Guest grovecot Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Someone sent me a link to http://www.planetworldcup.com/GUESTS/andre20050213.html earlier. I've never heard of this before and was wondering if anyone else knew about it. If you don't want to click the link the gist of it is as follows: Tournoi International de Amsterdam, 1902 - forerunner of FIFA World Cup. In 1902 Carl Hirschmann, a Dutch banker and financier, first conceived the idea of World Championship and wrote a letter to the President of English FA, outlining his vision of this tournament. As it turned out, it took almost a year for him to reply, and the answer was negative. However, Carl Hirschmann was not to be discouraged, and decided in the meantime, well aware about British attitude and in order to promote and support his idea, to hold a one-off unofficial demonstration tournament. So, the tournament was proposed for the second half of October 1902 in Amsterdam, but in order to simplify the procedure and ensure the maximal number of participants, it was decided that instead of proper national teams, countries will be represented by their club champions. six teams finally entered the tournament. In the first round, French champions Racing Club de Roubaix cruised past FC Zurich (Switzerland), and the Dutch champions H.V.V. beat their Belgian counterparts Racing Club Brussels. But in the semifinals, both teams were routed by Denmark and Glasgow Rangers FC respectively. In match for the third place H.V.V. vs Racing Club de Roubaix, the Dutch team easily dealt with the French, and the consolation match FC Zurich vs Racing Club Brussels was won by the champions of Belgium. In the final match, Glasgow Rangers simply demolished Danish team thus confirming the overwhelming British football superiority. Overall, the tournament was a huge success which only convinced its organizer Carl Hirschmann not to give up and further promote with confidence his idea of World Championship. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rfc_joe Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 never heard of that before but sounds good 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisabeer 409 Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Ive flicked through the history books a few times but have never came across this. Good stuff. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I have heard that Queens park were actually also named world champions at the end of the 1800's with much a similar story. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurlock 0 Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I shot JR in 86 ! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colshy18 0 Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 i thought it was `dusty` never heard of it either. i will look into it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.