1912 Summer Olympics / Football

Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics
information
venue	Stockholm , Solna
Competition venue	Olympic Stadium , Tranebergs IP , Råsunda IP
Teams	11
Nations	11
Athletes	163 (163 )
date	June 29 to July 5, 1908
decisions	1
← London 1908 Antwerp 1920 →

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The Olympic football tournament in 1912 was the second official football tournament of this kind after 1908. The competition was held from June 29 to July 4, 1912 as part of the Olympic Games in Stockholm . Although the number of participants more than doubled compared to the first tournament, in the end the same three teams were in the same order as four years earlier in the medal ranks. The team of Great Britain became Olympic champion with a 4: 2 in the final against Denmark, the Netherlands again came third. Austria was eliminated in the quarter-finals at its Olympic football premiere, Germany already in the second round.

The top scorer of the main tournament was Harold Walden from Britain with nine goals. In one game of the consolation round, the German team achieved a 16-0 victory over the Russian team. The result is the highest victory of the German national team to date; In addition, the international goal record of Gottfried Fuchs , who scored ten times in this game, was only surpassed in 2001 by Australian Archie Thompson .

organization

A number of associations were responsible for organizing the soccer tournament. Under the supervision of the World Football Association FIFA and the International Olympic Committee , the Swedish Football Association and the Organizing Committee, and above all its committee, the so-called Committee for Football , were involved in the preparation and implementation of the largest international football tournament to date.

On October 11, 1909, the Swedish Football Association - like other sports associations - was asked to put together a committee that would be responsible for running the football tournament. However, it was not until 1911, when football was finally included in the program, that a 17-person committee for football was formed in consultation with the organizing committee , headed by Christian Kornerup . It was decided to hold the soccer tournament before the main competitions of the Olympic Games between June 29th and July 5th. Meanwhile, the committee did not consider itself responsible for the nomination or invitation of referees, but the national football associations were supposed to bring referees with them at their own expense, which only happened in part.

Venues

The Stockholm Olympic Stadium (here during the Olympic opening ceremony) was the venue for four games, including the final.

Three venues were selected for the Olympic tournament. Both the Olympic Stadium and the Råsunda IP and Tranebergs IP were located in the greater Stockholm area.

The Stockholm Olympic Stadium , which opened on June 1, 1912, was the main venue for the 1912 Olympic Games. The stadium, which was built for 1,200,000 crowns , was built specifically for the Olympic Games. The stadium had a capacity of 25,000 spectators and was initially only intended to host the final. Ultimately, in addition to the final, the Swedish team's first round match and both semi-finals of the main round took place in it.

The Råsunda sports field in Solna, near Stockholm, was used for two games according to FIFA statistics. The sports field, which belonged to the Swedish Association and where Vikingarnas FK played its home games, was the scene of two games. The original plan to host all games here except the final was abandoned due to doubts about the feasibility. Shortly before the start of the tournament, it became known that the pitch was too short and did not reach the required length of at least 105 meters. The representatives of the participating teams then had to sign a declaration to refrain from protests due to this fact. The Råsunda Stadium was opened on the site of the sports field in 1937 .

The Traneberg sports field was used in accordance with the FIFA statistics main venue for the Olympic soccer tournament and was for a total of eleven games. It was not until February 1912 that it was decided to include a third venue. Djurgårdens IF played its home games on the Traneberg site, about four kilometers west of the Olympic Stadium . Renovations and extensions were carried out for the Olympic Games as well as at the Råsunda sports field; the costs for both places totaled 33,600 kroner.

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  The Råsunda sports field (around 1912)

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  The Traneberg sports field (around 1912)

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  Contemporary map of Stockholm with football venues highlighted

Attendees

Any football association that belonged to FIFA and came from a nation recognized by the IOC was eligible to participate. As this regulation meant that only one team could have represented Great Britain, although the country traditionally has four football associations with equal rights ( England , Scotland , Wales and Ireland ), each nation was allowed to participate with up to four teams, with the simultaneous notice for all other associations to send only one team. Ultimately, only one team came from Great Britain - the English amateur national team sent by the FA .

Eleven nations took part in the second official Olympic football tournament; in contrast to the five participating nations in 1908, this was a significant increase. At that time, the world football association FIFA had a total of 18 European members.

Hungary at the 1912 Olympics

While Switzerland and Luxembourg did not consider participation from the start, Belgium and France had initially announced their participation. In the end, the Belgian federation gave up because it was unable to put together a worthy team . France only canceled their participation after the draw, officially due to the failure of their two defenders Alfred Gindrat and Paul Romano . In fact, Gindrat had refused to play for France at the beginning of 1912 as long as there was no entry bonus and had been banned from the then national umbrella organization, the Comité Français Interfédéral , for this outrageous violation of amateurism - the players even had to bring their own shoes at the time . Another potential Olympian, Marcel Triboulet , had to serve an eight-day prison sentence shortly before the tournament because he had left the troops illegally as a soldier for an international match.

For Germany, Finland, Italy, Norway, Austria, Russia and Hungary it was the first participation in an Olympic football tournament, Russia also played its first official international matches in Stockholm.

Denmark Germany Finland

Italy Netherlands Norway

Austria Russia Sweden

Hungary Great Britain

Olympic tournament

Olympic football tournament 1912
Number of nations	11
Olympic champion	Great Britain (2nd title)
venue	Stockholm , ( Solna , Traneberg )
Opening game	June 29, 1912
Endgame	4th July 1912
Games	17th
Gates	94  (⌀: 5.53 per game)
spectator	83,700  (⌀: 4,924 per game)
Top scorer	Harold Walden (9 goals) (without consolation round) Gottfried Fuchs (10 goals) (with consolation round)
References	0  (⌀: 0 per game)

The organizers chose the knockout system as the mode . Due to the original number of participants of twelve nations, a total of four game rounds were necessary to determine the winner. In the first round, four teams received a bye for the quarter-finals. So that the majority of the teams did not have to travel home after one game, a consolation round was set up in which all teams that were eliminated before the semi-finals could take part.

If a game was tied after regular playing time, 30-minute extra time was played. If extra time hadn't brought a decision, a replay would have been scheduled.

Round of 16

June 29, 1912 in Traneberg
Italy	-	Finland	2: 3 n.V. (2: 2, 2: 2)
June 29, 1912 in the Olympic Stadium
Netherlands	-	Sweden	4: 3 n.V. (3: 3, 2: 1)
June 29, 1912 in Råsunda
Germany	-	Austria	1: 5 (1: 0)
0
Norway	-	France	without a fight

Parade by Göbel in the game Netherlands (light jerseys) against Sweden (dark jerseys)

In the first round, which was drawn at the office of the Swedish Football Association on June 18, four of the twelve registered teams received a bye, specifically Denmark, Russia, Hungary and Great Britain. Norway, which was drawn against France, also did not have to play a game due to their withdrawal to reach the quarter-finals.

Finland beat the favorite Italians 3-2 after extra time in the opening game, which was under the direction of the Austrian Hugo Meisl . The key figure of the Finns was the only 17-year-old center runner Eino Soinio , who scored the 2-2 equalizer. Outnumbered, the Finnish team, which was technically and playfully inferior to the Italians, but kept the game open with counter-football, scored the 3-2 winner.

Game scene in comparison of the Austrian team with the German selection

The Netherlands beat Sweden in the new edition of the game for third place from 1908 with 4: 3 after extra time. The game played in front of more than 14,000 spectators was the most exciting game of the preliminary round. The early lead of the Swedes turned the Dutch into a 3-1 lead by the 52nd minute. The Swedes managed to equalize until the 80th minute, but then they failed with a penalty kick just before the end of the Dutch goalkeeper Just Göbel . Shortly after the start of extra time, Jan Vos shot the Netherlands to victory with his second goal of the game.

Germany lost 5-1 to Austria despite leading 1-0 at half-time. Shortly after the start of the second half, the German goalkeeper Albert Weber was seriously injured, but stayed in the game. The Austrian team took advantage of this weakness and overturned the game within four minutes. When Weber finally had to be carried off the pitch, center forward Willi Worpitzky took his place. The German team, playing outnumbered, had nothing to oppose the Austrians and were eliminated from the main tournament.

Quarter finals

June 30, 1912 in Traneberg
Denmark	-	Norway	7: 0 (3: 0)
June 30, 1912 in Traneberg
Netherlands	-	Austria	3: 1 (3: 1)
June 30, 1912 in Traneberg
Russia	-	Finland	1: 2 (0: 1)
June 30, 1912 in Traneberg
Hungary	-	Great Britain	0: 7 (0: 3)

Hungary in the dark jerseys had no chance against the men from Great Britain who competed in white jerseys.

The reigning Olympic runner-up Denmark gave Norway no chances. The Danish team, led by center runner Nils Middelboe , was superior in all respects and came to a safe and effortless 7-0.

The Netherlands beat Austria 3-1 in the quarter-finals. After just half an hour, the Western Europeans were leading 3-0. The Austrian goal shortly before the end of the first half by Alois Müller was the last goal of the game, although the Austrian team still had some good chances in the second half.

Russia lost 2-1 to Finland in its international premiere. The two teams showed a rather weak game, in which the Finnish half-left Jarl Öhmann made the decision by solo after 80 minutes.

Hungary clearly had to admit defeat to Great Britain 7-0. In the British team, which consisted exclusively of English amateurs, the center forward Harold Walden was able to achieve six goals. Another hit was marked by Vivian Woodward just before the break. Although the British were outnumbered in the second half, they were able to easily extend their lead and landed a runaway victory.

Semifinals

July 2, 1912 in the Olympic Stadium
Denmark	-	Netherlands	4: 1 (3: 0)
July 2, 1912 in the Olympic Stadium
Great Britain	-	Finland	4: 0 (2: 0)

The British also kept a clean slate against Finland.

Denmark cemented its reputation as the strongest continental European team by beating the Netherlands. The Danes started at a fast pace and put the Dutch team, which had to do without their injured center runner Bok de Korver , under constant pressure. The Northern Europeans were leading 3-0 at half-time. Shortly after the break, the Danish half right Poul Nielsen suffered a serious knee injury and was out, but the Danes were able to open the game even if they were outnumbered and ultimately deserved to reach the final with a 4-1 win.

As expected, the team from Great Britain reached the final with a win over Finland. The Finns, who played their third game in just four days, fell behind with an own goal shortly after the start of the game. Despite their best tournament performance, they could never put the British triumph in danger and lost 4-0.

Bronze game

4th July 1912 in Råsunda
Netherlands	-	Finland	9: 0 (4: 0)

The Netherlands won the bronze medal like four years before. The exertion of the tournament so far was clearly noticeable to both teams, with the Dutch having the greater reserves of strength and clearly defeating their opponent in the end.

Olympic final

4th July 1912 in the Olympic Stadium
Great Britain	-	Denmark	4: 2 (4: 1)

For Denmark's captain Nils Middelboe (dark jersey) it was only enough for a silver medal.

The final was a new edition of the final of 1908. In front of 25,000 spectators in the sold-out Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the British team went into the game as favorites and already led 2-0 after 20 minutes with goals from Arthur Berry and Gordon Hoare . Shortly after the goal after half an hour of play, the Danish right winger Charles Buchwald had to leave the field injured. Playing outnumbered, the Danes received two more hits until the break and were only able to make cosmetic results in the second round. With the Olympic victory, the British maintained their reputation as “teachers”, Denmark remained the strongest team in the rest of Europe.

Consolation round

Quarter finals

July 1, 1912 in Traneberg
Austria	-	Norway	1: 0 (1: 0)
July 1, 1912 in Traneberg
Germany	-	Russia	16: 0 (8: 0)
July 1, 1912 in Traneberg
Italy	-	Sweden	1: 0 (1: 0)

In the consolation round, all teams that had been eliminated from the main tournament before the semi-finals were allowed to compete. All teams made use of this tournament, Hungary received a bye for the quarter-finals.

As expected, Austria won against Norway in front of just 200 spectators. The result of 1-0 was closer than expected, Leopold Neubauer scored the winning goal after just two minutes. Both teams had a break of just 14 hours between the quarter-finals and this game.

Germany beat Russia 16-0. To this day, this is the record victory for Germany and at the same time the highest defeat in Russian international history. Gottfried Fuchs scored ten goals against the completely overwhelmed and inferior opponent in all respects.

Italy beat hosts Sweden 1-0. The Scandinavians could not win their second game in front of a home crowd and had to admit defeat to the Italian team.

Semifinals

July 3, 1912 in Traneberg
Hungary	-	Germany	3: 1 (2: 0)
July 3, 1912 in Traneberg
Austria	-	Italy	5: 1 (2: 0)

Hungary beat Germany 3-1 in an even game. The Hungarians got into the game better at the beginning and after half an hour led by two goals from Imre Schlosser 2-0. Ten minutes after the restart, the German team reduced to 1: 2 through Fritz Förderer , but the equalizer did not succeed. Schlosser ended the game with his third goal in the game.

Austria moved into the final of the consolation tournament with a clear 5: 1 over Italy. The Italians managed to keep the game open for half an hour, then the Austrian team scored four goals within 30 minutes and made it to the consolation round final.

final

July 5, 1912 in Traneberg
Hungary	-	Austria	3: 0 (1: 0)

In the 20th international match between the two rivals Hungary and Austria, the Magyars prevailed 3-0 in the end and thus won the consolation tournament. In an extremely tough game, Imre Schlosser took the lead at half time. In the second round, the Hungarians managed to expand their leadership, while the Austrian attacks were always successfully stopped by the Hungarian defense.

See also:

• Austrian national soccer team at the 1912 Olympic Games
• The games in football at the 1912 Olympic Games in detail

Medal ranks

Olympic Football Challenge Cup, donated in 1908 by the Football Association

The final placements in the medal ranks were identical to those of 1908. On the side of the British, Berry and Woodward were able to secure the second Olympic gold medal, in Denmark it was five players with Buchwald, Middelboe, S. Nielsen, Nielsen-Nørland and Wolfhagen who again won precious metal. Only Bok de Korver from the successful team from 1908 played in the Netherlands.

rank	Medalist
Gold Great Britain	Arthur Berry , Ronald Brebner (TW), Thomas Burn , Joseph Dines , Edward Hanney , Gordon Hoare , Arthur Knight , Horace Littlewort , Douglas McWhirter , Ivan Sharpe , Harold Stamper , Harold Walden , Vivian Woodward , Edward Wright Trainers: none
Silver Denmark	Paul Berth , Charles Buchwald , Hjalmar Christoffersen , Harald Hansen , Sophus Hansen (TW), Emil Jørgensen , Ivar Lykke , Nils Middelboe , Sophus Nielsen , Poul Nielsen , Oscar Nielsen , Anton Olsen , Axel Petersen , Axel Thufason , Vilhelm Wolfhagen Trainer: without
Bronze Netherlands	Piet Bouman , Joop Boutmy , Nicolaas Bouvy , Jan van Breda Kolff , Cees ten Cate , Constant Feith , Gé Fortgens , Just Göbel (TW), Huug de Groot , Bok de Korver , Dirk Lotsy , Jan van der Sluis , Jan Vos , David Wijnveldt , Nico de Wolf Trainer: Edgar Wallace Chadwick

Best goal scorers

(including consolation round)

rank	player	Gates
1	Gottfried Fuchs	10
2	Harold Walden	9
3	Jan Vos	8th
4th	Anton Olsen	7th
5	Fritz sponsor	5
6th	Imre locksmith	4th
7th	Nicolaas Bouvy	3

literature

• Jürgen Buschmann, Karl Lennartz : The Olympic Football Tournaments - Volume 2: The first major tournament - Stockholm 1912 and Berlin 1916 . Agon-Sportverlag, Kassel 2001, ISBN 3-89784-160-6 .
• International Federation of Football History & Statistics : Olympic Football Tournaments [1] . Wiesbaden 2000.

Web links

• Official website of FIFA
• Information on the 1912 tournament at iffhs.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} In the RSSSF statistics and the Official Report of the ORGANIZATIONSKOMMITTÉN FÖR OLYMPISKA SPELEN I STOCKHOLM 1912 , the Råsunda sports field is mentioned instead of the Traneberg sports field and thus a higher number of games in the Råsunda sports field.

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 7, 2007 .