| Size: | 150px |
| City: | London |
| Dates: | 19–24 October 1908 |
| Num Teams: | 6 |
| Venues: | White City Stadium |
| Count: | 2 |
| Matches: | 6 |
| Goals: | 48 |
| Top Scorer: | Sophus Nielsen (11 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 1904 (1906) |
| Nextseason: | 1912 |
At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, an official football tournament between national representative selections was contested for the first time; football had been played between club teams at the Games of 1900 and 1904.[1] [2]
There were eight entries, including two from France (the main team and a B team). [3] Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew after the draw and appointment of referees, leaving six teams to contest the tournament.
Great Britain won the gold medal representing the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland), although all the players were from England.
Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen of Denmark set a record by scoring 10 goals in a 17–1 win over France A. The famous mathematician Harald Bohr, brother of the even more famous Niels Bohr, also played for Denmark, who won the silver medal.
The match schedule of the tournament.[4]
| R1 | First round | SF | Semi-finals | B | Bronze medal match | F | Gold medal match |
| 19 Mon | 20 Tue | 21 Wed | 22 Thu | 23 Fri | 24 Sat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R1 | ½ | B | F |
See main article: Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads.
With eight entries, the tournament draw had a full quarterfinal round of four matches.
However, after the draw and appointment of referees, (on 12 October) and (on 14 October) were both forced to withdraw due to financial reasons: their opponents, the Netherlands and France respectively, were awarded a 2–0 victory.
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Originally, all six teams eliminated before the final were to participate in a consolation tournament for the bronze medal, with two first-round matches to be played on 21 October between the four quarter-final losers.
After Hungary and Bohemia both withdrew, the first round was scratched on 15 October, with France B and Sweden qualifying for the semi-finals of the consolation tournament.
France B, Sweden and the two semi-final losers, France and the Netherlands, were scheduled to play the semi-finals on 23 October: the French teams were drawn against each other, and the Netherlands were drawn against Sweden, with the winners playing off in the bronze medal match prior to the gold medal match on 24 October.
However, both French teams had returned home immediately after their crushing defeats to Denmark on 19 October and 22 October: therefore, their semi-final and the 24 October bronze medal match were both scratched, with the Netherlands v Sweden semi-final becoming the bronze medal match.[7]
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Complete list of medal winners:[8]
| Event | align=center bgcolor=gold | Gold | align=center bgcolor=silver | Silver | align=center bgcolor=cc9966 | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's tournament | Horace Bailey Arthur Berry Frederick Chapman Walter Corbett Harold Hardman Robert Hawkes Kenneth Hunt Herbert Smith Harold Stapley Clyde Purnell Vivian Woodward George Barlow[9] Albert Bell Ronald Brebner W. Crabtree Walter Daffern Thomas Porter Albert Scothern | valign=top | Peter Marius Andersen Harald Bohr Charles Buchwald Ludvig Drescher Johannes Gandil Harald Hansen August Lindgren Kristian Middelboe Nils Middelboe Sophus Nielsen Oskar Nørland Bjørn Rasmussen Vilhelm Wolfhagen Magnus Beck Ødbert E. Bjarnholt Knud Hansen Einar Middelboe | valign=top | Reinier Beeuwkes Frans de Bruyn Kops Karel Heijting Jan Kok Bok de Korver Emil Mundt Louis Otten Jops Reeman Edu Snethlage Ed Sol Jan Thomée Caius Welcker Jan van den Berg Lo la Chapelle Vic Gonsalves John Heijting Tonie van Renterghem |
| Place | Name | Team | Goals allowed | Games | GAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.33 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | 2.00 | |||
| 4 | 14 | 2 | 7.00 | |||
| 5 | 9 | 1 | 9.00 | |||
| 6 | 17 | 1 | 17.00 |