9th Far Eastern Games

The football tournament of the 9th Far Eastern Games was played in Tokyo in May 1930. 

 25.05.30  Japan 7-2 Philippines 
 27.05.30  China 5-0 Philippines 
 30.05.30  Japan 3-3 China 

 Japan conceded the final match rather than play extra time. China were therefore the champions.

Lhasa United

Unsurprisingly it was the British military that introduced football to Tibet.
The first matches were played in the 1910s, mainly featuring British and Indian soldiers.
The above picture was taken in 1936 and shows Lhasa United.

Burma

Siam

Up until 1939 Thailand was known as Siam.
The  Siam national football team played its first match on December 20th 1915. The opponents were a team of mixed European residents. Rather imaginatively this team was called  The Europeans. The match was held at Bangkok's Royal Sport Club. I do not know what the result was. 
On April 25, 1916, King Rama VI (Vajiravudh) established the Football Association of Siam and instituted The Yai Cup.  King Rama VI appears to have been an interested and active patron of the game. 
Siam joined FIFA in 1925, the first Asian country to do so.
The team played its first international match in 1930 against an Indochina team made up of Vietnamese and French players.

1915 : Siam team with the King

The  players who faced The Europeans in 1915

1916: Department of Performing Arts pictured with the Yai Cup (donated by The King).

 Yai Cup Winners 

1916	Department of Performing Arts
1917	Vajiravudh College
1918	Vajiravudh College
1919	Vajiravudh College
1920	Chulalongkorn University
1921	Royal Military Academy
1922	Royal Military Academy
1923	Royal Thai Naval Academy
1924	Royal Thai Naval Academy
1925	No competition
1926	Kong Dem Rot
1927	Kong Dem Rot
1928	Suankularb Wittayalai School
1929	Suankularb Wittayalai School
1930	Assumption Academy
1931	Thailand Post

Philippines

National Almanac and Guide of the Philippine Islands (1926) featured an article by Ignacio De Ycaza  on A history of soccer football in the Philippines.
In this timeline of football in the Philippines the italicized words are taken from Ignacio De Ycaza's text.


1890s

Soccer football was introduced in the Philippines by English sportsmen, members of the Manila Club, two or three years before Dewey fought the battle of Manila Bay (1898). This sport was at first looked upon with a great deal of suspicion by the Filipinos, who considered football as the gamboling of half-mad foreigners.

But a few members of the younger generation, being highly imitative by nature, very soon began to follow, as closely as possible, the principle or fundamental ideas of the game. …As there were not enough players in the entire city to form two regular teams, they were forced to practice by matching the fire forwards against five members of the defensive line of the same team.

Some boys that had been sent to college in Hong Kong, China, returned home and taught their friends a little bit about the fine game of soccer or association football. (Within) a year more there were two or three embryonic soccer teams in Manila...

(1898)...The Spanish-American War broke out, and those two or three little football teams were disbanded and scattered to the four points of the compass. The heads of the different families to which these boys belonged decided to abandon the city, either to save themselves and their families from the bombardment they expected at any moment, or to cast their lot with the Filipino troops outside the city limits.

1900s

When peace reigned again, and the Americans began to inculcate in the Filipinos their love for all athletic games and sports, these first football teams, whose members had by this time passed from childhood into adolescence, were reorganized and trained.

Five or six athletic clubs sprang up almost over night. Among them were the Manila Sporting Club, the Paris Club, and the Manila Jockey Club. These organizations specialized in soccer and actually came to play a very creditable game. (On of these was)…the Sandow football team (which) came into existence in 1906 with some promising new players …

The first official football match in the Philippines was held in Manila on the 15th of October, 1907, in celebration of the opening of the Philippine Assembly. The trophy for this contest, a beautiful silver cup donated by the Hon.William H. Taft (later President of the USA), then Governor-General of these islands, was won by the Sandow team; which developed into the Sandow Athletic Club in 1909, and branched out into further athletic activities.

1906 Manuel Amechazzura plays for Barcelona. He is believed to have been the club's first paid player.

1907 Philippine Football Federation (PFF): Founded, the first in Asia. 

1910s

In 1910 the Bohemian Sporting Club was organized and began to train football players with such ability that in a couple of years’ time it became one of the most formidable Filipino soccer teams in the islands, and the most dangerous rival of both the English team called the Nomads, and the Sandow Athletic Club.

1912 Philippines born Paulino Alcántara made his first appearance for Barcelona as a 15 year old .

1913 The Philippines hosted the Far eastern Games - there was a football tournament that was contested between Bohemians (Philippines) and South China A.A. (China) This is often lisred as an International, but Bohemians fielded many non- Filipino players (from Britain, Spain, USA).
More on the Phillipines in The Far Eastern Games here.

1913-18 Teus ( Eduardo Teus López-Navarro) from Manila, plays in goal for Real Madrid.

1915- Juan Garchitorena  joins Barcelona.


1920s

In 1920 the Circulo Social Deportivo was organized and produced a football team which rapidly graduated from the junior to the senior category. It kept persistently at the heels of the Bohemian Sporting Club and almost neck and neck with the Aurora Athletic Club in the race for the annual football championship of the Philippines…”

“To further propagate the love for this fine sport and to regulate the football championship contests, which take place every year among the various athletic clubs of Manila, all the football teams belonging to such clubs within the city limits banded themselves together and organized the Philippine Amateur Football Association. This Association held its first championship in 1921 under the auspices of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation.

“Casino Español showed interest in soccer football and several matches were played between teams of that organization, to select a team from amongst the members of the club . In 1922 the Casino team and made a very good showing although it could not wrest the championship from the Bohemian Club ...”

Far Eastern Games

Japan 1927

The Far Eastern Games were a multi sport event run under the supervision of the IOC. They were conducted between 1913 and 1934.  The ten football tournaments were dominated by China and also featured plenty of controversy.

China wins-9 runners up-1
Phillipines wins-1 runners up-6 third-2
Japan runners up-2 third-5
Dutch East Indies runners up-1 

The first Football competition, in 1913 (Manila), was contested by Philippines and China. The records are vague over what actually took place. The RSSSF lists two matches, (China 1-0, Philippines 2-1) whereas other sources list a single match and credit Philippines with either a 2-1 or 3-1 victory. China were represented by club side South China A.A., and Philippines by Bohemians. This was a source of controversy as the team consisted of British, Spanish and American players.

In 1915 (Shanghai) South China A.A. again represented China (having won a tournament for the right to do so). They drew 0-0 with Philippines in a game that saw both sides have a player dismissed and won the second game 1-0.

There was mayhem at the 1917 tournament (Tokyo). Japan (represented by  Tokyo Higher Normal School) lost their first game 15-2 to Philippines.  When in the next match China scored a penalty to take a 4-0 lead the Philippines goal keeper responded by punching the goal scorer. A brawl ensued and Philippines withdrew from the tournament.

Japan didn't enter the football tournament of 1919 (Manila)- China prevailed in a three game series against Philippines

1921 (Shanghai) Japan returned but South China A.A made it 4 wins a row.
1923 (Osaka) and 1925 (Manila) saw the Hong Kong based club extend their winning streak with little drama.

Controversy returned in 1927 (Shanghai). China beat Japan 5-1 in the opener and then Japan secured their first win, beating the Philippines 2-1. Then all hell broke loose in the final match of the round- robin. China were awarded an early penalty and the Philippines team walked off the pitch in protest. Persuaded to return after some ten minutes they then had a player dismissed. China's second goal led to fighting on the pitch. Philippines forfeited the match at half-time.

 1930- China

1930-Japan

 1930-Philippines

Philippines star was waning, and Japan benefited from both this and their own improvement.
1930 (Tokyo) Both Japan (7-2) and China (5-0) made light work of Philippines, but when the decisive match was tied at 3-3 Japan refused extra time, choosing instead to forfeit.

1934 (Manila)- the opening game , in which China beat the hosts 2-0, was a very spirited affair. China, apparently reduced to 7 men by injuries and the Philippines to 9 suggests it was a very physical encounter (one newspaper report described the pitch as a battlefield) and both Japan and the Dutch East Indies lodged complaints with the tournament organizers after watching this fixture. The following day Dutch East Indies made their international debut in style, beating Japan 7-1.
China were the eventual winners, undefeated in their 3 matches.

Mohammed Salim, Celtic 1936.

 Salim- barefoot in Celtic

In the 1930's Mohammedan Sporting enjoyed a good run of success in Indian domestic football. After the Calcutta League title win of 1936, winger Mohammed Salim was invited to play two friendlies against the Chinese Olympic side. His cousin  Hasheem, who lived in England, was visiting Calcutta and saw the first match.  Hasheem persuaded Salim to try his luck in Europe.
Playing barefooted, Salim had trials at Celtic, and played a couple of matches:

Indian Juggler - New Style

Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC's player from India, hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead last night. He balances the ball on his big toe, lets it run down the scale to his little toe, twirls it, hops on one foot around the defender.      Scottish Daily Express, 29.8.36.

Homesick, Salim rejected a professional contract with the club. Celtic tried to persuade him to stay by offering to organize a charity match in his honour, giving him five per cent of the gate receipts. Salim promised to donate his share to a group of  orphans who attended the match. The five per cent came to £1,800 (about £100,000 today) and Salim kept  his word.

4th Meiji Shrine Tournament 1927

During the 1920's The Emperor's Cup was incorporated in the Meiji Shrine Tournament.

India

It probably says something of the nature of imperialism that the countries of the British Empire have flourished in the sports of cricket and Rugby Union  rather than the Association game. 

India is not a nation that one readily associates with football. It is, however, the home of two of the oldest competitions in world football.

Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikary introduced the game to India in 1877, founding a club at Hare School in Calcutta (Kolkata).
In 1888 The Durand Cup was introduced- a tournament for British Army teams. The Royal Scots Fusiliers won the inaugural Durand cup  at Simla, beating  the Highland Light Infantry  2-1. The competition effectively  became the Indian domestic cup after World War 2. During the period we cover it was a very British affair.

The Indian Football Association was formed in 1893, and the first edition of the IFA Shield was played that year. 
Early Indian football was dominated by colonists, and the first IFA shield was won by The Royal Irish Rifles.

Barefoot- Mohun Bagan, 1911.

In the 1911 IFA Shield tournament final Mohun Bagan defeated the East Yorkshire Regiment. In front of a reputed 80000, Mohun Bagan  became the first Indian winners of the Shield, and probably the first Indian (or Asian) team to defeat European opponents.


Calcutta Football League, which kicked off in 1898, is the oldest league in Asia. The Gloucestershire regiment won the first title. Calcutta FC won in 1899 and in the seasons up to 1937 British military outfits won the league 29 times, punctuated by 8 Calcutta FC wins.  In 1934 Mohammedan Sporting Club began a 5 season sequence of wins. 

東京蹴球団

Tokyo Shukyu-dan (Tokyo Soccer Club), founded in 1917, was the first Japanese association football club.
The club has retained its amateur ideals, and plays in the fifth tier of the Japanese football pyramid.
It has the honour of being the first ever winner of Japan's domestic cup competition, The Emporer's Cup, in 1921.

The Emporer's Cup 1921.

First Round:

 Nagoya Shukyu-dan 0-4 Mikage Shukyu-dan (Kobe)

Yamaguchi High School (retired) - Tokyo Shukyu-dan

Final 

Mikage Shukyu-dan 0-1 Tokyo Shukyu-dan

Paulino Alcántara- El Rompe Redes

Football is all about goals, and how is this for a goal scoring record: appearances- 357, goals -369.
more than A goal a game over a 13 season playing career- not bad, particularly as the team in question is Barcelona.

Philippines born Paulino Alcántara  made his first appearance for Barcelona as a 15 year old in 1912 and scored a hat trick on debut, earning the nickname El Rompe Redes (the Net Breaker).
In 1916 Alcántara returned to The Philippines, spending two seasons with Bohemians FC. He represented his country at the Far Eastern Championship Games in Tokyo, helping them defeat Japan 15–2. The next game, against China, was abandoned due to fighting on the pitch with China 5-0 up.
On his return to Barcelona he was played as a defender, but this didn’t last long, club members succesfully pressed for his return to the forward line.
Having previously represented The Philippines and Catalonia, Alcántara made 5 appearances and scored 6 goals for Spain between 1921 and 1923. His international career was curtailed by his medical studies: for example, he declined the opportunity to play in the 1920 Olympics. In a match vs. France in 1922 Alcántara lived up to his nickname, literally shooting through the net.
Alcántara later coached the Spanish national team.

Thanks to J.F.K.