The Challenge international du Nord (Northern International Challenge) was an annual

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament featuring clubs from Northern France and

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 ...

as they could not play in the

French Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

. Later teams from

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 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and England were invited to play. It was hosted in the

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

area (

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a Communes of France, commune within the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), ...

and

) between 1898 and 1914 in different formats.

The Tournament

The tournament format changed over the years, originally being played between a French group of teams and a Belgium group, with the semi-finals being played between a French and a Belgian team. From 1905, the tournament was opened to clubs from the

, Prinses Wilhelmina en 1905 and GVC Wageningen. Also from

BSC Old Boys Basler Sportclub Old Boys, commonly known as BSC Old Boys, Old Boys Basel or simply Old Boys or when written just OB, is a Swiss sports club based in Basel. The club is mainly known for its football but it also has track, swimming and tennis se ...

and

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

. Between 1909 and 1914, the tournament was exclusively played between French clubs and amateur clubs from England .

Awards

With the exception of

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club (; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The club was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making Le Havre AC the oldest professional French foo ...

in 1900, the clubs from Belgium won trophies between 1898 and 1908 .

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jos ...

being the most successful reaching four finals in five years and winning three of them (1904, 1905, 1907).

RC Roubaix Racing Club de Roubaix was a French association football team that played in Roubaix, Nord. History The team was founded in 1895 and was very successful before the establishment of professionalism in France. In 1933, after losing twice in a ...

, , align=center, 4–0 , , , - ! 7 , align=center, 1904 , , align=left,

Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise , abbreviated to Union SG or USG, unofficially simply called Union, is a Belgian football club originally located in the municipality of Saint-Gilles, in Brussels, although since the 1920s it has been based at the Jo ...

(1), , align=left,

United Sports Club United Sports Club (formerly known as both Prayag United, and Chirag United) is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded as Eveready Association in 1927, the club competes in the Calcutta ...

, , align=center, 5–0 , , , - ! 8 , align=center, 1905 , , align=left,

(2), , align=left, Enschedese Football Club Prinses Wilhelmina , , align=center, 3–1 , , , - ! 9 , align=center, 1906 , , align=left,

Antwerp FC Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgium, Belgian Association football, football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residi ...

(2), , align=left,

US Tourcoing Union Sportive Tourquennoise, commonly shortened to US Tourcoing, is a French football club founded in 1902 and based in Tourcoing. The club played in the Championnat National 3 (and its previous incarnation at the fifth level) for five seasons ...

, , align=center, 3–2 , , , - ! 10 , align=center, 1907 , , align=left,

(3), , align=left,

Olympique Lillois Olympique Lillois was a French association football club from the city of Lille. Founded in 1902 they merged with SC Fives in 1944 to form Lille OSC. Honours Championnat de France *Champion: 1914, 1933 *Runner-up: 1936 Events Jan ...

, , align=center, 4–0 , , , - ! 11 , align=center, 1908 , , align=left,

Racing Club de Bruxelles Koninklijke Football Club Rhodienne-De Hoek is a Belgian association football club based in Sint-Genesius-Rode, Flemish Brabant. The club was created in 1894 as Racing Football Club. It became a member of the Royal Belgian Football Association ...

(2), , align=left,

, , align=center, 1–0 , , , - ! 12 , align=center, 1909 , , align=left, Eastbourne FC (1), , align=left,

, , align=center, 5–1 , , , - ! 13 , align=center, 1910 , , align=left,

Reigate Priory F.C. Reigate Priory Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Reigate, Surrey, England. They are currently members of the Mid-Sussex League Premiership and play at Park Lane. History The club can trace its history as far back ...

(1), , align=left, CA Paris , , align=center, 3–0 , , , - ! 14 , align=center, 1911 , , align=left,

(1), , align=left, Cambridge Town F.C. , , align=center, 2–1 , , , - ! 15 , align=center, 1912 , , align=left, Cambridge Town F.C. (1), , align=left,

, , align=center, 4–1 , , , - ! 16 , align=center, 1913 , , align=left,

(2), , align=left,

Club français Club Français was a French association football club based in Paris which was founded in 1890. Club Français won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship and Coupe de France Final 1931. In 1900 the USFSA elected players from Club Français to ...

, , align=center, ''Unknown'' , , , - ! 17 , align=center, 1914 , , align=left, CASG Paris (1), , align=left,

, , align=center, 7–0 , ,

Sources

*RSSSF et archives Pages de Foot *Olivier Chovaux, ''50 ans de football dans le Pas-de-Calais'', Arras, Artois Presses Université, 2001 {{Portal, Association football

External links

RSSSF Challenge international du Nord
Association football friendly trophies 1898 in association football