| Great European football tournament | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | France |
| Dates | 25 – 29 May |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Bohemia |
| Runners-up |  England AFA |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 3 |
| Goals scored | 11 (3.67 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Josef Bělka (2 goals) Jan Kosek(2 goals) |
The1911 UIAFA European Football Tournament (French:Grand Tournoi européen de football) was an unofficial European Championship organized byUIAFA (Union Internationale Amateur de Football Association), which was competing withFIFA at the time.[1]
The tournament was held within the framework of the1911 international exhibition of Northern France [fr] inRoubaix,France, between 25 and 29 May.[1][2] It was won by theBohemia national team (ČSF).[1][3][4][5] Several European national teams participated, which caused some historians, quite preposterously, to term this cup as the first European international championship in the history of football, although that title can also be attributed to the1908 Olympic Games, which was open to all countries.[1] It was held nearly half a century before the firstofficial European Football Championship in1960, coincidentally also held in France, and over a decade before the first edition of theCentral European International Cup in1927–1930.[4]
A stadium was built for the international exhibition, which was located on the currentBoulevard du Général de Gaulle [fr] in thecommune of Croix.[4] Roubaix sportsmen hoped for it to become a municipal stadium, but they would have to wait 20 years before they could benefit from such a facility, theRoubaix Velodrome, located at the other end of the city.[4]
On 11 April 1911, the French newspaperL'Auto (the futureL'Équipe) announced the football program for the inauguration of theStade de l'Exposition de Roubaix (Stadium of the Roubaix exhibition) on 7 May, which was composed of two matches, the final of the USFSA Military Association Championship, and afriendly between the representative team ofNorthern France and theamateur team of Wales, but they changed plans within a few days and had to be replaced by a club from theAFA, which turned out to beOld Malvernians.[1] However, the final of the Military Championship was only played on 14 May inLe Havre, so the first-ever match of this stadium ended up being a semifinal for that tournament between43eme Infanterie Lille and23eme Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins Grasse on 7 May, which ended in a 12–0 win to the former.[1][6] Later that day, Northern France won the stadium's second match by beating Old Malvernians 3–1 in front of 5,000 spectators.[1][4] A week later, on 14 May, a Roubaix XI defeated Lyford FC 1–0[1][4] in front of a smaller crowd of just 1,000; only the qualities of the London goalkeeper prevented the Roubaix team from winning more widely.[4] For the latter match, the price of tickets varied from 50 centimes (stands) to 1franc (tribunes), and 2 francs (tribunes of honor), but for the tournament, the prices rose to 4 francs in the tribunes of honor, and 2 in the tribunes, although it remained at 50 centimes for the stands.[4]
On 25 May, the Bohemian team (ČSF), who was on their way to Roubaix, stopped atBrussels to play a friendly against the BelgianUIAFA members.[1][7] Interesting, Bohemia played this game inSlavia Prague jerseys, winning 6–1, thanks to braces fromJan Košek,Václav Pilát, andOtto Bohata.[1][7]
Originally, the tournament was to be contested by the national teams of all of UIAFA's 6 members, France (USFSA), England (AFA), Bohemia (ČSF), Switzerland (LSS), Belgium (FBSA), and Spain (FECF), but the latter was ultimately not invited to enter, while Belgium withdrew for unknown reasons, but it was most likely the result of their 1–6 defeat at the hands of Bohemia just a few days prior. This left the three founding members and Switzerland, but following tensions between theAlemannic and theRomands, the Swiss withdrew at the last minute, so the Organizing Committee decided to grant the vacant place to a team representing the Northern Committee of the USFSA, the so-calledNorthern France.[1] Hungary was also announced as participants on 11 April, but this was most likely the result of a confused French journalist, since no Hungarian federation ever joined the UIAFA.[1]
It is important to note that the English AFA team (Amateur Football Alliance) is not related to theEngland Amateur side fielded by theEnglish FA at the time, which was obviously stronger.[1]
| Team | Association |
|---|---|
| England | Amateur Football Association (AFA) |
 France | Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques (USFSA) |
| Bohemia | Český svaz footballový (ČSF) |
 Spain | Federación Española de Clubs de Football (FECF) (withdrew) |
 Belgium | Fédération Belge des Sports Athlétiques (FBSA) (withdrew) |
 Switzerland | Ligue Sportive Suisse (LSS) (withdrew) |
 North of France | Northern France |
The Bohemian team, coached byJohnny Madden, was made up largely of players taken from the clubSlavia Prague, such asgoalkeeperKarel Pimmer; defenderRichard Veselý, midfieldersFrantišek Rosmaisl andEmmanuel Benda; and forwardsMiroslav Široký, Pilát, and Bohata,captained by main star Jan Košek.[1][7] The only exceptions wereJosef Bělka of Sparta Prague, andMiroslav Hajný ofSK Smíchov.[1]
The French A team was made up mainly of players from Parisian clubs (Racing Club de France,Stade Français,USA Clichy,AS Française), such as goalkeeperGuy De Gastyne; defendersVictor Denis andAuguste Schalbart, and midfieldersÉmile Sartorius andAlphonse Nicol (captain), even though the attacking line was composed of players fromOlympique Lillois: Carlos Bacrot,Paul Chandelier,Paul Voyeux, andAlbert Eloy.[4][7] The only players who earned caps for theofficial French team were Denis and Sartorius, but the former had to withdraw and was replaced byHenri Moigneu.[1][4]
The team of Northern France was made up largely of players fromUS Tourquennoise,Stade Roubaisien,Racing Club de Roubaix, such as goalkeeperAlbert Parsys, defenderGabriel Hanot, and forwardRaymond Dubly, to which was added the attacking line of Olympique Lillois, whose players were also retained in the first French team (Eloy, Bacrot, Chandelier, and Voyeux).[4][7] This team included three future internationals: Eloy (2 selections in 1913 and 1914), Chandelier (3 selections in 1913 and 1914), and Dubly (31 selections between 1913 and 1925).[4]
The hosts France had been the laughing stock of the continent ever since the 1908 Olympics because, after a 2–1 win againstSwitzerland in March 1908, they went winless for more than three years and a half, in which they played fifteen matches, drawing one and losing the remainder, scoring 13 goals and conceding exactly 100. By the time they finally got a win against Luxembourg at the end of October 1911, this tournament was already over.[1] It thus was no surprise that Bohemia was the great favorite to win the tournament since they had a strong side, which is confirmed by a series of very successful friendly matches against teams from Central Europe and Great Britain in 1906–08, as they only lost 0–4 at home to thefull England side in June 1908 (Austria andHungary had suffered much heavier losses).[1] Furthermore, they had also recently defeated the Scots ofAberdeen (3–2) and Belgium in Brussels (6–1).[4]
In the semifinals, the Northern France team was set to face England AFA on 25 May after the end of the Paris-Roubaix cycling race, while "France A" and Bohemia contested the second ticket to the final on 28 May.[4] The French press did not believe that either of their teams could come out victorious, withL'Auto highlighting France A's lack of training as well as the absence of Denis in the midfield, stating that it "will cause our defeat", while "the Northerners, despite all their value, will have to bow to the fine AFA team".[4] And indeed, the Northerners equalized at the restart of the second half to make it 1–1, but the English centre-forward scored the winning goal at the very end of the game.[4] After some early saves from De Gastyne, Bělka scored the opening goal of the game in the 15th minute for the Bohemians.[4] The French tried to equalize straight away through an attempt by Nicol, but Bohemia's keeper Pimmer intervened and on his restart, Košek, although marked from close range, doubled the lead.[4] Chandelier cut down the deficit with a "beautiful shot from 25 meters", but the Bohemians added two goals before half-time, and after a second half that was played at a slower pace, including a few off-target attempts from Eloy and Dubly, the Bohemians sealed a 1–4 win.[4] Pilát, who was one of three non-Slavists of the Bohemian team, played a significant role in this victory with two assists, and it could have been a hat-trick, but one goal (Košek) was disallowed by the referee.[8]
Bohemia thus faced England AFA in the final, in which the first half ended goalless despite an attacking game, with both sides hitting the bar (Košek for Czechs), but then Bohemia scored twice in three minutes to claim a 2–1 lead, thanks to goals from Košek and Bohata.[1][5][7] Pilát assisted both goals, deceiving the center half with his body on both occasions.[8] The English coach decided to change 2-3-5 into 2-1-7, thus attacking with 7 players, but Bohemia's coach, John Madden, reacted by withdrawing Bohata and Holý from a 5-men attack to help out the defense, but the intense siege set up by the English resulted in a handball from a Czech player in the 83rd minute, so thereferee Collier awarded apenalty kick to England, which was saved by Pimmer after Coach Madden shouted to him "BE CALM!".[7] Bohemia then took control over the game and successfully defended their 2–1 lead to win the tournament.[1][3][5][4][7] The Czechs thus won the European Amateur Championship after beating Belgium (6:1), France (4:1), England (2:1).[9]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| Northern France | ||||||||||
| 25 May -Roubaix | ||||||||||
| Switzerland (withdrew) | ||||||||||
| Northern France | 1 | |||||||||
| England AFA | 2 | |||||||||
| England AFA | ||||||||||
| 29 May –Roubaix | ||||||||||
| Spain (withdrew) | ||||||||||
| England AFA | 1 | |||||||||
| Bohemia | 2 | |||||||||
| France (USFSA) | Bye | |||||||||
| 28 May -Roubaix | ||||||||||
| France (USFSA) | 1 | |||||||||
| 25 May -Brussels | ||||||||||
| Bohemia | 4 | |||||||||
| Bohemia | 6 | |||||||||
| Belgium (withdrew) | 1 | |||||||||
| Northern France(USFSA) | 1 – 2 | England AFA |
|---|---|---|
 46' | Report1 Report2 | 1–0' 87' |
| France(USFSA) | 1–4 | Bohemia |
|---|---|---|
| Chandelier 1–3' | Report1 Report2 Report3 | Bělka 15',0–3' Košek 20'Medek 0–4' |
A week later, Bohemia played two exhibition games in France, beatingParis XI 5–0 andRouen 6–3.[7] Several thousands of football fans welcomed the amateur European champions inPrague after they arrived by train.[7]
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