![]() ![]() On 21 October 2010, the Footballers' Battalions Memorial was unveiled at Longueval, France, near Delville Wood, to commemorate those from the Footballers' Battalions who had fought and died in the Great War. It commemorates the men of McCrae's Battalion who were killed during the First Battle of the Somme. On 7 November 2004, the McCrae's Battalion Great War Memorial was unveiled in the village of Contalmaison, France after first being proposed in April 1919. The website created by the Professional Footballers' Association, 'Football and the First World War' currently lists 296 players who were killed in the war. William Baker, a member of the Plymouth Argyle team that won the Southern League in 1913, was killed in Serre during the Battle of the Somme. English team Bradford City, for example, lost nine players – first-team players Bob Torrance, Jimmy Speirs, Evelyn Lintott, James Conlin, James Comrie, Gerald Kirk, and reserve players George Draycott, Ernest Goodwin, and Harry Potter. Another Scottish side, Brechin City, lost six players. Scottish side Heart of Midlothian lost seven players. Larrett Roebuck was the first player from the English league to die, on 18 October 1914. Many football players, both amateur and professional, lost their lives. Other players who were not awarded medals have also been honoured, such as Walter Tull, who is honoured on both the Arras Memorial and at Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium. Others to receive decoration include Leigh Richmond Roose ( MM) and Philip F. Christmas truce Ī number of British footballers received medals for bravery during World War I, including Bernard Vann ( MC and VC), Donald Simpson Bell ( VC), William Angus ( VC), Jimmy Speirs ( MM), Tim Coleman ( MM) and Davie Glen ( MM). Jimmy Hogan who had briefly coached Amateure SV between 1911–12, returned to Vienna to coach the Austrian national team in 1914. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was another enemy Central Power. Among them were several former professional footballers, including three former England internationals, Fred Pentland, Samuel Wolstenholme and Steve Bloomer a Scotland international, John Cameron a German international, Edwin Dutton John Brearley, once of Everton and Tottenham Hotspur and Fred Spiksley. Sports played a major role in the lives of the detainees. Englishmen on the Continent īritish players and trainers who were in contract with German professional clubs were among Allied civilians interned at Ruhleben in Berlin. After the outbreak of war in 1914, the Swiss national side did not compete again until 1920. However, many of the pitches were destroyed – 420,000 square feet (39,000 m 2) out of a total of 920,000 square feet (85,000 m 2) had been turned into potato fields. Switzerland Įven though the Swiss Football League was not suspended, some 5,800 footballers – out of a total of 8,500 – signed up to fight. League football did continue in Scotland with the aim of maintaining morale, however the Scottish Cup was not held for five years. The Football League and FA Cup were suspended and in their place regional league competitions were set up appearances in these tournaments do not count in players' official records. Many players signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead. īetween 19 competitive football was suspended in England. Competition United Kingdom Įnglish club Harrogate Town were to play their first ever match on 5 September 1914, but the match was cancelled due to the outbreak of the war. Frederick Wall, Secretary of the Football Association, famously implied Jimmy Hogan was a traitor for spending the duration of World War I in Europe. When World War I was declared in 1914, it had a negative effect on association football in some countries competitions were suspended and players signed up to fight, resulting in the deaths of many players. ![]()
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