#OlympicFootball history
The women’s football began at the Rio Olympics yesterday, and Brazil beat China 3-0.
Today the men’s tournament gets underway, with Brazil playing South Africa.
Following on from a Blog post yesterday, here is a short account of football at the 1912 Olympics – when England were a dominant force.
Olympic Football 1912 (Sweden)
The Stockholm Olympics included a football tournament, with 11 entrants. The Sweden team departed at the first stage, losing 4-3 to the Netherlands. The England Amateur team, representing Great Britain again, beat Hungary 7-0 and Finland 4-0 to set up another meeting with Denmark in the Final. England beat the Danes 4-2, with two goals from Gordon Hoare, and one apiece from Harold Walden and Arthur Berry, to win Olympic gold for a second time. Vivian Woodward, who had been England captain in 1908, retained the role in 1912, while Berry was the only other player to feature for England in both Olympic Finals. In the Third Place Match, the Netherlands beat Finland 9-0, with Jan Vos scoring five times. A consolation tournament, for teams eliminated in the early stages of the main competition, saw Germany beat Russia 16-0, with Gottfried Fuchs notching 10 goals – to repeat the feat of Sophus Nielsen in 1908. Hungary won the consolation event, beating Austria 3-0 in the Final (July 5, Stockholm). This was the first competitive match between Austria and Hungary, who played each other 26 times between 1902 and 1914.
Final July 4, Stockholm England 4 Denmark 2
Bronze Medal Match Netherlands 9 Finland 0
andrewgodsell 