Colo-Colo Tour, 1927

Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo only came into being in 1925 when David Arellano and others defected from the Magallanes club. In only their second year of existence Colo-Colo undertook a tour of Central America, Iberia and South America. 

The party, led by President of the Chilean Football Federation, Carlos Cariola and  Secretary Alberto Parodi, included the following players:

Manuel ‘Maestro’ Guerrero*	GK
Roberto Cortés*	GK
Ulises Poirier*	D
Ernesto Chaparro*	D
Jorge Linford*	D
José Rosetti*	D
Francisco ‘Mono’ Arellano*	D
Togo Bascuñán	D
Manuel Figueroa*	D
Víctor Morales*	HB
Waldo ‘El Indio’ Sanhueza	HB
Oscar ‘Colo-Colo’ González	HB
Guillermo Saavedra*	CH
Carlos Schneeberger*	F
Guillermo Subiabre*	F
Horacio Muñoz*	F
David Arellano*	F
José Miguel Olguín*	F
Humberto Moreno*	F

* denotes Chilean international.

 

	Ecuador
14.01.27	Norte América	0	7	Colo-Colo	Guayaquil
15.01.27	Córdova / Racing	0	7	Colo-Colo	Guayaquil
Cuba
28.01.27	Iberia - Juventud Asturiana	1	4	Colo-Colo	Havana
30.01.27	Sport Fortuna	3	2	Colo-Colo	Havana
Mexico
12.02.27	Necaxa	0	3	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
13.02.27	Real España	1	0	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
20.02.27	América	1	6	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
22.02.27	Club México	1	3	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
25.02.27	Atlante	0	4	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
27.02.27	Asturias	1	1	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
01.03.27	Selección de Guadalajara	1	4	Colo-Colo	Guadalajara
03.03.27	Selección de Guadalajara	0	4	Colo-Colo	Guadalajara
08.03.27	Club México - Necaxa	1	3	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
11.03.27	Ejército y Armada	2	3	Colo-Colo	Mexico City
12.03.27	Albinegros de Orizaba	0	5	Colo-Colo	Orizaba
13.03.27	Albinegros de Orizaba	0	8	Colo-Colo	Orizaba
Spain
03.04.27	Pontevedra	3	4	Colo-Colo	La Coruña
07.04.27	Deportivo de La Coruña	2	0	Colo-Colo	La Coruña
10.04.27	Deportivo de La Coruña	2	2	Colo-Colo	La Coruña
Portugal
13.04.27	Oporto /Salgueiros	2	1	Colo-Colo	Porto
15.04.27	Sporting /Benfica	2	4	Colo-Colo	Lisbon
17.04.27	Vitória Setúbal	2	1	Colo-Colo	Lisbon
Spain
24.04.27	Atlético	3	1	Colo-Colo	Madrid
01.05.27	Real Unión Deportiva	2	6	Colo-Colo	Valladolid
02.05.27	Real Unión Deportiva	3	3	Colo-Colo	Valladolid
08.05.27	Valencia C.F.	3	4	Colo-Colo	Valencia
09.05.27	Valencia C.F.	3	1	Colo-Colo	Valencia
13.05.27	Valencia Select	2	4	Colo-Colo	Valencia
15.05.27	Club Deportivo Castellón	2	1	Colo-Colo	Castellón
17.05.27	Puerto de Sagunto	0	1	Colo-Colo	Sagunto
22.05.27	Madrid Select	1	3	Colo-Colo	Madrid
27.05.27	Real Murcia	4	1	Colo-Colo	Murcia
29.05.27	Real Murcia	2	4	Colo-Colo	Murcia
31.05.27	Murcia Select	2	4	Colo-Colo	Murcia
05.06.27	Elche	2	2	Colo-Colo	Elche
09.06.27	Catalunya	4	5	Colo-Colo	Barcelona
12.06.27	Real Sociedad Alfonso XIII	2	5	Colo-Colo	Palma
14.06.27	Real Sociedad Alfonso XIII	2	3	Colo-Colo	Palma
Uruguay
04.07.27	Uruguay Select	5	1	Colo-Colo	Montevideo
07.07.27	Uruguay Select	4	0	Colo-Colo	Montevideo
10.07.27	Peñarol	6	1	Colo-Colo	Montevideo
Argentina
17.07.27	Boca Juniors	6	0	Colo-Colo	Buenos Aires
Chile
24.07.27	Unión Española /Audax Italiano	0	4	Colo-Colo	Santiago

P	W	D	L	F	A
43	26	4	13	130	83

Vs. Necaxa  

Front page news as Mexico's Real España beat the tourists 1-0.

Vs Catalunya at Les Corts

The tour was marred by a tragedy. In the match with Real Unión on May 2nd David Arellano was involved in an aerial collision with the Spanish centre half ,Hornia . As they landed Homia's knee hit Arellano in the stomach.  Arellano  was stretchered off and taken to hospital, where peritonitis was diagnosed. The condition was inoperable and David Arellano passed away the following day. He was 24 years old.  

The matches that shaped Association football- pre 1870

The earliest games in our list of influential matches predate the establishment of the Association.
Before 1863 there was no Association football, and throughout the 1860s the game was fluid in nature as experimental rules came and went, Spectators (and there were few) witnessed a change from an 'everyone behind the ball' game in which catches and handling played a significant role, as did touchdowns for a while, into something more akin to modern soccer, Having said that by 1870 Association football was still far from being the finished article. There were still no corner kicks or crossbars, ends were changed after every score, and the goalkeeper was not a recognised position

Football at Harrow - played with a pudding shaped ball...

Harrow- 1850s
The Football Association's  Laws of the Game were developed in order to unify existing codes that were in use in various schools and colleges. The Harrow rules were one such code. Given the later importance of Charles Alcock in the development and promotion of the Association game, we must acknowledge the importance of Alcock's earliest footballing experiences.  Alcock attended Harrow from 1855 to 1859 ; he was in Drury's House. The Houses played each other for the honour of being 'Cock House'. It was the format of these knockout competitions that inspired the FA Cup.
The press (in particular Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle) carried reports on football matches played at all the leading public schools. I have only been able to find one contemporary press report of Alcock playing football at Harrow- Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (12.12.58) has an account of a match between Rev. B.H Drury's and Rev. Dr. Vaughan's (the Houses took the names of the leading masters). Drury's won by 1 base to 0 (base was the Harrovian term for a goal)- the base was obtained by 'a capital kick by Mr Alcock'. The result confirmed Drury's as Cock House for the season.

Sheffield FC v 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot- 1858
It is impossible to overlook the importance of Sheffield's contribution to the development of the Association game. The Sheffield Rules predated the Football Association by 6 years, and were adopted by many clubs and associations in the midlands. Sheffield was a frequent source of inspiration as the Laws of the Game evolved during the 1860s and 70s. During the early years of its exsitence the Sheffield club played scratch matches between its members. 
Sheffiled versus Hallam in 1860 is often referred to as the earliest club football match, however, there are references to Sheffield FC playing a team from the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot in 1858. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any accounts of this match.

Barnes v Richmond 1863
The Presidents side v The Secretary's side, played at Battersea Park on 9th January 1864 was scheduled to be the first encounter under the newly drafted Football Association Laws of the Game.  However, EC Morley et al were keen to get on with it, and on December 19th 1863 the very first game of football played under Football Association rules took place at Limes Field, Mortlake, between Barnes FC and Richmond FC.
 The 15 a side game, ' distinguished by no disputes about the rules' , ended in a 0-0 draw.


The Association game continued to be played on an informal basis throughout the decade, mainly by clubs in the metropolitan area. Sheffield football also flourished, and both sets of rules underwent gradual changes and slowly a spectacle bearing a closer resemblance to modern football emerged, as handling, fair catches and touchdowns were eradicated. 


London v Sheffield 1866 
The first representative match under the auspices of the FA.  Sheffield FC had initially asked the FA for a match with one of the FA member clubs. The FA however selected a Football Association XI, drawn from 4 metropolitan clubs- Wanderers, Barnes, NN's and Civil Service. 

The Youdan Cup 1867
February 16th 1867 saw first round of the first ever knockout football tournament. It was played under Sheffield Rules during a period where the 4 yard goal and the rouge were in use (thus distancing it somewhat from modern soccer). The eventual winners, Hallam, defeated Heeley 2-0 (and 2 rouges to 1) in their first round match. 

Middlesex v Kent-1867
Another venture masterminded by CW Alcock to stimulate interest in the Association game was an attempt to introduce inter county matches.
The first of this sporadic series was due to take place on November 2nd at Beaufort House, but Lord Ranelagh, being in dispute with the Amatuer Athletic Club, in whose name the ground was leased, withdrew his permission for his land to be used, and the game was played 'in the wilds' of Battersea Park. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.
The ground was described as being 'in wretched order' but the match itself ('a most stubbornly contested game') was given a good write up.
In these days in which the FA were working hard to spread the appeal of the game it is worth remembering when reading enthusiastic and glowing reports of 0-0 draws played in unfavourable conditions that the author might well have been none other than C.W Alcock! 


Queen's Park v Thistle- 1868
I'm not going to turn these posts into a catalogue of the first games of all significant clubs, but i'll make an exception in the case of Queen's Park. Queen's Park assumed the status of an institution within the Scottish game in its earliest days, and fulfilled the functions of a national association. As with Sheffield (above) the earliest games were between scratch sides drawn from club members. 
On 1st August 1868 Queen's Park had their first fixture against outside opposition: Played at the Recreation Ground (South Side Park?) fellow Glaswegians,Thistle FC were beaten by  'two goals within an hour'.
Having kept a clean sheet in their debut match Queen's Park didn't concede a goal until March 1875 and their unbeaten run went on until 1876.

Wanderers v West Kent 1869
 In the 1860s London's football was played in public parks such as Clapham Common and Battersea Park. There were no enclosed football grounds. 
On Saturday October 9th 1869 The Wanderers v West Kent was played at the Kennington Oval, the home of Surrey Cricket Club. This arose from CW Alcock's involvement with Surrey Cricket Club.
As well as generating (negligible) income for the cricket club in the winter months, it meant that the Football Association now had access to a large enclosed venue capable of accommodating thousands of paying spectators. During the course of the following decade The Oval became a regular venue for club fixtures and hosted big events such as FA Cup Finals and semi finals, internationals, and The Varsity match.

St Luke's, Blakenhall

John Baynton and John Brodie were pupils of St Luke's school in Blakenhall when the headmaster, Harry Barcroft, presented the lads with a football. They were inspired to form a club.
 The proposed Goldthorn Football Club actually chose the name St Luke's. 
They played their first matches in 1877.
In 1879 St Luke's merged with football enthusiasts from a local cricket club, The Wanderers, and adopted the name Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

Sheffield FC and the Football Association, 1863

Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 05.12.63

The above is a letter from W. Chesterman, the Hon, Sec. of Sheffield Football Club which was read to the meeting of the Football Association held on December 1st 1863.  Mr Chesterman makes observations and suggestions. The Sheffield Rules had been in operation since 1857, and, as was to be the case with the Association Laws of the Game, were evolving on a year by year basis.
By 1877 the Sheffield and Association rules had converged completely.

Bert Freeman

Bertram Clewley Freeman played a total of 321 league games, scoring 198 goals. He won 5 England caps between 1909 and 1912, scoring 3 goals. He scored the only goal of the 1914 FA Cup Final when Burnley beat Liverpool.
He began his professional carer with Aston Villa, but transferred to Woolwich Arsenal without ever having made a first team appearance. 
In 1908 Freeman was released by Woolwich Arsenal and joined Everton. This proved to be a shrewd bit of business on Everton's part, as in the 1908-09 season Freeman became the League's top scorer, with 38 goals in 37 games.  
Freeman scored 61 goals in 86 games for Everton (including 6 hat tricks). 
In 1910 he moved to Burnley, and was the  top goalscorer in the Second Division in both 1911-12 (32 goals) and 1912-13 (31 goals).

Montevideo v Buenos Aires 1889

In football the  Rioplatense rivalry, whether in internationals between Argentina and Uruguay or in club fixtures, is one of the oldest and most intense. 
The first known meeting between Uruguayan and Argentinian footballers was actually contested by 22 Britons. 
English (and Scottish) influence in the game on both sides of the River Plate persisted well into the 20th century. In the 1880s football in both states was an almost exclusively British affair. The game in question was billed as Buenos Aires vs. Montevideo. It took place on August 15th 1889 at Montevideo's La Blanqueada.
The Uruguayan team was organized by the Montevideo Cricket Club, and consisted of members of that club along with players from Montevideo Rowing Club.  Buenos Aires' players came exclusively from Buenos Aires F.C. 

Montevideo XI		Buenos Aires XI
Donovan	G		Carmichael
H.C. Alexander	FB		Crowe
C. Jefferies	FB		Paton
R. Marshbank	HB		M. MacAdam
C.E. Jewell	HB		Moser
A. Davie	HB		Phillips
Scoones	F		Guy
F.B. Faran	F		Morgan
W. L Poole	F		Hughes
R. Harris	F		Alexander
R.Penfold	F		Tudor

Alexander and Guy put Buenos Aires 2-0 up by half time. Scoones pulled one back for Montevideo before Hughes completed the visitors' 3-1 win.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh occupies a significant place in the pre-history of football, The Foot-Ball Club being active from 1824-1841. In the Association era, however, it was the west of Scotland that set the pace- the oldest clubs being Queen's Park (1867) and Kilmarnock (1869). The 8 clubs who formed the Scottish Football Association and the further 8 who joined them in the inaugural Scottish Cup (1873–74) were all from the west.

In order to spread the popularity of the game The Scottish FA arranged an exhibition match at Edinburgh. The game was played at Edinburgh Royal High School FP football ground (a Rugby ground) on  December 27th 1873. 

Morning Post - 20.12.73

Among those who witnessed this exhibition, the first time Association (the Queen's Park variant) had been played in the capital, were members of the Heart of Midlothian club. Originally a dancing club, the members had been playing a form of football in 1873 but now decided to adopt the Association rules. In 1875 the club became members of the Scottish Football Association and were founder members of the Edinburgh Football Association.

Tom Purdie, founder member and first captain.