The English Football League and FA Cup are suspended due to the World War. In their place regional league competitions are set up. Many footballers sign up to fight in the war and as a result many teams are depleted, and field guest players instead. Manchester City and Nottingham Forest (from the Second Division) win the Lancashire and Midland Section of the league, respectively. The Lancashire Section seems to be strongest one, maybe some representative matches between the leading teams could be listed here. Details about the wartime Football League matches in England can be found here. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/eng16.html The Lancashire Section seems to be strongest one, maybe some representative matches between the leading teams could be listed here. In South America Uruguay wins the first South American Championship in July in Argentina in a round-robin format, drawing with Argentina 0-0 in the last match of the tournament. The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) is founded during the tournament. http://www.rsssf.com/tables/16safull.html Nacional, the champion of Uruguay from Montevideo, wins the Aldao Cup, a competition between the national champions of Argentina and Uruguay, beating Racing 2-1 in December in Buenos Aires. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Aldao_1916 I will list some important matches from Europe below. Scottish League, Celtic-Rangers 2-2, 1.1.1916, Glasgow, Celtic Park, Attendance: 40,000 goals: McAtee, McColl / Cunningham, (o.g.) best players: ? Glasgow Charity Cup, Celtic-Partick Thistle 2-0, ?.5.1916, Glasgow, Ibrox Park, Attendance: ? goals: ? best players: ? Wartime International, England-Scotland 4-3, 13.5.1916, Goodison Park, Liverpool, Attendance: 22,000 goals: Joe Smith; Hampton; Abrams; Mosscrop / Scott, Reid, Galt best players: ? AUT-HUN 3-1, 7.5.1916, Hütteldorfer Sportplatz, Vienna, Attendance: 8,000 goals: Bauer 2, Studnicka / Kertész captains: Studnicka / Bíró Schlosser was suspended for half a year after he left FTC for MTK last December. DEN-SWE 2-0, 4.6.1916, Copenhagen, Attendance: 20,000 goals: Poul Nielsen 2 captains: Middelboe HUN-AUT 2-1, 4.6.1916, Hungária körút, Budapest, Attendance: 16,000 goals: Schaffer, Schlosser / Bauer captains: Schlosser (MTK) / Studnicka NOR-DEN 0-2, 25.6.1916, Oslo, Attendance: 12,000 goals: Rohde 2 captains: Berth HUN-AUT 2-3, 1.10.1916, Üllői út, Budapest, Attendance: 16,000 goals: Tóth-Potya, Schaffer / Bauer 2, Grundwald captains: Schlosser (MTK) / Studnicka SWE-DEN 4-0, 8.10.1916, Stockholm, Attendance: 18,000 goals: Karlstrand, Gustafsson, Svensson, Bergström captains: Frykman / Berth DEN-NOR 8-0, 15.10.1916, Copenhagen, Attendance: 10,000 goals: Rohde 3, Poul Nielsen 4, Anton Olsen captains: Berth Scottish League, Celtic-Rangers 0-0, 18.10.1916, Glasgow, Celtic Park, Attendance: ? best players: ? AUT-HUN 3-3, 5.11.1916, Hütteldorfer Sportplatz, Vienna, Attendance: 7,000 goals: Bauer 2, Kraus / Schlosser, Konrád, Schaffer captains: Studnicka / Csüdör
Additions in red. I will list some important matches from Europe below. Scottish League, Celtic-Rangers 2-2, 1.1.1916, Glasgow, Celtic Park, Attendance: 40,000 goals: McAtee, McColl / Cunningham, (o.g.) best players: Gallacher, McAtee / Bowie, Manderson, Muir Glasgow Charity Cup, Celtic-Partick Thistle 2-0, 13.5.1916, Glasgow, Ibrox Park, Attendance: 30,000 goals: Young, Gallacher best players: McMenemy, Gallacher, Dodds / Wartime International, England-Scotland 4-3, 13.5.1916, Goodison Park, Liverpool, Attendance: 22,000 goals: Joe Smith; Hampton; Abrams; Mosscrop / Scott, W Reid, Galt best players: Walden, Buchan / Teams: England: Robinson – Weller, Boocock – Abrams, Boyle, Brennan – Fred Walden, Buchan, Hampton, Joe Smith, Mosscrop. Four of the forward line played in England's last official international in 1914. The other forward here was Buchan. Scotland: Campbell - Henry, Frew – Logan, Galt, Scott – JG Reid, Dawson, W Reid, Allan, Wilson. Scotland were weakened by the absence of representatives from Celtic, who were playing Partick the same day in the Glasgow Charity Cup. One of several late replacements, Percy Dawson of Blackburn was not Scottish but had once played for Hearts. Rest of Scottish League 1 Celtic 0, 20.5.1916, Hampden Park Attendance: 40,000 Goal: Jock Simpson Best Players: Gordon, Mercer, Nellies / McMenemy AUT-HUN 3-1, 7.5.1916, Hütteldorfer Sportplatz, Vienna, Attendance: 8,000 goals: Bauer 2, Studnicka / Kertész captains: Studnicka / Bíró Schlosser was suspended for half a year after he left FTC for MTK last December. DEN-SWE 2-0, 4.6.1916, Copenhagen, Attendance: 20,000 goals: Poul Nielsen 2 captains: Middelboe HUN-AUT 2-1, 4.6.1916, Hungária körút, Budapest, Attendance: 16,000 goals: Schaffer, Schlosser / Bauer captains: Schlosser (MTK) / Studnicka NOR-DEN 0-2, 25.6.1916, Oslo, Attendance: 12,000 goals: Rohde 2 captains: Berth HUN-AUT 2-3, 1.10.1916, Üllői út, Budapest, Attendance: 16,000 goals: Tóth-Potya, Schaffer / Bauer 2, Grundwald captains: Schlosser (MTK) / Studnicka SWE-DEN 4-0, 8.10.1916, Stockholm, Attendance: 18,000 goals: Karlstrand, Gustafsson, Svensson, Bergström captains: Frykman / Berth DEN-NOR 8-0, 15.10.1916, Copenhagen, Attendance: 10,000 goals: Rohde 3, Poul Nielsen 4, Anton Olsen captains: Berth Scottish League, Celtic-Rangers 0-0, 18.10.1916, Glasgow, Celtic Park, Attendance: 40,000 best players: McMenemy, McNair, Dodds, Gallacher / Lock (gk), Duncan, Law, Manderson, Blair AUT-HUN 3-3, 5.11.1916, Hütteldorfer Sportplatz, Vienna, Attendance: 7,000 goals: Bauer 2, Kraus / Schlosser, Konrád, Schaffer captains: Studnicka / Csüdör Newspaper sources: Evening Despatch, Leeds Mercury, Newcastle Journal, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Sheffield Independent, Sports Argus, Aberdeen Press, Daily Record, Dundee Courier, Dundee Evening Telegraph, The Scotsman. Sources are from the British Newspaper Archive, managed by the British Library Board.
Suggested best XI 1915-16 (2-3-5). The period considered is August 1915 to July 1916 so as not to break up the official season in Scotland where most of the candidates come from. Copa America 1916 took place in July and is taken into account. Brownlie - McNair, Dodds - Gordon, Boyle, Nils Middelboe - Gallacher, Buchan, Piendibene, McMenemy, Morton.
Thanks for choosing the best XI even in this war year. With Morton do you mean amateur Alan Morton from Queen's Park? He was not selected for Scotland in the wartime international. Could you also double-check whether Ibrox Park was indeed the venue of the 1916 Charity Cup final? Do you have any suggestions for the top 2 or 3 players this season? It looks like in Scotland Gallacher and perhaps McMenemy were the best players.
The Charity Cup Final was played at Hampden Park. Yes it is Alan Morton, now in his third season as an amateur with Queen's Park. He was not available for the Scottish wartime international team. He represented the Rest of the League against Celtic and was one of the best players during the Scottish season. Morton is also a specialist outside-left and there are not many of those in contention this year. Gallacher and McMenemy look good Top 3 candidates. Perhaps also Piendibene who won the first Copa America with Uruguay,
Here are my nominees for this season. 23 (19) Man Shortlist Boyle, Thomas ENG Burnley Brownlie, James SCO Third Lanark Buchan, Charles ENG Sunderland Dodds, Joseph SCO Celtic Foglino, Alfredo URU Nacional Gallacher, Patrick IRL Celtic Gordon, James SCO Rangers Gradín, Isabelino URU Penarol McColl, James SCO Celtic McMenemy, James SCO Celtic McNair, Alexander SCO Celtic Middelboe, Nils DEN Kjøbenhavns Boldklub / Chelsea Morton, Alan SCO Queen's Park Ohaco, Alberto ARG Racing Club Piendibene, Jose URU Penarol Romano, Ángel URU Nacional Schaffer, Alfréd HUN MTK Budapest Schlosser, Imre HUN Ferencváros / MTK Budapest Studnicka, Johann AUT Wiener AC Without the British Home Championship and the Football League it is much more difficult to choose the possible candidates. As I mentioned previously, we should not automatically inflate the number of outstanding players to 23, when there are few world-class players to choose from. However, the above selected 19 players could merit inclusion. It would be good to find 4 additional players from the wartime Football League matches in England. Top 3: 1. vacant (I think we should leave the Top spot vacant in war years to indicate the difficulty of selecting the best players) 2. Gallacher, Patrick IRL Celtic 3. McMenemy, James SCO Celtic
The problem is Piendibene may not have been the best player of Copa America 1916. According to this rsssf site it was Isabelino Gradín. He was certainly the top-goalscorer (one goal ahead of Piendibene), but I do not know why the rsssf site selected him the best player of the tournament. It is surely a retrospective award. http://www.rsssf.com/tabless/sachampfulltrivia.html#best-players Penarol, where Gradin and Piendibene played, finished in the 1916 Uruguay League 12 points behind Nacional, the club of Romano and Foglino, who also played at the Copa America.
Gradin might have performed better in those three matches. He had just turned 19. Piendibene was 26 and his reputation had largely been made.
Updated 23 Shortlist 23 Man Shortlist Barnes, Horace ENG Manchester City Boyle, Thomas ENG Burnley Brownlie, James SCO Third Lanark Buchan, Charles ENG Sunderland / Chelsea Crompton, Robert ENG Blackburn Rovers / Blackpool Dodds, Joseph SCO Celtic Foglino, Alfredo URU Nacional Gallacher, Patrick IRL Celtic Gordon, James SCO Rangers Gradín, Isabelino URU Penarol McColl, James SCO Celtic McMenemy, James SCO Celtic McNair, Alexander SCO Celtic Middelboe, Nils DEN Kjøbenhavns Boldklub / Chelsea Morton, Alan SCO Queen's Park Ohaco, Alberto ARG Racing Club Piendibene, Jose URU Penarol Romano, Ángel URU Nacional Schaffer, Alfréd HUN MTK Budapest Schlosser, Imre HUN Ferencváros / MTK Budapest Smith, Joseph ENG Bolton Wanderers Studnicka, Johann AUT Wiener AC Walden, Frederick ENG Tottenham Hotspur I have added four Englismen, Barnes, Crompton, Smith and Walden to make it up to 23 players. These four Englismen played well in the wartime league system or in the Wartime INternational against Scotland. Now we have players from the following countries: Scotland (7), England (6), Ireland (1), Hungary (2), Austria (1), Denmark (1), Uruguay (4), Argentina (1) For the Top spots we have candidates from Scotland (Gallacher, McMenemy), Uruguay (Piendibene) and maybe even Hungary (Schaffer, the top goalscorer of the unofficial 1915 autumn season and the national team). Is there anybody from wartime England to match their achievements? In what order should we place them?
I would go for Gallacher then McMenemy, then either Piendibene or Buchan. Charlie Buchan was probably the best player in England in 1915-16. Chelsea tried to commit him to play for them when the war ended.
1915-16 was first great season for Paulino Alcántara. 19 goals in 10 m. (Catalunya champ.), 4 goals in 4 m. (Spain's Cup), 9 goals in 10 m. (friendlies)
In the war years, Spain seems to mark a leap in quality. I think, with Pichichi, JM.Belauste and Alcantara being the standout players. By 1920, Spain seems to reach a 3rd tier force in Europe, behind British, Central Europe and declining Denmark/Netherlands.
His team Barcelona lost in the semis of the Copa del Rey that year. The Copa del Rey final was still a relatively minor affair, watched by only 6,000.
Final results of the season. 23 Man Shortlist Barnes, Horace ENG Manchester City Boyle, Thomas ENG Burnley Brownlie, James SCO Third Lanark Buchan, Charles ENG Sunderland / Chelsea Crompton, Robert ENG Blackburn Rovers / Blackpool Dodds, Joseph SCO Celtic Foglino, Alfredo URU Nacional Gallacher, Patrick IRL Celtic Gordon, James SCO Rangers Gradín, Isabelino URU Penarol McColl, James SCO Celtic McMenemy, James SCO Celtic McNair, Alexander SCO Celtic Middelboe, Nils DEN Kjøbenhavns Boldklub / Chelsea Morton, Alan SCO Queen's Park Ohaco, Alberto ARG Racing Club Piendibene, Jose URU Penarol Romano, Ángel URU Nacional Schaffer, Alfréd HUN MTK Budapest Schlosser, Imre HUN Ferencváros / MTK Budapest Smith, Joseph ENG Bolton Wanderers Studnicka, Johann AUT Wiener AC Walden, Frederick ENG Tottenham Hotspur Top 3: 1. Gallacher, Patrick IRL Celtic 2. McMenemy, James SCO Celtic 3. Buchan, Charles ENG Sunderland / Chelsea Best XI (2-3-5) Brownlie - McNair, Dodds - Gordon, Boyle, Nils Middelboe - Gallacher, Buchan, Piendibene, McMenemy, Morton.