Football at the International Workers' Olympiads

The teams of Germany and Finland entering the field before the final of the 1925 Workers' Summer Olympiad in Frankfurt.

Association football was included in every three editions of International Workers' Summer Olympiads in 1925, 1931 and 1937 as a men's competition sport. Tournaments were played as a single-elimination tournament. Countries were represented by selected teams of their workers' sports associations and the players were mostly amateurs. Exception was the Soviet team in 1937 as it was based mostly on the team of masters of Spartak sports society out of Moscow and participating in the recently established in the Soviet Union competitions of football teams of sports societies, Class A, a predecessor of the Soviet Top League.

Frankfurt am Main 1925

1925 Workers' Summer Olympiad was held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Participating teams in the football tournament were Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland.[1]

Group stage

Switzerland SwitzerlandbeatFrance France
Waldstadion football grounds, Frankfurt am Main
Belgium BelgiumbeatSwitzerland Switzerland
Waldstadion football grounds, Frankfurt am Main
Germany Germany6–0Switzerland Switzerland
Waldstadion football grounds, Frankfurt am Main
Finland Finland4–2 [2]Belgium Belgium
Waldstadion football grounds, Frankfurt am Main
Germany Germany3–1Belgium Belgium
Waldstadion football grounds, Frankfurt am Main

Semifinals

Germany Germany6–1Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
Waldstadion football grounds, Frankfurt am Main

Final

Germany Germany2–0Finland Finland
Attendance: 40,000[3]

Vienna 1931

1931 Workers' Summer Olympiad was held in Vienna, Austria and 16 teams took part at the football tournament.[4] Leading scorer was Erwin Seeler, the father of famous German striker Uwe Seeler. He scored seven goals on a quarterfinal match against Hungary as the German team beat the Hungarians 9–0.[5]

First round

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia4–4
(Czechoslovakia qualified after drawing lots)		Norway Norway
Switzerland Switzerland3–0Latvia Latvia
Austria Austria5–1Finland Finland
Hungary Hungary3–1 Mandatory Palestine
Poland Poland1–0Estonia Estonia
Germany Germany8–1Denmark Denmark

Quarterfinals

Belgium Belgium5–0France France
Austria Austria8–1Switzerland Switzerland
Germany Germany9–0Hungary Hungary
Poland Poland3–2Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia

Semifinals

Austria Austria3–1Belgium Belgium
Germany Germany4–1Poland Poland

Final

Austria Austria3–2Germany Germany
Attendance: 65,000[4]

Consolation tournament

Norway Norway5–0Estonia Estonia
Norway Norway6–3Finland Finland
Norway Norway4–0 Mandatory Palestine

Antwerp 1937

1937 Workers' Summer Olympiad was held in Antwerp, Belgium. It was a joint event with the Spartakiads. Participating teams came from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Soviet Union, Spanish Republican faction and Switzerland.[6] A delegation from Soviet Union was competing at the Olympiads for the first time. German athletes did not participate since labor sports organisations were disbanded in Germany by the Nazi regime in 1933. The Soviet Union was represented by Spartak Moscow.

Note: the results are not complete.

First round

Spartak Moscow Soviet Union8–0Denmark Denmark
Norway Norway7–1 Mandatory Palestine
Switzerland Switzerland3–2Finland Finland

Quarterfinals

Spanish Republicans Second Spanish Republic2–0Belgium Belgium
Spartak Moscow Soviet Union7–1France France
Norway Norway4–0Switzerland Switzerland

Semifinals

Spartak Moscow Soviet Union2–1Second Spanish Republic Spanish Republicans
Norway Norway3–1Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia

Final

Spartak Moscow Soviet Union2–0Norway Norway
Attendance: 25,000

Consolation tournament

Source:[6]

Finland Finland5–0
w.o. (1–1)		 Mandatory Palestine
England England2–1Finland Finland

Sources

References

  1. ^ Helsingin Jyry: "Reino Fri - viimeinen mohikaani" Archived 2012-06-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  2. ^ Finnish Workers' Association Yearbook 1925 Archived 2016-04-28 at the Wayback Machine (p. 35, in Finnish) Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  3. ^ Christian Koller & Fabian Brändle: "Fussball zwischen den Kriegen: Europa 1918-1939" (p. 49, in German). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b Christian Koller & Fabian Brändle: "Fussball zwischen den Kriegen: Europa 1918-1939" (p. 50-51, in German). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Kein Spiel für Linksaußen" (in German). Zeit Online. 6 July 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b History of Ponnistus Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 July 2013.