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 Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

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 ...

. During the

First World War 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 ...

he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany. During the 1920s he managed

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. History In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...

and became the first professional trainer at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. www.prideofanglia.com
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Birthplace

Dutton's parents migrated from England to Germany where his father, Thomas Edwin Dutton, became a sporting pioneer, helping introduce

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 ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. As a result, there is some confusion over where Edwin was actually born. Conflicting sources have claimed

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

or Mittelwalde in Germany. This town is now known as

Międzylesie Międzylesie (german: Mittelwalde) is a town in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina Międzylesie, close to the Czech border. It lies approxim ...

and is in modern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Others have given his birthplace as Berlin.Ruhleben website
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Playing career

Dutton went to school in Berlin and played as right-winger for Britannia Berlin 92 and BFC Preussen. In 1909-10 he played for BFC Preussen against Holstein Kiel, in a quarter-final of the German championship. While playing for BFC Preussen, Dutton also played one game for

, a 3–3 draw with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

on 4 April 1909. The game was refereed by

Hugo Meisl Hugo Meisl (16 November 1881 – 17 February 1937), brother of the journalist Willy Meisl, was the multi-lingual football coach of the famous Austrian ' Wunderteam' of the early 1930s, as well as a referee. Background Meisl was born to a Jewish ...

. Later on, Dutton was with

for a while but then returned to Berlin, rejoining his first club, Britannia 92. He became eligible to play in league and cup matches as from January 1913 following longish discussions concerning his amateur status. In February that same year, he played for Berlin against Paris.

Prisoner in Germany

When the First World War began, Dutton was resident at Blücherstraße 42 in Berlin and was working as a sports outfitter. He was arrested in Berlin on 6 November 1914, and sent to Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in the

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

district. While there he was interned in Barrack 1. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. Dutton was one of several former professional footballers at Ruhleben. Others included 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 ...

, John Cameron, a former

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

international and

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 ...

, a former Everton and

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

player. The Ruhleben Football Association organised cup and league competitions and as many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. The teams adopted the names of established teams and in November 1914 Dutton played in a cup final as an outside left for a ''Tottenham Hotspur'' team that also featured Bloomer. Their opponents were an ''

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

'' team. The Tottenham team won the game which was refereed by Wolstenholme. Dutton also occasionally played

at Ruhleben. Picture of Dutton at Rubleben
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutton, Edwin 1890 births 1972 deaths German men's footballers English men's footballers Germany men's international footballers English football managers German football managers Stuttgarter Kickers managers Newcastle United F.C. players World War I civilian detainees held by Germany BFC Preussen players Men's association football forwards People from Kłodzko County Footballers from Lower Silesian Voivodeship