Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, an official football tournament between national representative selections was contested for the first time; football had been played between club teams at the Games of 1900 and 1904.

There were eight entries, including two from France (the main team and a B team). Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew after the draw and appointment of referees, leaving six teams to contest the tournament.

Great Britain won the gold medal representing the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland), although all the players were from England.

Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen of Denmark set a record by scoring 10 goals in a 17–1 win over France A. The famous mathematician Harald Bohr, brother of the even more famous Niels Bohr, also played for Denmark, who won the silver medal.

Competition schedule

The match schedule of the tournament.

Venue

Squads

Bracket

Tournament

The matches:

With eight entries, the tournament draw had a full quarterfinal round of four matches.

However, after the draw and appointment of referees,  Hungary (on 12 October) and  Bohemia (on 14 October) were both forced to withdraw due to financial reasons: their opponents, the Netherlands and France respectively, were awarded a 2–0 victory.

First round

Semi-finals

Bronze medal match

Originally, all six teams eliminated before the final were to participate in a consolation tournament for the bronze medal, with two first-round matches to be played on 21 October between the four quarter-final losers.

After Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew, the first round was scratched on 15 October, with France B and Sweden qualifying for the semi-finals of the consolation tournament.

France B, Sweden and the two semi-final losers, France and the Netherlands, were scheduled to play the semi-finals on October 23: the French teams were drawn against each other, and the Netherlands were drawn against Sweden, with the winners playing off in the bronze medal match prior to the gold medal match on October 24.

However, both French teams had returned home immediately after their crushing defeats to Denmark on October 19 and October 22: therefore, their semi-final and the October 24 bronze medal match were both scratched, with the Netherlands v Sweden semi-final becoming the bronze medal match.

Gold medal match

Medal summary

Medal table

Medalists

Complete list of medal winners:

Statistics

Goalscorers

11 goals

8 goals

6 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Goalkeeping

Bibliography

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.

References