Football at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Football at the 1900 Summer Olympics
Tournament details
Host countryFrance
Dates20–23 September 1900
Teams3
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
ChampionsUnited Kingdom Upton Park FC (1st title)
Runners-upFrance Club Français
Third placeBelgium Université de Bruxelles
Tournament statistics
Matches played2
Goals scored12 (6 per match)
1896
1904

At the 1900 Summer Olympics, an association football tournament was contested for the first time. Only two matches were held between the three club sides, and no medals were awarded.

France's representatives were determined by the USFSA, which elected the Parisian champion Club Français.[1] For Belgium, after Racing Club de Bruxelles declined to participate, a student selection with players from the Université libre de Bruxelles was sent by the Federation.[2][3] The team was reinforced with a few non-students. On the other hand, English club Upton Park F.C. represented Great Britain.[1][3]

The International Olympic Committee credits Great Britain, France and a "Mixed Team" with gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, as part of its attempt to reconcile early Olympic Games with the modern award scheme.[4] The Belgian team included one British and one Dutch player.

The football matches were held at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in Paris.[1]

Competition schedule

[edit]

Originally there were four matches scheduled for the 1900 Olympics, all including a French team. As Switzerland and Germany eventually did not send a team, the match involving France and England was moved forward to 20 September.[1]

16 September 1900  France vs   Switzerland

23 September 1900  France vs  Belgium

30 September 1900  France vs  Germany

7 October 1900  France vs  England

The match final schedule of the tournament.[5]

Legend
M Match
Thu 20 Fri 21 Sat 22 Sun 23
M1 M2

Venue

[edit]
The Vélodrome de Vincennes hosted all the matches

Squads

[edit]

Matches

[edit]

In the first game, the British squad had little difficulty defeating the Club Français (wearing the USFSA uniform). Upton Park led 2–0 after the first half, getting two more goals in the second to win 4–0. Gaston Peltier scored in the first minute to give the USFSA XI an early lead, but Université de Bruxelles scored twice to take a 2–1 first half lead. The French scored five goals in the second half, however, to take the match 6–2.[6]

Club Français France0–4United Kingdom Upton Park FC
Report Nicholas
Turner 5'
Zealley 7'
Attendance: 500
Referee: Maignard (France)
Team details
Club Français
Upton Park

Team details
Club Français
Université de Bruxelles

Final ranking

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 United Kingdom Upton Park FC 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4 2
2 France Club Français 2 1 0 1 6 6 0 2
3 Belgium Université de Bruxelles 1 0 0 1 2 6 −4 0
Source: [citation needed]

Medal summary

[edit]

Medal table

[edit]
Upton Park F.C. (left) represented Great Britain, winning the Gold medal
The French team was the Club Français wearing the USFSA uniform
The Belgian team selected by the Université de Bruxelles
Position Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Great Britain (GBR) 1 0 0 1
2  France (FRA) 0 1 0 1
3  Belgium (BEL) 0 0 1 1

Medalists

[edit]
Gold Silver Bronze
 Great Britain (GBR)
(Upton Park FC)[1][3]
James Jones
Claude Buckenham
William Gosling
Alfred Chalk
Tom Burridge
William Quash
Richard Turner
Fred Spackman
John Nicholas
Jack Zealley
Henry Haslam
 France (FRA)
(Club Français)[1]
Pierre Allemane
Louis Bach
Alfred Bloch
Fernand Canelle
Duparc
Eugène Fraysse
Virgile Gaillard
Georges Garnier
René Grandjean
Lucien Huteau
Marcel Lambert
Maurice Macaine
Gaston Peltier
 Belgium (BEL)
(Université de Bruxelles)[3]
Marius Delbecque
Hendrik van Heuckelum (NED)
Raul Kelecom
Marcel Leboutte
Lucien Londot
Ernest Moreau de Melen
Eugène Neefs
Gustave Pelgrims
Alphonse Renier
Hilaire Spanoghe
Eric Thornton (GBR)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Games of the II. Olympiad - Football Tournament by Søren Elbech and Karel Stokkermans on the RSSSF
  2. ^ Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure by Jon Carter, ESPN, 26 June 2012
  3. ^ a b c d Before the World Cup: Who were football’s earliest world champions? by Paul Brown on Medium Sports, 6 June 2018
  4. ^ "Paris 1900 Football Men Results". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Games of the II. Olympiad Football Tournament". RSSSF.com. The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Olympedia – Football, Men – Match #2". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 11 January 2024.