John Langenus

Langenus in typical playing clothes

John "Jean" Langenus (born December 8, 1891 in Antwerp , † October 1, 1952 ) was a Belgian football referee . In 1930 he led the final of the first soccer world championship.

life and career

Langenus began his career as an active football player at AS Antwerp , but soon changed to the role of referee after an injury and in 1912 directed his first game in the Belgian top division.

Langenus was a full-time official in the Antwerp provincial administration and spoke several languages, which soon earned him international assignments. With his height of 1.90 meters, he was an impressive figure on the pitch, which was reinforced by the fact that he always competed with a tie and knickerbockers .

After he directed in 1920 his first international game between the soldiers teams of France and England, he became 1924 FIFA umpire and came in September this year for his first senior international when he encounters in Stockholm Sweden against Norway whistled.

After leading several games in the first European Cup for national teams , he took part in his first major tournament in 1928, namely the Olympic Games in Amsterdam . There he was entrusted with the game for third place in addition to the round of 16 of the eventual tournament winner Uruguay . He was also used as a line judge in the first final between Uruguay and Argentina. The high point of his career was the first soccer World Cup , which took place in Uruguay in 1930. In addition to two group matches and a semi-final, Langenus also directed the final between Uruguay and Argentina . Before the start of the final between the rival neighboring countries, Langenus insisted that the 60,000 spectators be examined for weapons. As a result, a total of 1,600 pistols were confiscated.

In December 1932 he was the game director of the match between England and the Austrian wonder team in London, which the British won 4: 3 and about which Langenus would later say: “I experienced the best fight of my career at Stamford Bridge. I still have many situations in front of my eyes today, as if the game had just rolled off yesterday. ” He remained connected with the Austrians, because he whistled the 2-2 win against Scotland in Glasgow in 1932 as the first team from the continent in one International game on the island remained unbeaten, as well as the 1936 2-1 home win against the English.

Although Langenus was one of the most recognized referees in Europe, he was only allowed to lead one round of 16 at the 1934 World Cup . In view of the performance of some of his fellow referees in the further course of this tournament, it seems at least noticeable that the Belgian was renounced. Langenus later described the tournament as "the greatest sports fiasco of all time." His last appearance at a major tournament was on the occasion of the 1938 World Cup , when he was on the pitch in the 1-1 draw between Switzerland and Germany and in the game for third place was standing.

He whistled his last international encounter in June 1939, a total of 64 internationals. In the Belgian league he was active until 1944. He was also active as a journalist (sometimes even for kicker as a reporter for games he directed himself) and book author.

Remarks

1. ↑ Olympic champion takes world championship title from February 21, 2006 on focus.de
2. ↑ FIFA.com: Uruguay v Argentina gold medal match ( Memento of August 27, 2012 on the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ ^{a b} Spiegel Online: World Cup anecdotes: 1600 revolvers for the final June 19, 2010
4. ↑ quoted from KH Schwind, Stories from a Football Century, p. 85f