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VOOZH | about |
| Date | 29 June β 5 July 1912 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Stockholms Olympiastadion, Stockholm / RΓ₯sunda Idrottsplats, Solna / Tranebergs Idrottsplats, Stockholm | |
| Participants | 163 from 11 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament. | |
The Swedish Olympic Football Committee made the plans for the 1912 Olympic football (soccer) tournament. The original plans allowed each nation to enter as many as four teams but, at the annual meeting of the FΓ©dΓ©ration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in 1911, the following ruling was made: βAlthough the rules for the Football Competitions at the Olympic Games of Stockholm in 1912 permit every nation affiliated to FΓ©dΓ©ration Internationale de Football Association to send four teams to the competition, the FΓ©dΓ©ration considers it most suitable that each nation should send only one.β The original ruling was made to allow Great Britain to enter four teams - one each for England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. However, The Scottish Football Association (founded in 1873), The Football Association of Wales (founded in 1876), and the Irish Football Association (founded in 1880), all decided not to enter. It was left to The Football Association, founded in 1863, and governing football in England, to enter a team.
The entries closed on 29 May, and 13 teams were entered. France and Belgium originally entered but withdrew, leaving 11 teams to compete for the championship. Bohemia also tried to enter a team, but its entry was refused as it was no longer a member of FIFA.
The event was planned as a single-elimination competition, and the draw was held on 18 June 1912, at the office of Svenska Gymnastik - och IdrottsfΓΆreningarnas RiksfΓΆrbund (the National Football of Swedish Gymnastics and Sports Club). The two losing semi-finalists competed for the bronze medals. A consolation tournament was also conducted, with all losing teams from the first two rounds allowed to compete. First prize in the consolation tournament was silver medals from the Svenska FotbollfΓΆrbundet (Swedish Football Association), while second prize was bronze medals from the same organization.
The games were at three arenas in or near Stockholm: the Olympic Stadium, RΓ₯sunda Idrottsplats, and Tranebergs Idrottsplats. RΓ₯sunda Idrottsplats was inaugurated in 1910, and was jointly owned by the Svenska FotbollfΓΆrbundet and some football clubs in Stockholm. It had a stand for 2,000 spectators and a total capacity of around 12,000. In 1937, it was rebuilt with concrete stands for 40,000 spectators, becoming the national arena for Swedish football (the Wembley of Sweden), and renamed Fotbollstadion. It was further enlarged to 50,000 seats for the 1958 World Cup finals, when it was the main stadium. Tranebergs Idrottsplats was the home ground of DjurgΓ₯rdens IF, one of the leading football clubs in Stockholm. It was inaugurated in 1911, with a stand for 2,000 spectators and a total capacity of around 10,000.
The weather during the 1912 Olympic football tournament was exceptionally warm for Sweden, so much so that buckets of water were placed besides the touch-lines so players could refresh themselves during play.
England won the gold medal fairly easily, winning their first two matches by 7-0 against Hungary, and 4-0 against Finland. In the semi-final match against Finland, Harold Walden scored two goals for England and, in the first round against Hungary, he had scored six of Britainβs seven goals. In addition to the medals awarded to the British players, Great Britain earned possession of the Challenge Trophy for football, which had been donated in 1908 by The Football Association of Great Britain.
In the final, Denmark was hampered by the loss of Poul βTistβ Nielsen, who had sprained his knee against the Netherlands in the semi-finals. The first goal of the final was scored by Englandβs Walden at 10 minutes. At 22 minutes, Gordon Hoare made the score England 2, Denmark 0. Shortly thereafter, Denmarkβs Anthon Olsen scored from 25 metres out to tighten up the match. Unfortunately, shortly before the interval, after a heading duel with Vivian Woodward, Charles Buchwald of Denmark dislocated his shoulder and was unable to continue. England took advantage of this by scoring two goals within three minutes to lead 4-1 at the half. Although playing a man down in the second half, Denmark managed to reduce the lead to 4-2, which was the final score.
In the first round of the consolation series, Germany defeated Russia 16-0, led by Gottfried Fuchs, who scored 10 goals, equalling the Olympic record which had been set by Denmarkβs Sophus Nielsen in 1908. Harold Waldenβs 11 goals still made him the highest overall goal scorer for the Olympic tournament.
| Date | 29 June 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 29 Jun 11:00 | Finland | π Image FIN | 3 β 2 | Italy | π Image ITA | AET |
| Match #2 | 29 Jun 15:00 | Austria | π Image AUT | 5 β 1 | Germany | π Image GER | |
| Match #3 | 29 Jun 19:00 | Netherlands | π Image NED | 4 β 3 | Sweden | π Image SWE | AET |
| Match #4 | Denmark | π Image DEN | bye | ||||
| Match #5 | Russia | π Image RUS | bye | ||||
| Match #6 | Hungary | π Image HUN | bye | ||||
| Match #7 | Great Britain | π Image GBR | bye | ||||
| Match #8 | Norway | π Image NOR | beat | France | π Image FRA | walkover |
| Date | 30 June 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 30 Jun 10:00 | Finland 4 | π Image FIN | 2 β 1 | Russia | π Image RUS | |
| Match #2 | 30 Jun 13:30 | Great Britain | π Image GBR | 7 β 0 | Hungary | π Image HUN | |
| Match #3 | 30 Jun 16:30 | Denmark | π Image DEN | 7 β 0 | Norway | π Image NOR | |
| Match #4 | 30 Jun 19:00 | Netherlands | π Image NED | 3 β 1 | Austria | π Image AUT |
| Date | 2 July 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Jul 15:00 | Great Britain | π Image GBR | 4 β 0 | Finland | π Image FIN | |
| Match #2 | 02 Jul 19:00 | Denmark | π Image DEN | 4 β 1 | Netherlands | π Image NED |
| Date | 4 July 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 04 Jul 19:00 | Great Britain | π Image GBR | 4 β 2 | Denmark | π Image DEN | |
| Match 3/4 | 04 Jul 15:00 | Netherlands | π Image NED | 9 β 0 | Finland | π Image FIN |
| Date | 1 July 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Jul 11:00 | Austria | π Image AUT | 1 β 0 | Norway | π Image NOR | |
| Match #2 | 01 Jul 17:00 | Germany | π Image GER | 16 β 0 | Russia | π Image RUS | |
| Match #3 | 01 Jul 19:00 | Italy | π Image ITA | 1 β 0 | Sweden | π Image SWE | |
| Match #4 | Hungary | π Image HUN | bye |
| Date | 3 July 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 03 Jul 15:00 | Hungary | π Image HUN | 3 β 1 | Germany | π Image GER | |
| Match #2 | 03 Jul 19:00 | Austria | π Image AUT | 5 β 1 | Italy | π Image ITA |
| Date | 5 July 1912 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Jul 19:00 | Hungary | π Image HUN | 3 β 0 | Austria | π Image AUT |