International football match Germany - England 1908

The international soccer match between Germany and England in 1908 took place on April 20th between the national teams of both countries in the Viktoria-Platz stadium in Berlin . It was the second international match of the German national team . The opponent from England was an English amateur selection.

For the first time the German team had a home game. The game ended in a 5-1 defeat. It was also the first game between a German team and an English team.

The game

The game was played in the stadium of BFC Viktoria 1889 in Berlin-Mariendorf in front of about 6000 spectators .

In the 5th minute of the game, the English took the lead thanks to a goal from Stapley. In the 20th minute, referee Neumann decided on a penalty for the German team. The Karlsruhe sponsor converted the penalty to 1: 1. Five minutes later, the English took the lead again with a goal from Woodward. Two minutes before half-time, Purnell increased to 1: 3. After the break, the English controlled the game. Stapley increased to 1: 4 in the 70th minute and Woodward to 1: 5 in the final minute.

pairing	Germany - England
Result	1: 5
date	April 20, 1908
Stadion	Viktoria-Platz, Berlin 6,000 spectators
referee	Paul Neumann
Gates	0: 1 Harold Stapley (5th) 1: 1 Fritz Förderer (20th, penalty) 1: 2 Vivian Woodward (25th) 1: 3 Claude Purnell (43rd) 1: 4 Harold Stapley (70th) 1: 5 Vivian Woodward (90th)
Germany	Paul Eichelmann Otto Hantschik Paul Fischer Walter Poppe Arthur Hiller Hans Weymar Adolf Gehrts Paul Matthes Arno Neumann Fritz Sponsor Willy Baumgärtner
England	Ernest Proud Frederick Chapman Herbert Smith Walter Corbett Robert Hawkes Claude Purnell Evelyn Lintott Arthur Berry Harold Hardman Vivian Woodward Harold Stapley

Special

With Arthur Hiller , Hans Weymar , Fritz Förderer and Willy Baumgärtner , there were four players on the field who had also played in the first official international match against Switzerland 15 days earlier .

Goalkeeper Paul Eichelmann was the only player from the original international matches who was also used as an official national player. On November 23, 1899 Eichelmann had already faced England once. In this game, the German team lost 2:13.

The game was the first of four games by a German national team in which the opponent England was represented by an amateur selection . While the DFB evaluates the game as an official international match, neither the English FA nor FIFA count the game as an international match. The first official international match between an English and a German team recognized by FA and FIFA is the match on May 10, 1930 in Berlin, which ended 3: 3. This was the first time that an English senior team competed.