Italy 1912

back (L-R):  Angelo Binaschi, Franco Bontadini, Felice Berardo, Giuseppe Milano, Pietro Leone, Renzo De Vecchi, Piero Campelli;
 front (L-R):. Carlo De Marchi, Enrico Sardi, Enea Zuffi, Edoardo Marian 

Vittorio Pozzo had 4 spells as the manger/coach of the Italian national team. His first period in charge lasted 5 days, being for the duration of Italy's involvement in the 1912 Olympic Games at Stockholm.
Here are the teams that Pozzo fielded in Italy's 3 games.

Campelli (Internazionale)	Campelli	Campelli
Binaschi (Pro Vercelli)	De Vecchi	De Vecchi
De Vecchi (Milan C&FC)	Valle (Pro Vercelli)	Valle
De Marchi  (Torino)  *	Binaschi	Binaschi
Milano (c) (Pro Vercelli)	Milano (c)	Milano (c)
Leone (Pro Vercelli)	Leone	Leone
Zuffi (Torino)	Bontadini	Zuffi
Bontadini (Internazionale)	Berardo	Bontadini
Berardo (Pro Vercelli)	Sardi	Berardo
Sardi (Andrea Doria)	Barbesino (Casale)	Barbesino
Mariani (Genoa C&FC)	Mariani	Mariani
di Popolo (Torino)*

*di Popolo replaced  De Marchi at half time.

In the opening game Italy lost 3-2 to Finland in extra time. Italy's goalscorers were Bontadini (1-1:10 min) and Sardi (1-2:25min).

Italy then beat Sweden 1-0 in the consolation tournament (Bontaini the scorer).

Pozzo in conference with William Garbutt (centre)

In the next match they met Jimmy Hogan's Austria and were beaten 5-1, Berardo Italy's scorer. 

Pozzo's next period as coach of the Azzuri began in the build up to the Paris Olympics 12 years later. 

Woolwich Arsenal 1900s

This poster appeared in The Boy's Own in 1910, along with the disclaiming caption that 'several of these men have now left the 'Arsenal''.
In fact by the 1910-11 season only 3 of the featured XI were still at the club.

Jimmy Ashcroft (Woolwich Arsenal:1900–08)
Ashcroft signed as a professional for the Gunners in June 1900. He played 303 first-class games in eight seasons for Arsenal. In 1901-02 he kept six clean sheets in a row and 20 clean sheets in 1903–04, club records that have not been bettered. Ashcroft won 3 caps for England in 1906, becoming Arsenal's first England international.

Archie Cross (1900-09)
Cross made 149 appearances for Arsenal before returning to Dartford. Initially a right back, in 1907 he switched to left back.

Jimmy Sharp (1905-08)
5 caps for Scotland and 116 games for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals. Moved to Glasgow Rangers for £400.

James Bigden (1904 -08)
Joined Arsenal from West Ham United in June 1904. He represented Woolwich Arsenal 87 times, scoring 1 goal.

Tommy Hynds (1907)
Scotsman Hynds was one of the Manchester City players implicated in an illegal payments scandal in 1904. Banned from football for four months and fined £75, he signed for Woolwich Arsenal while still under suspension. He made his Arsenal debut on 1 January 1907, and spent 5 months at the club.

Roddy McEachrane (1902-13)
A Scot who moved to Londonto work at Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited. He played for Thames Ironworks and became a professional footballer, also playing for
West Ham , the club that succeeded Ironworks. 

William Garbutt (1906-08)
The outside right later enjoyed a great career in management in Italy.

Tim Coleman(1902–08) 
Another peripatetic player who served 8 clubs in a 20 year career. In 196 games for Arsenal he scored 84 goals.Coleman gained 1 cap for England, against Ireland in 1907. He was sold to Everton for £700 in February 1908.

Peter Kyle (1906-08)
 23 goals in 60 appearances for Arsenal. The Scotsman started out with Clyde but after moving to Liverpool in 1899 he played for 9 different English clubs. Kyle joined Arsenal from Tottenham having been suspended for fighting with a teammate.

Charlie Satterthwaite (not Satherthwaite, as in the illustration: 1904–10)
Formely of Liverpool, but joined Arsenal from West Ham United and played 141 matches for Arsenal, scoring 48 goals. He retired from football in 1910.

David Neave (1904-05 & 1905-12)
Another Scot who joined Woolwich Arsenal from Arbroath. Neave was with Leyton briefly in 1905 but returned to Arsenal, for whom he played 168 matches, scoring 32 goals. 

Let's look at the performances of Woolwich Arsenal in the period 1900-13, when these players were at the club.

Season	Div.	Pos.	FA Cup
1900-01	2	7	R2
01-02	2	4	R1
02-03	2	3	R1
03-04	2	2 p	R2
04-05	1	10	R1
05-06	1	12	SF
06-07	1	7	SF
07-08	1	14	R1
08-09	1	6	R2
09-10	1	18	R2
10-11	1	10	R2
11-12	1	10	R1
12-13	1	20 R	R2

Having joined the Football League in 1893 Arsenal were the southernmost member club, their nearest neighbours being Small Heath (Birmingham). They were the only London club in the Football League until Chelsea and Clapton Orient joined in 1905.
There is a popular myth that Arsenal are the only club never to have been relegated out of the top flight of the Football League, as you can see, this is not the case, as they were relegated in 1913.

Il Mister-William Garbutt

William Garbutt

In Italian football parlance the manager is il mister- The Mister- even today the men in charge are referred to as il mister- an Italian version of the gaffer. This practice dates back to the prominent position held by an Englishman in the development of the role of the manager/coach/trainer in early 20th century calcio.

Garbutt and son, Italy.

Italian football was nominally amateur until 1926. However, players and coaches were financially well rewarded before that. One club who seem to have been particularly adept at circumventing the rules regarding professionalism were Genoa.

The appointment of William Garbutt as coach of Genoa in 1912 is shrouded in mystery. Why a 29 year old retired professional footballer from Stockport should relocate to northern Italy to work as a stevedore has never been clear, however, soon after he made this improbable move, Genoa appointed William Garbutt as their coach.

An outside right, William Garbutt played football for the Royal Artillery, On leaving the service in 1903 he joined Reading as a professional. In 1906 he moved to Woolwich Arsenal , for whom he played until 1908 (52 league appearances, 8 goals). Garbutt then joined Blackburn Rovers (82 games 10 goals).

The connection with Italy seems to have been established whilst Garbutt was at Blackburn. Vittorio Pozzo was in England at the time- an avid admirer of the English game, Pozzo later claimed to have been at the very game in which Garbutt sustained the injury that effectively ended his playing career. There is one theory that it was Pozzo who suggested Garbutt as a coach to Genoa.

Garbutt took charge in Genoa in the summer of 1912. English professionals were, at the time, exposed to cutting edge practices in terms of fitness and tactical training (they do not compare well to modern standards but were far in advance of any such methods on the continent). 

Garbutt introduced fitness training and tactical awareness to the Italian game. Genoa were also the first club in Italy to 'buy' players from other clubs.

Garbutt was in charge at Genoa until 1927. The club won the Italian championship 3 times under his leadership.

When, on the initiative of the Fascists, AS Roma were formed in 1927 Garbutt became their fist manager. He enjoyed 6 successful years with Napoli  before moving to Athletic Bilbao in 1935, winning La Liga. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1937 he returned to Italy ( a brief spell at AC Milan and then back to Genoa).

Mr Garbutt with Genoa's 1924 scudetto winning team.

Reading in Italy 1913, Attilio Fresia

Reading 1913-14

without doubt, Reading FC are the finest foreign team seen in Italy.

 Corriere della Sera

In the summer of 1913 Reading of the Southern League undertook a tour of Italy. It is likely that Willy Garbutt was involved in organizing this. Garbutt began his career with Reading (1903–1906) before moving on to Woolwich Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers. In 1912 his playing career at an end, he moved to Genoa and managed the team.
 After a transcontinental railway journey Reading played the following six fixtures in Italy.

11.05.13: Genoa FCB 2-4 Reading
Genoa fielded 5 British born players. Both of Genoa's goals were scored by Attilio Fresia, who had moved there from Andrea Doria that season for a fee equivalent to £400.

12.05.13: Milan FCB 0-5 Reading

14.05.13: Casale 2-1 Reading
Casale, who won the Italian National Championship in became the first Italian team to defeat English professional opposition. The local press had billed Reading as the Football League runners-up (they were 8th in the Southern League- the 1912–13 league runners up were Aston Villa ). Bizarrely Casale played on a very small pitch-probably about 50 yards (34 yards according to one report ) by 90 yards.

15.05.13: Pro Vercelli 0-6 Reading 
The best team in Italy. Reading won with ease in a controversial and fiery game. Reading's Morris retaliated to a kick from one of Pro Vercelli's players and the Pro Vercelli team and the home crowd 'turned ugly'. Reading were going to walk off the pitch, but Pro Vercelli's captain was able to restore order.

18.05.13: Italy 0-2 Reading
Italy's starting line up included 8 players from Pro Vercelli, 2 from Genoa and 1 from Milan.
Following this match Reading were invited to play against Germany  but their travelling arrangements (they left for England the following day) forced them to decline.

 Attilio Fresia 

Attilio Fresia 's performance for Genoa aroused Reading's interest. Fresia had made his international debut against Belgium ten days before reading's arrival. He brought a new dimension to ther Italian game with his high level of skill and astuteness.  Reading signed him for £17, but the transfer (being the first of it's kind) was delayed by bureaucracy and Fresia remained in Genoa , assisting Garbutt, until December 1913. Fresia became the first Italian to play football in England. He didn't make much of an impression (although media interest was high)- the press observed that he struggled  on heavy pitches. Fresia returned to Italy the following year. After the war he moved to Brazil in the hope of recovering his health (he had chronic respiratory problems) and worked with Palestra Italia. He returned to Italy once more in 1922, and died the following year aged 32.