Football at the International Workers' Olympiads
Association football was included in every three editions of International Workers' Summer Olympiads in 1925, 1931 and 1937 as a men's competition sport. Tournaments were played as a single-elimination tournament. Countries were represented by selected teams of their workers' sports associations and the players were mostly amateurs. Exception was the Soviet team in 1937 as it was represented by Spartak Moscow.
Frankfurt am Main 1925
1925 Workers' Summer Olympiad was held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Participating teams in the football tournament were Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland.[1]
Group stage
Switzerland  | beat |  |
|---|---|---|
Belgium .svg.png){kind=small} | beat | |
|---|---|---|
Germany  | 6–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 3–1 | |
|---|---|---|
Semifinals
| Germany | 6–1 |  |
|---|---|---|
Vienna 1931
1931 Workers' Summer Olympiad was held in Vienna, Austria and 16 teams took part at the football tournament.[4] Leading scorer was Erwin Seeler, the father of famous German striker Uwe Seeler. He scored seven goals on a quarterfinal match against Hungary as the German team beat the Hungarians 9–0.[5]
First round
| Czechoslovakia | 4–4 (Czechoslovakia qualified after drawing lots) |  |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 3–0 |  |
|---|---|---|
Hungary  | 3–1 |  |
|---|---|---|
Quarterfinals
| Belgium | 5–0 | |
|---|---|---|
Austria  | 8–1 | |
|---|---|---|
Antwerp 1937
1937 Workers' Summer Olympiad was held in Antwerp, Belgium. It was a joint event with the Spartakiads. Participating teams came from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Soviet Union, Spanish Republican faction and Switzerland.[6] A delegation from Soviet Union was competing at the Olympiads for the first time. German athletes did not participate since labor sports organisations were disbanded in Germany by the Nazi regime in 1933. The Soviet Union was represented by Spartak Moscow.
Note: the results are not complete.
.svg.png){kind=small}
Final
Spartak Moscow  | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
Sources
References
- Helsingin Jyry: "Reino Fri - viimeinen mohikaani" Archived 2012-06-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- Finnish Workers' Association Yearbook 1925 (p. 35, in Finnish) Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- Christian Koller & Fabian Brändle: "Fussball zwischen den Kriegen: Europa 1918-1939" (p. 49, in German). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- Christian Koller & Fabian Brändle: "Fussball zwischen den Kriegen: Europa 1918-1939" (p. 50-51, in German). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- "Kein Spiel für Linksaußen" (in German). Zeit Online. 6 July 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
- History of Ponnistus (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 July 2013.