Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Men's football at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Dates	October 19–20 (quarterfinals) October 22 (semifinals) October 23 (bronze match) October 24 (final)
Competitors	72 from 5 nations
Medalists
Great Britain national football team Great Britain   Denmark national football team Denmark   Netherlands national football team Netherlands
«1904	1912»

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, an official football tournament was contested for the first time. Eight teams entered (including two from France), although Hungary and Bohemia withdrew before the start. The Football Association, who were the organisers of the event, entered the England national amateur team who represented 'Great Britain'.^{[citation needed]} Denmark's Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen set a record by scoring 10 goals in a 17-1 win against France.

Medal table

Position	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1	Great Britain (GBR)	1	0	0
2	Denmark (DEN)	0	1	0
3	Netherlands (NED)	0	0	1
—	France (FRA)	0	0	0
	Sweden (SWE)	0	0	0

Medal summary

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men's tournament	Great Britain	Denmark	Netherlands

Squads

• Main article: Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics - Men's team squads

Results

Quarter-finals

19 October 1908	Netherlands	w/o	Hungary

19 October 1908	Denmark	9–0	France B	White City Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Kyle (Great Britain)
	N. Middelboe  10'  49' Wolfhagen  15'  17'  67'  72' Bohr  25'  47' S. Nielsen  78'

20 October 1908	France A	w/o	Bohemia

20 October 1908	Great Britain	12–1	Sweden	White City Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Ibbotson (Great Britain)
	Stapley  15'  ??' Woodward  ??'  ??' Berry  ??' Chapman  ??' Purnell  ??'  ??'  ??'  ??' Hawkes  ??'  ??'		Bergström  65'

Semi-finals

22 October 1908	Great Britain	4–0	Netherlands	White City, London Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Howcroft (Great Britain)
	Stapley  37'  60'  64'  75'

22 October 1908	Denmark	17–1	France A	White City, London Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Campbell (Great Britain)
	S.Nielsen  3'  4'  6'  39'  46'  48'  52'  64'  66'  76' Lindgren  18'  37' Wolfhagen  60'  72'  82'  89' N.Middelboe  68'		Sartorius  16'

Bronze medal match

The French were so shocked by their humiliating 17-1 defeat against Denmark that they declined to play for the bronze medal. After France forfeited, the Netherlands played Sweden for third place.^[1]

23 October 1908	Netherlands	2–0[2]	Sweden	White City, London Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Pearson (Great Britain).[3]
	Reeman  6', Snethlage  58'

Gold medal match

24 October 1908	Great Britain	2–0	Denmark	White City, London Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Lewis (Great Britain)
	Chapman  20' Woodward  46'

Statistics

Scoring

15 footballers scored over the course of the tournament. Nielsen, with 10 goals in one game and 11 over the full event, set a pair of daunting records.

Place	Name	Nation	Goals
1	Sophus Nielsen	Denmark	11
2	Vilhelm Wolffhagen	Denmark	8
3	Harold Stapley	Great Britain	6
4	Clyde Purnell	Great Britain	4
5	Nils Middelboe	Denmark	3
	Vivian Woodward	Great Britain	3
7	Harald Bohr	Denmark	2
	Frederick Chapman	Great Britain	2
	Robert Hawkes	Great Britain	2
	August Lindgren	Denmark	2
11	Gustaf Bergström	Sweden	1
	Arthur Berry	Great Britain	1
	Jops Reeman	Netherlands	1
	Émile Sartorius	France	1
	Edu Snethlage	Netherlands	1

Goalkeeping

Place	Name	Nation	Goals allowed	Games	GAA
1	Horace Bailey	Great Britain	1	3	0.33
2	Ludvig Drescher	Denmark	3	3	1.00
3	Reinier Beeuwkes	Netherlands	4	2	2.00
4	Oskar Bengtsson	Sweden	14	2	7.00
5	Fernand Desrousseaux	France	9	1	9.00
6	Maurice Tillette	France	17	1	17.00

Sources

1. ^ IFFHS
2. ^ The official report states that the score was 2-1. http://www.aafla.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1908/1908.pdf "Holland and Sweden also played for the consolation stakes, and Holland scored two goals to one from Sweden, who were rather unlucky in not getting a second."
3. ^ "Netherlands 2 Sweden 0 (Match summary)". www.footballdatabase.eu. 23 October 1908. http://www.footballdatabase.eu/football.coupe.pays-bas.suede.43730.en.html. Retrieved 5 May 2009. 

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association. 
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Football 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/foo1908.html. Retrieved 2 May 2006. 
• Reyes, Macario (2001). "IV. Olympiad London 1908 Football Tournament". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/ol1908f.html. Retrieved 2 May 2006. 

v • d • e Football at the Summer Olympics 1896 • 1900 • 1904  • 1906 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 • 2012 List of medalists