The 1900 Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz was the 1st staging of the
Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz
The Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz, also known as Coupe Ponthoz, was an international competition for football clubs from Europe that ran from 1900 to 1909. It was one of the first European club football tournaments and is considered a predecesso ...
, which is regarded as one of the first
European trophies.
The tournament was held in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, between 15 and 17 April 1900.
The tournament was won by
R.A.P., who played and defeated the reigning champions of Belgium (
Racing Club Racing Club may refer to:
Football
* Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast
* K.R.C. Genk, Belgium
* Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon
* Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon
* Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina
* Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti
* Racing Club Port ...
), the Netherlands (
H.V.V.) and Switzerland (
Grasshopper Club) on three successive days. As these three were the only existing leagues in continental Europe at the time, the local newspapers dubbed the tournament the club championship of the continent, and thus, R.A.P. might be considered the first ever continental European Champions.
Participants
Belgium, the Netherlands,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
sent their best and most prestigious club sides to the tournament (
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
clubs had also been invited to enter but did not register). The hosts, Belgium, sent three teams, Antwerp Daring Club (a second-level side),
Royal Léopold FC and reigning national champions
Racing Club de Bruxelles. The Netherlands sent two teams,
R.A.P. and the then Dutch champions (
H.V.V.), while Switzerland and France sent one each, Swiss champions
Grasshopper Club and
Iris Club Lille (now
Lille OSC
Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...
), which had won the
1899 French Championship.
Overview
Because they were 7 teams, two received a bye to the semi-finals while the other five would have to face off for the remaining two spots in the semis. Antwerp Daring Club, who was a second-level side, withdrew after the draw as they were to play fellow Belgians Léopold in a preliminary round, with the winners meeting H.V.V. in the first round. They were not replaced, so Léopold qualified for the first round by default. The only two clubs who weren't either Belgian or Dutch, Grasshopper and Iris, were the two teams who got the byes to the semi-finals, however, the latter withdrew for unclear reasons, so they had to be replaced by a "B team" of Racing (which, like the main team, could only include the maximum number of five English players).
[
All matches at the field of Léopold FC at Chaussée de Waterloo 513. The tournament ended up being a nightmare for the hosts, as Belgium's two main teams were knocked out in the first round by the two Dutch clubs in front of their own fans, which the local newspapers dubbed as "a national humiliation". The two Dutch clubs then beat "Racing II" and Switzerland's Grasshopper in the semi-finals, meaning that what might be the first-ever European final in history was an all-Dutch affair between H.V.V and R.A.P. The final, which was held on 16 April 1900 at The Hague, saw R.A.P. lift the trophy after upsetting the national champions with a 2–1 victory, thanks to two late goals, one from Jan van den Berg, who had netted two in the semi-finals, and the winner from ]Julius Hisgen
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the c ...
.[
]
Bracket
Results
First round
Bye (2):
: Grasshopper Club
: Iris Club Lille (replaced by "Racing II")
Note: Gorter, Van den Berg (both Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
) were guest players.
Note: Miel Mundt played for H.V.V. as a guest player.
Semi-finals
Note: Grasshopper reportedly included one English player (the outside left) and one Dutch player, captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Harry Blijdensteijn, who scored his side's two goals.[
----]
Final
Winner
Statistics
Top Scorers
Aftermath
After the tournament, Grasshopper played three friendlies
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
in the Netherlands, albeit without some first-choice players who had played in their semifinal clash:[
]
Legacy
The tournament was organized as a punctual international competition between European clubs. However, its success led to the introduction of the Coupe Vanden Abeele in Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, in the following year, originally intended as another international club tournament, but eventually the starting point for the Low Countries derby
The Low Countries derby ( nl, Derby der Lage Landen, french: Derby des Plats Pays), is the name given in Association football, football to any match between Belgium national football team, Belgium and the Netherlands national football team, Nethe ...
.[
The 1900 Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz is generally considered informally as the first European tournament, although this title is also contested by the ]Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
, a competition between clubs in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
which started three years before, in 1897. However, this tournament up until the 1900–01 season, only featured teams from Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, so the 7–0 win by Vienna Cricket over Wiener FC 1898 on 21 November 1897 may not be regarded as the first ever truly international club final.[
]
See also
* 1895 World Championship
* 1897 Challenge Cup
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City.
* January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...
* 1909 Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
References
{{Pioneer association football tournaments in Europe
1900–01 in European football
Defunct international club association football competitions in Europe
1900–01 in Belgian football
1900–01 in Swiss football
1900–01 in French football
1900 in Dutch sport