Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics
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At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, an official football tournament between national representative selections was contested for the first time; football had been played between club teams at the Games of 1900 and 1904.[1][2]
The "Challenge Cup", awarded to the winning team | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Great Britain |
| City | London |
| Dates | 19–24 October 1908 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Venue | White City Stadium |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Great Britain (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Denmark |
| Third place |  Netherlands |
| Fourth place |  Sweden |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 48 (8 per match) |
| Top scorer | Sophus Nielsen (11 goals) |
1912 → | |
Like the hockey tournament, the rules allowed countries to enter up to four separate teams. Unlike hockey, Scotland, Wales and Ireland did not enter teams. There were eight entries, including two from France (the main team and a B team).[3] Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew after the draw and appointment of referees, leaving six teams to contest the tournament.
Great Britain won the gold medal representing the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland), although all the players were from England.
Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen of Denmark set a record by scoring 10 goals in a 17–1 win over France A. The famous mathematician Harald Bohr, brother of the even more famous Niels Bohr, also played for Denmark, who won the silver medal.
Competition schedule
The match schedule of the tournament.[4]
| R1 | First round | SF | Semi-finals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
| 19 Mon | 20 Tue | 21 Wed | 22 Thu | 23 Fri | 24 Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R1 | SF | B | F |
Venue
Squads
Bracket
| First round | Semi-finals | Gold medal match | ||||||||
| 19 October 1908 | ||||||||||
| Denmark | 9 | |||||||||
| 22 October 1908 | ||||||||||
 France B | 0 | |||||||||
| Denmark | 17 | |||||||||
 France | 1 | |||||||||
| France (w/o) | 2 | |||||||||
| 24 October 1908 | ||||||||||
 Bohemia | 0 | |||||||||
| Denmark | 0 | |||||||||
| 20 October 1908 | ||||||||||
| Great Britain | 2 | |||||||||
| Great Britain | 12 | |||||||||
| 22 October 1908 | ||||||||||
| Sweden | 1 | |||||||||
| Great Britain | 4 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 0 | Bronze medal match | ||||||||
| Netherlands (w/o) | 2 | |||||||||
| 23 October 1908 | ||||||||||
 Hungary | 0 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 2 | |||||||||
| Sweden | 0 | |||||||||
Tournament
With eight entries, the tournament draw had a full quarterfinal round of four matches.
However, after the draw and appointment of referees, 
Hungary (on 12 October) and Bohemia (on 14 October) were both forced to withdraw due to financial reasons: their opponents, the Netherlands and France respectively, were awarded a 2–0 victory.
First round
| Netherlands | 2–0 Awarded |  Hungary |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 9–0 | France B |
|---|---|---|
N. Middelboe  10', 49'Wolfhagen 15', 17', 67', 72'Bohr 25', 47'S. Nielsen 78' |
Report |
Semi-finals
| Great Britain | 4–0 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Stapley 37', 60', 64', 75' |
Report |
| Denmark | 17–1 | France |
|---|---|---|
| S. Nielsen 3', 4', 6', 39', 46', 48', 52', 64', 66', 76' Lindgren 18', 37'Wolfhagen 60', 72', 82', 89'N. Middelboe 68' |
Report | Sartorius 16' |
Bronze medal match
Originally, all six teams eliminated before the final were to participate in a consolation tournament for the bronze medal, with two first-round matches to be played on 21 October between the four quarter-final losers.
After Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew, the first round was scratched on 15 October, with France B and Sweden qualifying for the semi-finals of the consolation tournament.
France B, Sweden, and the two semi-final losers, France and the Netherlands, were scheduled to play the semi-finals on 23 October: the French teams were drawn against each other, and the Netherlands were drawn against Sweden, with the winners playing off in the bronze medal match prior to the gold medal match on 24 October.
However, both French teams had returned home immediately after their crushing defeats to Denmark on 19 October and 22 October: therefore, their semi-final and the 24 October bronze medal match were both scratched, with the Netherlands v Sweden semi-final becoming the bronze medal match.[7]
| Netherlands | 2–0 | Sweden |
|---|---|---|
| Reeman 6' Snethlage 58' |
Report |
Gold medal match
| Great Britain | 2–0 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Chapman 20' Woodward 46' |
Report |
| Team details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal summary
Medal table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain (H) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | +17 | 6 | Champions |
| 2 | Denmark |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 3 | +23 | 4 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Netherlands |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 2 | Third place |
| 4 | Sweden |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 0 | Fourth place |
| 5 | France |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | −16 | 0 | Eliminated in semi-finals |
| 6 | France B |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | Eliminated in first round |
Medalists
Complete list of medal winners:[9]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's tournament |  Great BritainHorace Bailey Arthur Berry Frederick Chapman Walter Corbett Harold Hardman Robert Hawkes Kenneth Hunt Herbert Smith Harold Stapley Clyde Purnell Vivian Woodward George Barlow[10] Albert Bell Ronald Brebner W. Crabtree Walter Daffern Thomas Porter Albert Scothern |
 Denmark[11]Peter Marius Andersen Harald Bohr Charles Buchwald Ludvig Drescher Johannes Gandil Harald Hansen August Lindgren Kristian Middelboe Nils Middelboe Sophus Nielsen Oskar Nørland Bjørn Rasmussen Vilhelm Wolfhagen Magnus Beck [10] Ødbert E. Bjarnholt Knud Hansen Einar Middelboe |
Netherlands Reinier Beeuwkes Frans de Bruyn Kops Karel Heijting Jan Kok Bok de Korver Emil Mundt Louis Otten Jops Reeman Edu Snethlage Ed Sol Jan Thomée Caius Welcker Jan van den Berg[10] Lo la Chapelle Vic Gonsalves John Heijting Tonie van Renterghem |
Statistics
Goalscorers
- 11 goals
- 8 goals
- 6 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Goalkeeping
| Place | Name | Team | Goals allowed | Games | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horace Bailey | Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 0.33 |
| 2 | Ludvig Drescher | Denmark | 3 | 3 | 1.00 |
| 3 | Reinier Beeuwkes | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 2.00 |
| 4 | Oskar Bengtsson | Sweden | 14 | 2 | 7.00 |
| 5 | Fernand Desrousseaux | France B | 9 | 1 | 9.00 |
| 6 | Maurice Tillette | France | 17 | 1 | 17.00 |
Bibliography
- Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
