The Early Forerunners of the World Cup
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In 1908, the Summer Olympic Games were held in London. This edition of the Olympics marked the first time football was officially included as a competitive event. However, responsibility for organising the tournament was not handed to FIFA. Instead, it was managed by the Football Association, with FIFA acting merely in a supervisory capacity.
Football at the Olympic Games differed significantly from what we would normally recognise as international football today. The most notable distinction was that players had to represent their country rather than their respective football associations. In other words, there was no separate England or Scotland team at the Olympics – only a unified Great Britain side.
There was another major difference. Until the 1980s, the Olympic movement strongly upheld the ancient Greek ideal of amateur sport. Athletes were expected to compete purely for honour, not financial reward. This meant that Olympic footballers were required to be amateurs, ruling out professional players entirely.
England, rather conveniently, already possessed an England Amateur National Team, established in 1901. Although composed entirely of amateur players, England’s early development of football meant their standard was far superior to many professional sides from other countries at the time.
In November 1906, the England Amateur team travelled to France and famously defeated the French national side 15–0 on French soil. While many opponents regarded this team as England’s official national side, Britain itself has never officially recognised those results, maintaining that they belonged solely to the amateur team.
Given Britain’s dominance in amateur football, it was entirely logical for this team to represent Great Britain at the 1908 Olympics – although, despite being made up entirely of English players, they had to compete under the banner of Great Britain.
Only six teams entered the Olympic football tournament that year. Great Britain cruised through the competition, defeating Sweden 12–1, the Netherlands 4–0, and Denmark 2–0 in the final to claim the gold medal with remarkable ease.
Yet for many football enthusiasts around the world, Olympic football lacked excitement. Fans wanted to see international competition between professional players. Unfortunately, FIFA was still in its infancy and lacked the authority and resources to organise such tournaments.
Surprisingly, the first attempt to create a global professional football competition came not from a governing body, but from a newspaper.
That newspaper was Italy’s La Stampa, one of the country’s oldest publications. In 1908, they organised a tournament known as the International Sporting Press Tournament, held in Turin.
Four clubs took part:
Union Sportive Parisienne from France
Freiburg FC from Germany
Torino FC from Italy
Servette FC from Switzerland
It should be noted that Freiburg FC was unrelated to the modern Bundesliga side SC Freiburg.
After completing the first round, Freiburg withdrew from the competition. Their place was taken by Juventus, meaning the tournament ultimately featured five clubs from four countries. Servette went on to defeat Torino 3–1 in the final, lifting the trophy.
The competition successfully brought together professional footballers from multiple countries and was regarded by Italian organisers as a genuine international professional tournament. However, there was one major disappointment – no British club participated. Given that British football was widely considered the most advanced in the world, the absence of British teams undermined the tournament’s claim to global legitimacy.
Determined to correct this, the Italian royal family planned to organise another international tournament – one that would include British participation. The responsibility for achieving this fell to a businessman named Sir Thomas Lipton.
Many people today recognise the name Lipton as one of the world’s largest tea brands. The company was founded by Sir Thomas Lipton himself. A Scotsman by birth, Lipton collaborated with the Italian royal family and promised to bring British teams into a new international tournament.
In 1909, the competition was held in Turin and became known as the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy. Participating clubs included:
Torino FC from Italy
Sportfreunde Stuttgart from Germany
FC Winterthur from Switzerland
All three clubs were well-respected sides in their respective countries. However, the Football Association refused to send an official English team, dismissing the tournament entirely.
Having already promised British participation, Lipton found himself in a difficult position. Eventually, he turned to West Auckland Town FC, an amateur club from County Durham made up largely of coal miners.
The players were eager to take part and even funded their own journey to Italy. Despite their amateur status, the standard of British football still far exceeded that of most continental teams. West Auckland comfortably defeated Sportfreunde Stuttgart 2–0 in the semi-final and FC Winterthur 2–0 in the final to win the inaugural Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy.
Two years later, West Auckland returned to defend their title. They once again reached the final, where they emphatically defeated Juventus 6–1 to retain the trophy.
According to the competition rules, West Auckland Town were allowed to keep the trophy permanently. However, the financially struggling club later pawned it to their landlady upon returning to England. The trophy remained in her possession for decades before being stolen in 1994. It has never been recovered.
The story of West Auckland’s remarkable triumph was later adapted into a British film titled The World Cup: A Captain’s Tale, released in 1982. The film’s title reflects how many in Britain came to regard the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy as an early precursor to the modern FIFA World Cup – even though it featured club sides rather than national teams.
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