Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics was one of the 102 events at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.[1] It was the fourth time that football was on the Olympic schedule.
The Swedish Football Association ran the tournament, just as the English Football Association had organised the 1908 Olympic football competition in London, England. Three stadiums hosted the eleven matches of the main tournament from 29 June to 4 July 1912. Two were played at Tranebergs Idrottsplats in a suburb of Stockholm, five including the bronze medal match took place at Råsunda Idrottsplats, also outside Stockholm, and four including the final match were held at the Olympiastadion.
Seven teams were eliminated in two rounds ending with the quarterfinal matches, 30 June, and these teams played off in a consolation tournament from 1 July to 5 July, comprising six matches at the same three stadiums. Hungary won the consolation tournament.
Competition schedule
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The tournament saw a record 14 teams enter, all of them from Europe: however, the entry of Bohemia was rejected as their association had been voted out of FIFA in 1908, while Belgium withdrew two weeks before the draw due to a lack of players being available to travel. Subsequently, France withdrew three days after the draw: their opponents, Norway, were awarded a 2–0 victory.
In the first round of the tournament, the hosts from Sweden went out in the opening match against the Netherlands. Fighting back from a 1–3 deficit with half an hour to go, Sweden only lost 4–3 on a goal scored by Dutch player Jan Vos in extra time. At Tranebergs Idrottsplats, Austrian football pioneer Hugo Meisl was the referee as Finland beat Italy, also in extra time.
In the second round, Finland won again, this time beating Russia, who had received a bye in the first round. By this stage, Great Britain team entered the contest, drawn to play against Hungary at Olympiastadion. Great Britain was captained by Vivian Woodward, a record-scoring centre-forward from Chelsea, who had formed part of Great Britain's gold medal winning side of the 1908 Summer Olympics. Led by forward Harold Walden, who scored six goals, Great Britain defeated Hungary by 7–0.
In the semi-final round, Walden scored all four goals as Great Britain defeated Finland 4–0. In the other semi-final Denmark beat the Netherlands 4–1; the Dutch consolation goal put behind goalkeeper Sophus Hansen by Danish defender Harald Hansen. For the second successive time, the final would pair Great Britain with Denmark, and like in 1908, the team representing Great Britain would win gold medals, although this game would be closer than the 4–2 score-line suggested. With no rule allowing substitutions, Denmark played with ten men after the 30th minute when Charles Buchwald was injured and had to be taken from the pitch on a stretcher.
A consolation tournament ran conjunctively with the tournament proper paired the losers of the first and second rounds, and was eventually won by Hungary,[5] although no medals were awarded for the top three finishers in that tournament.[3]
The database of the International Olympic Committee lists only the eleven players as medalists for each nation, who played in the first match for their nation.[6] The following list contains these eleven players, as well as all other players who made at least one appearance for their team during the tournament.
(Left): Great Britain, Gold Medal; (right): Denmark team, Silver Medal winner
^135 players took part in the main tournament, and another 28 players only played in the consolation tournament. Also there are 33 reserve players known, which are not included.
Great Britain (3rd title)
Denmark
Netherlands
Finland
Gottfried Fuchs (10 goals)
