stage was set then, for Czechoslovakia to be effectively crowned World Champions in their 4th competitive international match.

Famously, of course, this was not to be the case.

The line up for the final was:

GK	Rudolf Klapka	Viktoria Žižkov
FB	Antonin Hojer	Sparta
FB	Karel Steiner	Viktoria Žižkov
HB	František Kolenatý	Sparta
HB	Karel Pešek (C)	Sparta
HB	Emil Seifert	Viktoria Žižkov
F	Josef Sedláček	Sparta
F	Antonín Janda	Sparta
F	Václav Pilát	Sparta
F	Jan Vaník	Slavia
F	Otakar Škvajn	Sparta

The 3 players who featured in the tournament but not in the final itself were : Miroslav Pospíšil, Antonín Perner (v Yugoslavia) & Jan Plaček (v France). They were all Sparta Prague players.

The Low Countries

Intrepid spectators at a Belgium v Netherlands match, Antwerp, 1913.

During our era (pre 1937) the neighbours from the Low Countries played each other 54 times. (Argentina and Uruguay had played each other an incredible 132 times during this period, Austria and Hungary 81 and the originators, England and Scotland  met 61 times). 
The first meeting was Belgium's 2nd international, first for the Netherlands. Both countries were founding members of FIFA.
In the very first meeting The Coupe van den Abeele was contested, having previously been played for by representative XIs of the 2 countries in matches that are nor recognized as full internationals. The 'cup tie' status of these matches explains why extra time was played on 3 occasions .  The Coupe van den Abeele was played for when the teams met in Belgium. When the Netherlands were hosts the Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad Beker was the prize. 
The high scoring first meeting  (Netherlands winning 4-1 in extra time) set the tone-  the first 54 fixtures produced an average 3.9 goals a game. 

	Wins	Goals
Belgium	16	89
Netherlands	28	122
Drawn	10

14.05.05- a newspaper illustration shows  Eric Thornton saving a shot.

Netherlands 1905- white shirts with a red white and blue sash motif.

14.05.05- Thornton in the Belgian goal- Netherlands attacking. 

Pre 1937 the 2 sides also met twice in Olympic Games matches. In 1920 at Antwerp Belgium, on their way to gold, beat Netherlands 3-0 in the semi final. In 1928 at Rotterdam in the consolation tournament  (recognized by FIFA but not by the IOC) Netherlands won 3-1.

Netherlands also came out on top of the World Cup qualifying match played in Antwerp in  1934, winning 4-2. Both teams qualified for the Finals out of a 3 team group.

Spain 1920

Spain's first international match was played at La Butte Brussels on August 28th 1920. It was the first round of the Olympic Football tournament. Spain beat Denmark 1-0.
Patricio scored the goal in the 54th minute. 

Patricio

Spain's line up was:

Ricardo Zamora  Barcelona
Luis Otero Real Vigo Sporting Club 
Mariano Arrate  Real Sociedad
José Samitier  Barcelona
Belauste (José María de Belausteguigoitia) Athletic Bilbao
Ramón Eguiazábal  Unión Club Irún
Pagaza (Francisco Pagazaurtundúa)  Racing de Santander
Félix Sesúmaga Barcelona
Patricio (Patricio Arabolaza) Unión Club Irún
Pichichi (Rafael Moreno)  Athletic Bilbao
Domingo Acedo Athletic Bilbao

Pagaza

Francisco Pagazaurtundua González-Murrieta, better known as Pagaza, studied in England and on his return to the Basque region he began his senior career with Arenas Club de Getxo- winning the Copa del Rey in 1919.
When his work took him to Santander he joined  Racing.
Pagaza played representative football with La Selección Norte and Cantabria . He was also a member of Spain's first international squad, playing at the the 1920 Olympics. He won a total of 7 caps.
Chocolates Bilbainos was, the card tells us, the chosen chocolate of footballers. 

The Inter-Allied Games

The Inter-Allied Games were held in Paris, June 22 to July 6, 1919, at the Pershing Stadium.
It was a multi-sport event modeled on the Olympic Games.
The football tournament featured 8 teams.

 Group A:

24.06.19	France	4	0	Romania
25.06.19	Italy	9	0	Greece
26.06.19	Italy	7	1	Romania
26.06.19	France	11	0	Greece
28.06.19	Greece	3	2	Romania
28.06.19	France	2	0	Italy

France	3	3	0	0	17	0	6
Italy	3	2	0	1	16	3	4
Greece	3	1	0	2	3	22	2
Romania	3	0	0	3	3	14	0

Group B:
  

24.06.19	Czechoslovakia	4	1	Belgium
25.06.19	USA	5	4	Canada
26.06.19	Czechoslovakia	8	2	USA
26.06.19	Belgium	5	2	Canada
28.06.19	Czechoslovakia	3	2	Canada
28.06.19	Belgium	7	0	USA

                           

             

Czechoslovakia	3	3	0	0	15	5	6
Belgium	3	2	0	1	13	6	4
USA	3	1	0	2	7	19	2
Canada	3	0	0	3	8	13	0

               

Final 29.06.19   Czechoslovakia 3-2 France

Czechoslovakia was a new state, having previously been a part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. In this tournament the Czech team was the former City of Prague Representative XI, coached by Slavia Prague's Jake Madden.

France were determined to win the championship in front of their own people and bolstered their team for the final- including internationals such as Pierre Chayrigues, Eugène Langenove, Émilien Devic, Maurice Gastiger and  Paul Deydier. At half time the Czechs reorganized their line up, Janda moving out of defence into his favoured inside forward position from where he orchestrsted a comeback. France were 2-1 up with just 5 minutes left. According to the Games Committee's report: Janda, by his aggressiveness and good sportsmanship, became one of the most popular players of the tournament.

Sparta Prague 1919- 
L-R: Jaroslav Červený, Karel Káďa, František Kolenatý, Antonín Hojer, Antonín Janda, František Peyr, Miroslav Pospíšil, Václav Pilát, Antonín Fivébr, Josef Sedláček, Jan Plaček

Greece were on the end of 2 fierce beatings in which they conceded 20 goals, but they managed a win over Romania.

Antonín Janda-Očko- inspired the Czech comeback in the final.

French goalkeeper Pierre Chayrigues fractured his shoulder and pelvis in the final and was out of the game for 2 years.

The Czechoslovakia  squad:

Peyr (Sparta) , Klapka (Viktoria Žižkov), Pospisil (Sparta), Hojer (Sparta), Cerveny (Sparta) , Pesek (Sparta),  Fivebr (Sparta), Loos (Slavia), Vlk (?), Prosek (?), Vanik (Slavia) , Pilat (Sparta), Janda (Sparta), Sedlacek (Sparta).

Players in bold type appeared in the 1920 Olympic squad.

Vanik  and  Sedlacek had previously represented Austria.

The full text of the Games Committee's report is here:  https://archive.org/details/cu31924014114353

Mr John Lewis

For myself, I would take no objection to hooting or groaning by the spectators at decisions with which they disagree. The referee should remember that football is a game that warms the blood of player and looker-on alike, and that unless they can give free vent to their delight or anger, as the case may be, the great crowds we now witness will dwindle rapidly away
John Lewis, The Much Abused Referee (1906)


John Lewis had a long and varied career in football, his 5 decades of devotion to the game seeing him feature as a player, a referee and an administrator. He held senior positions ( vice-president) of both the Football Association and the Football League.

Originally from Shropshire, Lewis moved to Lancashire at the age of 20, and played for Darwen, then the leading club in the north west. 

John Lewis  (back row centre) with Blackburn Rovers, 1875

The club with which Lewis is most closely associated though is Blackburn Rovers. 
On 5th November 1875, along with Old Salopian Arthur Constantine, Lewis organized a meeting at the St Leger Hotel in Blackburn at which  Blackburn Rovers Football Club was founded. Lewis was appointed as treasurer, and was in the XI when Rovers played their first game on 11th December 1875. 
During the early days of Blackburn Rovers Lewis still turned out for Darwen, although by the end of the 1870s the two clubs had become bitter rivals.
In 1878 Lewis was actively involved in the founding of the Lancashire FA. 
It was the next phase of Mr Lewis' career for which he is best known, and which provides the reader with the most entertaining and enlightening insights into football in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His playing days behind him,  Mr Lewis became  'Prince of Referees'.
He was a puritan who swept aside all who confronted him with boundless energy and unflinching honesty  (Inglis 1988). This of course, often brought his into conflict with spectators, clubs and players.  He abandoned matches in which players misbehaved, suspended matches at which crowds were disorderly, and thought nothing of leaving the field to confront spectators who pelted or abused him. 
 Mr Lewis, known as 'Honest John', devoted every penny of expenses paid to him as a referee to charity and was a fervent teetotaller.
He refereed the FA Cup Finals of 1895, 1897 and 1898. He frequently refereed on the continent and took charge of the 1908 Olympic Final.
Mr Lewis was widely recognized as the leading referee of his day, but unsurprisingly was acquainted with controversy.

His handling of  the 1898 FA Cup semi-final replay drew complaints from the losers, Southampton. Saints were leading Nottingham Forest with ten minutes left to play when Mr Lewis took the players off due to blizzard conditions. He then restarted the match despite the  weather worsening, Forest scoring twice in the last few minutes.  

Trouble ahead...Mr Lewis oversees the toss in the Olympic Final of 1920 with  Émile Hanse and Karel Pešek.

Mr Lewis had the misfortune to referee one of the most notorious matches in the history of international football. He was 72 at the time! Taking charge of the 1920 Olympic gold medal match between hosted Belgium and Czechoslovakia (assisted by 2 ex England internationals, A.E Knight and Charles Wreford-Brown), Mr Lewis awarded Belgium a penalty in the 6th minute, there was also some dispute over a second Belgium goal on the half hour. When Mr Lewis sent off Czech left back Steiner in the 39th minute the Czechs walked off and the match was abandoned. 

See:
League Football and the Men Who Made it by Simon Inglis

Underdogs: The Unlikely Story of Football's First FA Cup Heroes by Keith Dewhurst