Imports

Hiden

In 1930 Herbert Chapman was very keen on signing Rudolf Hiden for Arsenal. 

We have seen how Glasgow Rangers had imported Karl Pekarna (sadly the Scottish public did not witness the full extent of his undoubted talents) and Tottenham Hotspur had flirted with the recruitment of the French goalkeeper Pierre Chayriguès from Red Star in 1913.
Hiden was probably the best goalkeeper in the World. In May 1930 the 21 year old had impressed in a 0-0 draw with England in Vienna.  Chapman, ever the progressive, had strong connections with Hugo Meisl and the sophisticated world of Danubian coffee house football culture. 
The transfer of Hiden to Arsenal from Wiener Athletiksportclub was opposed by both the players' union and the Football League. They lobbied the Ministry of Labour to prevent the deal, based on the argument that for Arsenal to employ Hiden would be a simple case of taking a job from an Englishman and giving it to a foreigner. 
The combined forces of the Football Association, The Football League, the player's union and the Ministry of Labour ensured that the Hiden transfer was never completed. Hiden moved to Racing (Paris) in 1933. His first name became Rodolphe and he earned 1 cap for France in 1940.
On 1 June 1931 the  FA Council approved the following:
A professional player who is not a British-born subject is not eligible to take part in any competition under the jurisdiction of this Association unless he possesses a two-year residential qualification within the jurisdiction of the Association.
This move reflected the attutude expressed by senior FA councillor and Football League Management Committee member  Charles Sutcliffe in August 1930 ; The idea of bringing foreigners to play in league football is repulsive to the clubs, offensive to British players and a terrible confession of weakness in the management of a club. It will be a bad day for club managers when they have to cultivate team spirit in a team of players where some would not understand a word said to them.

In the 1930-31 season Arsenal did feature a foreign goalkeeper-Gerrit Keizer of the Netherlands. 
Keizer had joined Ajax as a 16 year old. He moved to England to study the language in 1930, playing as an amateur for Margate Town (he was registered with Milwall but never turned out  for the Lions). Keizer's status as an amateur seems to have diffused any protests regarding his playing in England.  Chapman signed Keizer for Arsenal, but the extent of his first team career was 12 matches from August to October 1930. The following season he appeared 17 times for Charlton Athletic in Division 2 . Before moving back to Ajax (he was first choice goalkeeper for 15 years, making over 300 appearances) he was briefly on the books at Queen's Park Rangers. 

Keizer

Karl Pekarna

In the summer of 1904 the Austro- Hungarian Empire received a healthy dose of Scottish Football. Celtic and Rangers had finished  4th and 3rd  respectively in the league, and Celtic had beaten Rangers 3-2 in the Scottish Cup Final.
In May of that year both Glasgow sides traveled to Vienna and Prague on tour. Wiener AC had invited Celtic, whereas Rangers had been invited by the Austrian Football association to mark the 10th anniversary of First Vienna.The forward thinking Hugo Meisl was instrumental in arranging contact with British clubs as a means of developing the game in Austria.
Boldklubben af 1893 (Copenhagen) were also invited to participate in First Vienna's celebrations.

22.05.04	First Vienna	2	7	Glasgow Rangers	Vienna
23.05.04	Boldklub 1893	0	9	Glasgow Rangers
26.05.04	Boldklub 1893	3	5	Glasgow Rangers
29.05.04	Wiener AC	0	8	Glasgow Rangers
03.06.04	Prague XI	1	6	Glasgow Rangers	Prague
05.06.04	Slavia Prague	0	5	Glasgow Rangers

As you can see, Rangers' trip was pretty much par for the course for Edwardian continental tours- undefeated and averaging 7 goals a game. A by-product of the journey (other than tales of postcards written by the Rangers goalie during the Wiener AC match whilst his teammates kept the ball for over 5 minutes with an exhibition of passing) was the signing of an Austrian goalkeeper.
Karl Pekarna, a postman, began his career with a Vienna club confusingly called FC Sevilla. He joined First Vienna as an 18 year old and developed a good reputation- he was an exponent of what was known in Austria as the Robinsonade - the diving save, and showed good acrobatic and handling skills. The first game between Rangers and Boldklub 1893 was affected by torrential rain, and as the matches were intended to be exhibitions, the Danes suggested that they should replay in more favourable conditions.
Rangers borrowed Pekarna for the rematch, and he impressed to the extent that they offered him a contract. John Watson's position as Ranger's keeper was not assured, although he received positive reviews in the press following the Cup Final, he would play only 25 games for the club, and Rangers had signed Allan from Falkirk at the beginning of May.
In October 1904 Pekarna played for Vienna v Budapest in a city select match that was later granted the status of a full international. He would  represent Austria on one  more occasion, in 1908.
Later that year Pekarna moved to Glasgow, thus becoming Rangers' first overseas signing and Austria's first professional.

 

 Pekarna featured regularly for the reserves, but played only one first team game,a friendly against Queen's Park at Hampden (08.05.05). He was offered an extension of his £3 10s a week contract, but opted to return to Vienna.

 

Pekarna (Bayern) beaten by Fuchs (Karlsruher FV)

One problem that Pekarna had on his return to Vienna was the fact that he had been a professional in Scotland. Austrian football was still amateur. First Vienna re signed him, but were threatened with expulsion by the city's Association. The matter was resolved in the September of 1905.
Pekarna joined FC Wacker München in 1908, but again his status as a former professional caused uncertainty. Eventually he joined FC Bayern in 1910.
 He returned to Vienna after the war, playing for Slovan.