When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was declared in 1914, it had a negative effect on

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

; in some countries competitions were suspended and players signed up to fight, resulting in the deaths of many players.

Frederick Wall Sir Frederick Joseph Wall (14 April 1858 – 25 March 1944) was an English football administrator. Career Wall became Secretary of the Football Association, a position he held from 1895 to 1934. He was knighted in the 1930 New Year's Honours List ...

, Secretary of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

, famously implied

Jimmy Hogan James Hogan (16 October 1882 – 30 January 1974) was an English football player and Manager (association football), coach of Irish descent. He enjoyed some success as a footballer, reaching an FA Cup semi-finals, FA Cup semi-final with Fulham F ...

was a traitor for spending the duration of World War I in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Competition

United Kingdom

English club

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

were to play their first ever match on 5 September 1914, but the match was cancelled due to the outbreak of the war. Between 1915 and 1919 competitive football was suspended in England. Many players signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead. The Football League and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

were suspended and in their place regional league competitions were set up; appearances in these tournaments do not count in players' official records. League football did continue in Scotland with the aim of maintaining morale, however the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Swiss Football League was not suspended, some 5,800 footballers – out of a total of 8,500 – signed up to fight. However, many of the pitches were destroyed – out of a total of had been turned into potato fields. After the outbreak of war in 1914, the Swiss national side did not compete again until 1920.

Englishmen on the Continent

British players and trainers who were in contract with German professional clubs were among Allied civilians interned at Ruhleben in Berlin. Sports played a major role in the lives of the detainees. Among them were several former professional

footballers A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, including three former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

internationals,

Fred Pentland Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach. Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League f ...

, Samuel Wolstenholme and

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

; a

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

international, John Cameron; a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

international,

Edwin Dutton Edwin Dutton (8 April 1890 – 24 May 1972) was an Anglo-German footballer and coach. Dutton played as a forward for Britannia Berlin 92, BFC Preussen, Newcastle United and Germany. During the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civ ...

;

John Brearley John Brearley (October 1875 – 1944) was an English association football player and manager. He played as a forward for several clubs, most notably Millwall Athletic, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. He was able to play in at least five outfi ...

, once of Everton and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and

Fred Spiksley Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford. After retiri ...

. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was another enemy Central Power.

who had briefly coached Amateure SV between 1911–12, returned to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to coach the Austrian national team in 1914.

Christmas truce

The Christmas truce, was a series of brief unofficial cessations of hostilities occurring on Christmas Eve or

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

of 1914 between

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

or French troops in

, particularly that between British and German troops stationed along the Western Front. During the truce, a game of football was played between the British and German soldiers.

Fighting footballers

The Football Battalion

On 6 September 1914, author Arthur Conan Doyle made a direct appeal for footballers to volunteer for service. Many players heeded the calls, and a special

Football Battalion The 17th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was an infantry battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, part of the British Army, which was formed as a Pals battalion during the Great War. The core of the battalion was a group of professional footbal ...

was formed, as part of the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers R ...

. The battalion was led by Frank Buckley, who later estimated that over 500 of the battalion's original 600 men had died. There were over 5,000 men playing professional football in Great Britain 1914, and of those, 2,000 joined the military services.

Edinburgh City Pals

The first of the footballers' battalions was raised in Edinburgh in November 1914 by Lieutenant Colonel

Sir George McCrae Colonel Sir George McCrae (28 August 1860 – 27 December 1928) was a Scottish textile merchant and Liberal Party politician. In Scotland he is best remembered for the creation of McCrae's Battalion, also known as the Second Edinburgh Pals Batt ...

. The 16th Royal Scots included players and supporters from Hearts, Hibernian, Falkirk and

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

, and recruitment of 1350 officers and men was completed in only six days.

Decorated footballers

A number of British footballers received medals for bravery during World War I, including

Bernard Vann Lieutenant Colonel Bernard William Vann, (9 July 1887 – 3 October 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Common ...

( MC and VC),

Donald Simpson Bell Second Lieutenant Donald Simpson Bell, VC (3 December 1890 – 10 July 1916) was an English school teacher and professional footballer. During World War I he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for actions during the Battle of the Somme in mid-1 ...

( VC), William Angus ( VC),

Jimmy Speirs James Hamilton Speirs MM (22 March 1886 – 20 August 1917) was a Scottish footballer who represented his country on one occasion, scored the winning goal in the 1911 FA Cup Final, and received the Military Medal during the First World War. ...

( MM),

Tim Coleman John George Coleman MM (26 October 1881 – 20 November 1940) was an English footballer who played as a forward for Kettering Town, Northampton Town, Woolwich Arsenal, Everton, Sunderland, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Tunbridge Wells Ran ...

( MM) and Davie Glen ( MM). Others to receive decoration include

Leigh Richmond Roose Leigh Richmond "Dick" Roose, Military Medal, MM, (27 November 1877 – 7 October 1916) was a Welsh international association football, footballer who kept goal for a number of professional clubs in the English Football League, Football League b ...

( MM) and Philip F. Fullard ( MC and AFC). Other players who were not awarded medals have also been honoured, such as

Walter Tull Walter Daniel John Tull (28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918) was an English professional footballer and British Army officer of Afro-Caribbean descent. He played as an inside forward and half back for Clapton, Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Tow ...

, who is honoured on both the

Arras Memorial The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras. The memorial commemorates 35,942 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and ...

and at Northampton Town's

Sixfields Stadium Sixfields Stadium is a 7,798-capacity all-seater sports stadium in the Sixfields area on the west side of Northampton, England. It has been the home ground of Northampton Town Football Club following their move from the County Ground in Octob ...

Players killed in action

Many football players, both amateur and professional, lost their lives. Larrett Roebuck was the first player from the English league to die, on 18 October 1914. Scottish side Heart of Midlothian lost seven players. Another Scottish side,

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

, lost six players. English team

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

, for example, lost nine players – first-team players Bob Torrance,

, Evelyn Lintott, James Conlin, James Comrie, Gerald Kirk, and reserve players George Draycott, Ernest Goodwin, and Harry Potter. William Baker, a member of the Plymouth Argyle team that won the Southern League in 1913, was killed in Serre during the Battle of the Somme. The website created by the Professional Footballers' Association, 'Football and the First World War' currently lists 296 players who were killed in the war.

Memorials

On 7 November 2004, the McCrae's Battalion Great War Memorial was unveiled in the village of Contalmaison, France after first being proposed in April 1919. It commemorates the men of

McCrae's Battalion McCrae's Battalion was the affectionate name given by the people of Edinburgh to the 16th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Scots in World War I, raised from volunteers in 1914 as part of the New Armies called to the Colours by Lord Kitchener. T ...

who were killed during the

First Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place betw ...

. On 21 October 2010, the Footballers' Battalions Memorial was unveiled at

Longueval Longueval () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Longueval is located northwest of Amiens on the D919 road, at the junction with the D8. Longueval is found in the north-east of the départeme ...

, France, near

Delville Wood The Battle of Delville Wood was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood , was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and ...

, to commemorate those from the Footballers' Battalions who had fought and died in the Great War. In October 2018, it was announced that in November 2018, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of the war, a number of clubs would plant trees as part of a 'Football Remembers' campaign.

References

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Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...