Methodology for Classifying World Class Players

1935-1940:

It's that time again. Let's see what we've learned of the late 30s.

Compared to the last era, the late 30s is a lot less stacked in the defensive areas, particularly goalkeepers. Last time I had to choose which deserving names to leave out, but this time it's the other way around, thinking which names I'll have to promote to make up the numbers. Defense has a number of "I guess" level inclusions, too, and halfbacks might have room for additions, too. Attacking spots settled themselves pretty nicely, and there isn't really any room for anyone new. Left-wing was the most crowded area, but I fixed it by removing some of the players with problems in filling the 3-year rule. The crowded inside-forward spots are helped by the usual dropping of any possibles to the half-line, which in turn makes the centre-half line-up pretty stacked, too.


1. Britain

In terms of team strength and player pools, England still rule the roost, and it's reflected in them having doubles in most positions. It's a good drop-off point, because after that the pool starts to really widen, and it's hard for anyone to stick out from the rest.

Scotland remain one of the big enigmas of the 30s. They have the results and the reputation, but the players disappear into a sea of experimentation. In the end they're actually pretty pitifully represented here compared to their results. I only included the obvious core of Dawson, Simpson, Brown, Shankly and Walker, whom I all saw as BdO nomination class. The defenders are there mostly because there's room.

Of the rest of the Brits, the Irish problem is starting to fix itself. They're still punching well above their weight, put they don't have nearly the reputation they did in the early 30s anymore. Doherty and Stevenson are pretty easy picks, but Cook is a slight gamble. Wales had two standout players who are both on the fence in Astley and Bryn Jones. They're the big stars for their country, but their club careers are a bit iffy. Basically I'm not sure if they would have been considered above the English players on my second tier. In the end Jones made the cut, but Astley didn't.

2. South America

Jumping to South America, we find the country that's IMO an easy second behind England in terms of player depth, and it's of course Argentina. I blame South America for the lack of options in defensive areas, because they really seem to be lacking in top defenders in this era. Argentina in particular seems to be between generations, and they're really rotating heavily. As we saw in the BdO thread, the pool really seems to be immense, but that just means it's hard to pick one and not the other. I ended picking up a couple of the most-used halves as representatives. Would love to hear how @msioux75 sees the defensive players of this era. The Argentinian attacking talent is surprisingly poorly represented, too, but they'll make up for it next time. Baldonedo is one of the few attacking players who are on the fence knocking in.

Brazil are one of the more difficult cases, too, due to heavy rotation. The top forwards all seem worthy of inclusion, even if the team sometimes came off as Leonidas and the losers. The half-line seemed to be well behind Argentina, so they're out. Da Guia is an easy pick, but I also gave a thought for Jahu, who was a success at least against Argentina. Jaguare deserves his own mention here. There would definitely be room, and late 30s is his peak, but before that he never seemed to establish himself at club level and especially not the NT. He comes off more as an entertaining character than legitimately one of the great goalkeepers of his time. I might do extra research for him, but for now he's out.

For the rest of SA, I mentioned the low standing of Uruguay before, so they're down to the bare bones of Porta, Ciocca, Varela and Muniz. Faccio impressed when he was playing for Italy, at least, but not sure how it went for him in SA. For the other countries I tend to keep the numbers to a minimum, as any inclusion would by default be one of the ATGs for their countries. Peru of course has a number of those, and all the players who had to wait for NT-exposure last time are here now. Even without available match reports Fernandez, Villanueva and the goalies hit my radar. Alcalde got a few mentions in Brazil, too, so that leaves only Castillo unaccounted for on my end. Same with the two Paraguayans, though I'm not sure how Benitez Caceres deals with the three year rule. Toro is holding the flag for Chile.

3. Central Europe

Heading back to Europe, where we first run into Italy. I expected them to be #3 in the depth department, but after my research I'm not quite sure. Mostly the team is dominated by the few top individuals. They survive the post-34 generation shift incredibly well, but after Meazza and Ferrari are gone the attacking cupboard is exposed as being terrifyingly empty. The half-line was the team's weakness, but it's a weakness for most teams in general, so the World Cup winners are all here. Italy have one of the last few dropped players in Demaria. He took a regular spot for Italy after the WC-38, but mostly seems to just.. be there. His American detour in this era doesn't seem to have been particularly glamorous, so he ended up being cut.

Of the other Central European powers, Hungary and Czechoslovakia have the usual most common starting 11 included. Austria's depth takes a hit after they get Anschlussed, and it seems some players become victims of politics. That only occurs halfway through, though, and luckily the massive amount of teams united Germany plays gives many of the Austrians the opportunity to shine, too. Greater Germany isn't really going to become a problem until next time. Here it primarily affects the second tier, and since Austria was in the decline already, I don't have a problem in the reduced number of reserves.

Germany themselves improve considerably in this era, and towards the end of the decade I'd rank them on par with the other major continental powers. Their key players are all included. One player I want to single out is Conen. He disappears for most of this era, but makes a successful comeback at the turn of the decade. In-between the Germans are lamenting their lack of centre-forwards, so I'm not sure what happened there. Anyone know? At this point I don't know if Conen and Binder will make it in for the next era, or if their early 40s achievements will pour over here.

4. Western Europe

Of the rest of Western Europe, Switzerland's improved results mean they're well represented. We have the expected core of all-timers, but also the likes of Aeby and Springer, who impressed enough to be included. France continued to not impress, with even the most used players like Aston, Mattler and Delfour not coming off as that great. Veinante was the biggest star. There are also two borderline cases in Diagne and Heisserer. Diagne makes it in on the fullback advantage. Heisserer didn't stand out to me, but I just read he was supposedly the big French talent of this era, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Holland's fortunes in this era are summed up by the fact they started it as potential European heavyweights and ended it with a defeat to Luxembourg. They fail to find adequate replacements for the aging mid-30s generation. Mid-decade peaks are always hard to divide, but I included the ones whose NT-careers extended far enough. They had two good goalkeepers in Van Male and Halle, of which Van Male came off as the slightly superior. Belgium were at the bottom of the barrel, so they're down to the minimum of Voorhoof, Braine, Paverick and Stijnen. In a way the low standing of the low countries is a relief, because they'll be non-participants internationally next season, so I won't feel like I'm missing out on a lot of hidden greats.

As I mentioned before, Scandinavia was at the bottom rung in this time period, so they've been reduced to a minimum, too. Sweden only have one solid choice in Jonasson, plus two possible halves in Karl-Erik Grahn and Arvid Emanuelsson, who both peak in late-ish 30s. They'll probably fit in more comfortably in the 40s. Denmark is actually down to zero players, though they seem pretty evenly balanced with Sweden. Most of their key players make it to the second tier. Oscar Jorgensen was closest to making in, and I'm a bit sad there wasn't room at centre-half. Norway had a golden generation by their standards, but since they don't seem to be much superior to their two cousins, I kept their numbers down to the BdO candidates Eriksen, Brustad and Kvammen.

One of the more interesting nations in this era is Spain, where the civil war presents a problem for representation. The three season rule is the main issue here. We do have two seasons of La Liga in this period, as well as the prolific Basque NT, which I'd say is worth a season, so I'd say most of the Spanish players are fair game. That said, I kept their number to a minimum, too. Gorostiza and Langara were at the top before, during and after the war, so they're pretty safe options. The other key players of the Basque team are in second tier. One exception I made is for Blasco. He seems to have a rep of being another top goalie who was unfortunately stuck playing behind Zamora. Since it's a quiet era for keepers and he didn't make it in last time, I thought why not.

The best Spanish players definitely seemed to be part of the Basque entourage. The rest have a couple of semi-official matches against Portugal and don't do well, so I didn't feel compelled to include any of them. Portugal in this era are another one of those football paradoxes. They have better results than before, but seem to be more lacking in individual talent than even before. The low number of games doesn't help, either. I included Pinga for seeming to be the biggest star. Espirito Santo was a notable shooting star who came and went. The other big players from the late 30s (no spoilers!) will have to wait for next time.

5. Eastern Europe

Moving on to Eastern Europe, we first have Yugoslavia, the other big victims of the paradox. It was mentioned several times in the press how they've improved considerably recently, and they do have some good results such as a defeat of England. That said, I couldn't spot much individual talent from the sea of players, so they actually have less representation than last time. The disputes between the Serbs and Croats isn't helping, either. Glaser is the one obvious choice. Lehner was quite mediocre in the mid-30s, but improved considerably towards the end.

Poland are another improved side, but not to the degree I felt they'd deserve large representation. Wilimowski and Wodarz were the top players, and Szczepaniak makes use of the FB-scene. Dytko just made it in, too. Romania have basically the same guys as last time, plus Burger another who benefits of the FB-situation.

This brings us to our last country, and to me personally probably the most interesting one of this era. Appearing for the first time is the USSR, who deserve special consideration. Basically their international exposure is down to three appearances, as far as I can tell. One match in Brno, one in Paris, and then there are the games against the Basques. Not much to go on, is it? Normally, such paltry number of matches would result in me dropping all of them, but the USSR is a special case due to their insularity. We do know they emerge with a bang in 1945, and it seems unreasonable they just suddenly emerged with a generation of top talent with the cupboard being completely empty before that. Many of the 30s players tend to also appear in Soviet AT-lists, so clearly they had a big rep domestically, at least. But what was the actual quality?

The situation isn't helped at all by what seems like comedic levels of BS in Soviet football publications. I only read online translations of certain book chapters, but they made amusing claims like Turkey being one of the top football nations of Europe, and Sergei Ilyin being the Garrincha or Maradona of the 30s (complete with fabricated quotes from French papers. Keep this in mind if you ever run into anything on the subject). Luckily the actual French papers gave me something to work on. In terms of how they ranked the top players, I could either take them or drop them, really. But they ranked the Moscow team as pretty much Yugoslavia-level. So, Yugoslavia-level play earns them Yugoslavia-level of representation. The ATG-level Andrey Starostin and Sergey Ilyin are included in first tier, and the standout but not ATG-level Akimov and Yakushin are in second tier (The other notable Starostin brother is borderline 2nd tier). Seems fair, right?

 

1935-1940: Goalkeepers:

Blasco, Gregorio (Spain)
Dawson, Jerry (Scotland)
Glaser, Franjo (Yugoslavia)
Gualco, Sebastian (Argentina)
Hiden, Rudi (Austria)
Honores, Juan (Peru)
Jakob, Hans (Germany)
Olivieri, Aldo (Italy)
Planicka, Frantisek (Czechoslovakia)
Platzer, Peter (Austria)
Raftl, Rudi (Austria)
Sagar, Ted (England)
Szabo, Antal (Hungary)
Valdivieso, Juan (Peru)
Van Male, Adri (Netherlands)
Woodley, Vic (England)

 

1935-1940: Fullbacks

Right-Backs:
Anderson, Andrew (Scotland)
Burger, Rudolf (Romania)
Burgr, Jaroslav (Czechoslovakia)
Cook, Billy (Northern Ireland)
Da Guia, Domingos (Brazil)
Foni, Alfredo (Italy)
Janes, Paul (Germany)
Koranyi, Lajos (Hungary)
Kostalek, Josef (Czechoslovakia)
Male, George (England)
Minelli, Severino (Switzerland)
Monzelgio, Eraldo (Italy)
Paverick, Bob (Belgium)
Polgar, Gyula (Hungary)
Sproston, Bert (England)
Szczepaniak, Wladyslaw (Poland)

Left-Backs:
Barkas, Sam (England)
Beattie, Andy (Scotland)
Biro, Sandor (Hungary)
Caldenhove, Bertus (Netherlands)
Ctyroky, Josef (Czechoslovakia)
Diagne, Raoul (France)
Daucik, Ferdinand (Czechoslovakia)
Eriksen, Nils (Norway)
Hapgood, Eddie (England)
Lehmann, August (Switzerland)
Mattler, Etienne (France)
Muniz, Agenor (Uruguay)
Munzenberg, Reinhold (Germany)
Rava, Pietro (Italy)
Schmaus, Willibald (Austria)
Sesta, Karl (Austria)

 

1935-1940: Halfbacks

Centre-Halves:
Andreolo, Miguel (Uruguay/Italy)
Andriesen, Wim (Netherlands)
Boucek, Jaroslav (Czechoslovakia)
Brandao, Jose (Brazil)
Castillo, Segundo (Peru)
Cullis, Stan (England)
Goldbrunner, Ludwig (Germany)
Lazzatti, Ernesto (Argentina)
Minella, Jose Maria (Argentina)
Sarosi, György (Hungary)
Simpson, Jimmy (Scotland)
Starostin, Andrey (USSR)
Szepan, Fritz (Germany)
Szucs, György (Hungary)
Turay, Jozsef (Hungary)
Vernati, Sirio (Switzerland)
Young, Alf (England)

Wing-Halves:
Baratky, Gyula (Romania/Hungary)
Britton, Cliff (England)
Brown, George (Scotland)
Copping, Wilf (England)
Crayston, John (England)
Delfour, Edmond (France)
Depetrini, Teobaldo (Italy)
Dudas, Janos (Hungary)
Dytko, Ewald (Poland)
Gellesch, Rudi (Germany)
Kitzinger, Albin (Germany)
Kolsky, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Kopecky, Vlastimil (Czechoslovakia)
Kupfer, Andreas (Germany)
Lazar, Gyula (Hungary)
Lehner, Gustav (Yugoslavia)
Locatelli, Ugo (Italy)
Martinez, Celestino (Argentina)
Mercer, Joe (England)
Mock, Hans (Austria)
Montanez, Oscar (Argentina)
Paauwe, Bas (Netherlands)
Sastre, Antonio (Argentina)
Serantoni, Pietro (Italy)
Shankly, Bill (Scotland)
Springer, Hermann (Switzerland)
Stijnen, Emile (Belgium)
Suarez, Arico (Argentina)
Szalay, Antal (Hungary)
Van Heel, Puck (Netherlands)
Willingham, Ken (England)

Centre-halves have one guy too many, which I deducted off the wing-halves. I couldn't discover any of the centres who were used on the wing, but I'm sure there's someone there who did it at some point. If anyone can spot someone LMK.

 

1935-1940: Wingers

Right-Wingers:
Amado, Lauro (Switzerland)
Aston, Alfred (France)
Biavati, Amedeo (Italy)
Bickel, Alfred (Switzerland)
Courtois, Roger (Switzerland/France)
Delaney, Jimmy (Scotland)
Kvammen, Reidar (Norway)
Lehner, Ernst (Germany)
Luisinho Oliviera (Brazil)
Matthews, Stanley (England)
Pasinati, Piero (Italy)
Peucelle, Carlos (Argentina)
Porta, Roberto (Uruguay)
Riha, Jan (Czechoslovakia)
Sas, Ferenc (Hungary)
Zischek, Karl (Austria)

Left-Wingers:
Aeby, Georges (Switzerland)
Bastin, Cliff (England)
Brustad, Arne (Norway)
Colaussi, Gino (Italy)
Dobay, Stefan (Romania)
Garcia, Enrique (Argentina)
Gorostiza, Guillermo (Spain)
Gyetvai, Laszlo (Hungary)
Ilyin, Sergey (USSR)
Patesko (Brazil)
Pesser, Hans (Austria)
Rulc, Oldrich (Czechoslovakia)
Titkos, Pal (Hungary)
Urban, Adolf (Germany)
Veinante, Emile (France)
Wodarz, Gerard (Poland)

 

1935-1940: Forwards

Inside-Forwards:
Abegglen, Andre (Switzerland)
Alcalde, Jorge (Peru)
Bodola, Gyula (Romania)
Braine, Raymond (Belgium)
Carter, Raich (England)
Ciocca, Anibal (Uruguay)
Cseh, Laszlo (Hungary)
Doherty, Peter (Northern Ireland)
Ferrari, Giovanni (Italy)
Goulden, Len (England)
Hahnemann, Willi (Austria)
Hall, Willie (England)
Heisserer, Oscar (France)
Jonasson, Sven (Sweden)
Jones, Bryn (Wales)
Meazza, Giuseppe (Italy)
Moreno, Jose Manuel (Argentina)
Nejedly, Oldrich (Czechoslovakia)
Pinga (Portugal)
Romeu Pellicciari (Brazil)
Schön, Helmut (Germany)
Siffling, Otto (Germany)
Smit, Kick (Netherlands)
Stevenson, Alex (Ireland)
Stroh, Josef (Austria)
Tim (Brazil)
Toldi, Geza (Hungary)
Varela, Severino (Uruguay)
Villanueva, Alejandro (Peru)
Vincze, Jeno (Hungary)
Walker, Tommy (Scotland)
Wilimowski, Ernst (Poland)

Centre-Forwards:
Benitez Caceres, Delfin (Paraguay)
Bican, Pepi (Austria/Czechoslovakia)
Binder, Franz (Austria)
Conen, Edmund (Germany)
Drake, Ted (England)
Erico, Arsenio (Paraguay)
Fernandez, Teodoro (Peru)
Gauchel, Jupp (Germany)
Langara, Isidro (Spain)
Lawton, Tommy (England)
Leonidas (Brazil)
Masantonio, Herminio (Argentina)
Piola, Silvio (Italy)
Toro, Raul (Chile)
Voorhoof, Bernard (Belgium)
Zsengeller, Gyula (Hungary)

 

1935-1940: Second Tier


Goalkeepers:
Akimov, Anatoly (USSR)
Badjou, Arnold (Belgium)
Bello, Fernando (Argentina)
Bergqvist, Sven (Sweden)
Besuzzo, Juan (Uruguay)
Bizzozero, Roberto (Switzerland)
Burket, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Di Lorto, Laurent (France)
Estrada, Juan (Argentina)
Halle, Leo (Netherlands)
Holdcroft, Henry (England)
Jaguare (Brazil)
Johansen, Henry (Norway)
Klodt, Hans (Germany)
Palinkas, Jozsef (Hungary)
Vechet, Vojtech (Czechoslovakia)


Right-Backs:
Cortes, Ascanio (Chile)
Dubac, Ernest (Yugoslavia)
Futo, Gyula (Hungary)
Hugl, Bernard (Yugoslavia)
Invernizzi, Antonio (Paraguay)
Jahu (Brazil)
Pagotto, Mario (Italy)
Pakozdi, Laszlo (Hungary)
Sanguinetti, Manuel (Uruguay)
Tarrio, Oscar (Argentina)
Vandooren, Jules (France)
Weber, Mauk (Netherlands)


Left-Backs:
Aedo, Serafin (Spain)
Billmann, Willi (Germany)
Catlin, Ted (England)
Coletta, Sabino (Argentina)
Cummings, George (Scotland)
Fernandez, Arturo (Peru)
Holmsen, Oivind (Norway)
Matosic, Jozo (Yugoslavia)
Mascheroni, Ernesto (Uruguay)


Centre-Halves:
Baxter, Bobby (Scotland)
Emanuelsson, Arvid (Sweden)
Galvalisi, Eugenio (Uruguay)
Jordan, August (Austria/France)
Jorgensen, Oscar (Denmark)
Juhasz, Gustav (Romania)
Martim Silveira (Brazil)
Muguerza, Jose (Spain)
Olmi, Renato (Italy)
Pekarek, Josef (Austria)
Riveros, Guillermo (Chile)
Rodolfi, Bruno (Argentina)
Rohde, Hans (Germany)
Sold, Wilhelm (Germany)


Wing-Halves:
Adamek, Karl (Austria)
Afonsinho (Brazil)
Araguez, Manuel (Argentina)
Balogh, Istvan (Hungary)
Blotto, Hector (Argentina)
Bouska, Vaclav (Czechoslovakia)
Bray, John (England)
Cilaurren, Leonardo (Spain)
Colombo, Bartolome (Argentina)
Corsi, Giordano (Italy)
Faccio, Ricardo (Uruguay/Italy)
Galley, Tom (England)
Grahn, Karl-Erik (Sweden)
Henriksen, Kristian (Norway)
Kiraly, Sandor (Hungary)
Kokotovic, Mirko (Yugoslavia)
McNab, Sandy (Scotland)
Mitchell, Billy (Ireland)
Perazzolo, Mario (Italy)
Prucha, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Regueiro, Pedro (Spain)
Sbarra, Roberto (Argentina)
Seres, Gyula (Hungary)
Skoumal, Stefan (Austria)
Urbanek, Hans (Austria)
Varglien, Giovanni (Italy)
Wagner, Franz (Austria)
Wergifker, Aaron (Argentina)
Zeze Procopio (Brazil)
Zunino, Erebo (Uruguay)


Right-Wingers:
Bindea, Silviu (Romania)
Crooks, Sammy (England)
Frossi, Annibale (Italy)
Geiter, Rudolf (Austria)
Horak, Vaclav (Czechoslovakia)
Geldard, Albert (England)
Kirchen, Alf (England)
Kocsis, Geza (Czechoslovakia/Hungary)
Nyberg, Arne (Sweden)
Sipos, Vilim (Hungary/Yugoslavia)
Sobirk, Helmuth (Denmark)
Sorrel, Enrique (Chile)
Vogl, Leopold (Austria)


Left-Wingers:
Boyes, Wally (England)
Brook, Eric (England)
Broome, Frank (England)
Camaiti, Adelaido (Uruguay)
Duncan, Dally (Scotland)
Fath, Josef (Germany)
Ferraris, Pietro (Italy)
Gillick, Torry (Scotland)
Hanreiter, Franz (Austria)
Hercules (Brazil)
Johnson, Joe (England)
Kemeny, Tibor (Hungary)
Kobierski, Stanislaus (Germany)
Neumer, Leopold (Austria)
Puc, Antonin (Czechoslovakia)
Reguzzoni, Carlo (Italy)


Inside-Forwards:
Baldonedo, Emilio (Argentina)
Black, Andy (Scotland)
Bowden, Ray (England)
Bradac, Vojtech (Czechoslovakia)
Capelle, Jean (Belgium)
De La Mata, Vicente (Argentina)
Demaria, Atilio (Argentina/Italy)
Faczinek, Ferdinand (Czechoslovakia)
Hansen, Kaj (Denmark)
Hiltl, Heinrich (Austria/France)
Iraragorri, Jose (Spain)
Jerusalem, Camillo (Austria)
Kloz, Frantisek (Czechoslovakia)
Lenz, August (Germany)
Ludl, Josef (Czechoslovakia)
Magallanes, Adelfo (Peru)
Peracio, Jose (Brazil)
Persson, Erik "Lillis" (Sweden)
Piatek, Leonard (Poland)
Regueiro, Luis (Spain)
Robinson, Jackie (England)
Sansone, Raffaele (Uruguay/Italy)
Starling, Ronnie (England)
Vente, Leen (Netherlands)
Venters, Alex (Scotland)
Villadoniga, Segundo (Uruguay)
Vujadinovic, Djordje (Yugoslavia)
Westwood, Ray (England)
Yakushin, Mikhail (USSR)


Centre-Forwards:
Astley, Dai (Wales)
Boffi, Aldo (Italy)
Carvalho Leite (Brazil)
Garcia, Atilio (Argentina)
Kallai, Lipot (Hungary)
Kiszely, Istvan (Hungary)
Koranyi, Desire (Hungary/France)
Martinsen, Alf (Norway)
McCulloch, Dave (Scotland)
Mills, George (England)
Nicolas, Jean (France)
O'Donnell, Frank (Scotland)
Simunek, Ladislav (Czechoslovakia)
Sobotka, Jiri (Czechoslovakia)
Steele, Freddie (England)


The lack of fullbacks is really showing in the second tier. A lot of the big countries often have one player completely dominating the position, which makes it unclear to see what's behind him. I threw in all kinds of players just to try to make up the numbers, but there's still a lot of room.

 

I remember reading now in a link here that Castillo started off as a wing-half. He'll be as good as anyone to switch over to the wing-halves. Now everything is neat and tidy again. I'm not too bothered on whether they played in the position in this particular era, as long as they had the ability to do it (Sarosi and Szepan here, for example).

I tend to go more with NT-representation, so that's why all the Peruvians got thrown here. It saves me the trouble of trying to figure out if a player had acquired the necessary reputation from club level. Although the Peru/Chile XI could maybe count as a NT, even if not an official one.

How do you feel about Brazil's Jahu and Argentina's Manuel Araguez? Did they slip past your radar, or do you see them as not nomination worthy?

 

Thanks. Which media are you talking about? Do you know if there's anything available online?

Fedotov's problem was not having the little international exposure of even the other two. I was thinking of adding him in the early 40s, but not sure how Soviet football was doing during the war. Would you say Fedotov's peak was late 30s or early 40s?

 

1940-1945:

The war-years didn't take too long to chronicle, so it's time for the next installment already.

These years were key in the development of my methodology. I first started thinking about it when I realized how poorly represented this era usually is in all-time rankings. How would it look like in comparison to a modern era? Is this a case of a truly poor era, or a case of players from this era being unfairly neglected? When I first devised my methodology, I was concerned this era wouldn't get anywhere close to filling the standards. So, what does it look like after my research? Poor era, or unfairly neglected?

My conclusion is that it's a bit of both. There's no doubt this is by far the thinnest era. It's not just a case of a neglected generation, either, because a lot of the time a player's quality is determined in international competition. Hopefully my season reviews have shown how much a lack of international competition can deteriorate a country's talent pool, and vice versa. I deliberately waited an extra year before releasing the latest results, so we could all get a good view of how things were immediately after the war. All that said, this era does have it's share of gems and top players, some of whom I feel have been unfairly neglected due to the war.

This being the weakest era, I really struggled to fill up the last few spots on most positions. I'd say only goalkeeper and right-wing were the ones I was happy with. Surprisingly, wing-half is also pretty well-stocked, to the degree I was more likely to move players up on the pitch than down, which is what I usually do. Last era's most stacked position, left-wing, was now hopelessly understacked. I eventually had to settle with filling the spots with some of the more versatile all-around forwards. Left-back was another major problem area.

The three-year rule created another problem. With the key-years of 42-44 almost devoid of internationals, it's really hard to tell when certain players actually emerged or deteriorated. So for this era I laxed on the rule a bit, and that solved most of my problems. It allowed me to bring in the entire South American generation that emerged around 44-45, adding some much-needed star-power. It also allowed me to include all the Germans who were teetering somewhere in the 2.5 year area. This allowed the top tier to look respectable. Second tier of course looks pretty barren, since there weren't enough opportunities for more players to establish themselves. I'd have to delve a lot deeper into league level to successfully fill it up.

1. Britain

England of course were (still) the power team in Europe, and I had to be careful not to overstock on English players just because it was a quiet era. As we saw from their results immediately after the war, the talent pool really isn't that deep, and they rely heavily on the world-class starting 11. I kept the numbers pretty close to what they were pre-war.

Scotland, as usual, were a challenge. This time more because they are one of the many countries that are in a steep decline. Since it's a quiet international era, they're still well-represented despite the poor results. That meant including not just the obvious key players, but also ones like Beattie and Delaney, who didn't appear as much for Scotland. Jock Dodds is a surprise inclusion. He came off very well in the international scene, and domestically scored a modest 65 goals in 32 appearances in his best season.

The other home countries were a problem too, of course. Ireland because they didn't play internationals, and Wales because the coverage in my sources was so weak. For Ireland I included the two obvious candidates, Doherty and Stevenson. Wales have two players, too. T.G. Jones, who I understand was a big deal at the time, and Billy Hughes, described as the best British full-back in the immediate post-war reports. He was described as a "breaker of wing-men's hearts", and a starter whenever they experimented with all-British teams. Wales might have a few more candidates for this era, but I erred on the side of caution and will leave them for next time.

2. Central Europe

As mentioned above, the three-year rule was laxed on to allow in all the Germans from this era. Without clear numbers available, it's hard to tell if everyone included clocked enough appearances to be eligible, but hopefully I'm good. Germany were pretty much the kings of the continent, so they're well-represented.

Austria, meanwhile, have been completely marginalized due to the Anschluss. Based on what I read about the importance of international exposure, and taking into account their post-war quality (or lack of it), I don't have nearly as many qualms about thinning their ranks as I had when I started. All that said, the quiet era allowed guys like Sesta, Schmaus and Hanreiter to still slip in. In any other era they'd probably have gone into second tier, which would have whittled Austrian representation down to just Decker (plus a couple guys playing for other NTs). Hahnemann and Binder deserve special mention. Even with the lax eligibility rules I couldn't include them, because they played so few games at club level. Even in an era like this I feel a player has to at least have a known club to be eligible. They're both still around post-war, though. Hahnemann might become only the second player (next to Streltsov), who are part of two eras that aren't consecutive ones.

Czechoslovakia are another declining great still benefiting from the weak era. I included not just the players who were around before, during and after the war (Bican, Riha, Kopecky, Ludl, Kolsky), but also ones who were top players in the Bohemia-Moravia matches, which would be Zastera and Smejkal. Slovakia appeared on the scene in this era, but since they're something akin to a Czech second division all-stars, I didn't feel they should be regarded. The highly impressive Reimann was the one exception. However, he didn't seem to be much of a big deal once it's Czechoslovakia-time again, so I'm already questioning my rankings. Could be he was just a medium fish in a very small pond.

Hungary are still well-represented despite being in heavy decline in this era. The most-used 11 is pretty much all here. Switzerland were also in decline, if still competitive, but there seems to be a clearer gap between the top guys (Amado, Bickel, Ballabio, Minelli) and the rest. Aeby benefits from the very weak left-winger section.

3. Western Europe

We start off our Western Europe showcase with a couple of countries that played precious few internationals (wait, that's actually most of them). Italy barely appeared, but it's necessary to put in the entirety of what seems like their strongest 11. Spanish top 11 is here, too (including a possibly past-it Gorostiza), even if it was pretty clear they were struggling in this era. Everyone mentioned here at least did decently at international level.

Portugal are represented by three clear standouts. Peyroteo is the obvious one, and Xico a consistently good wing-half who probably deserves a higher modern standing. Nowadays he's probably most-known for his ill-fated testimonial that featured a certain Torino team. Goalkeeper Azevedo's international career comes to a differently tragic end, but before that he was regarded as a top keeper.

Traveling north we reach France, another country with precious few games played. Darui and Aston are probably the two clear choices, with Jordan in based more on his late-30s and Heisserer on his immediate post-war standing. Heisserer seemed to go through some interesting times during the war, if you'll go check the French or German Wiki. Ben Barek is hiding in Morocco so he'll wait until next time.

Further north we get to the two unfortunate nations with no international exposure whatsoever, Holland and Belgium. I was going to select the players who impressed both before and after the war, but Holland doesn't seem to have any. Lenstra isn't around in the immediate post-war matches, which makes me think he's more of a late-40s player. De Harder is somewhere, Dräger is described as being in decline already after the late-30s, so he's probably not top tier material. All this may change if I investigate the Dutch war-scene more closely. Belgium is down to Paverick, a regular pre- and post-war, as well as De Cleyn, impressive immediately after the war and top-scorer during it.

In Scandinavia, Sweden would have been well-represented based on the fact alone they were still playing internationals, but the war-situation seems to coincide nicely with their re-emergence, as they build up to their golden generation. All their key players are included. Denmark is improving, too, but I didn't want to go too overboard with their players, considering where they were in the 30s. Centre-half Jorgensen is a pretty good indicator on where this era stands compared to the previous one. He didn't make it in last time, even though I'd say that was his peak, but he's in now. Football was pretty much completely cancelled in Norway, so nobody was included from there.

4. Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe doesn't do that great in this era, either. Croatia was the only one with a pretty good team, and we know we're heading towards the emergence of Yugoslavia post-war, so they have a bunch of players in, mostly in defensive areas (their strong point). Cimermancic was a good winger, but the retroactively highly-rated Wölfl didn't impress that much. Since all the best Yugoslav players in the late-30s seemed to be Croatians, I didn't feel that bad about neglecting the Serbs completely.

Romania from this era are an interesting indicator on the relative strengths of different teams. Their ethnic Hungarian teams are swallowed up into the Hungarian league system and do pretty well there. A lot of the players are even capped by Hungary, Bodola of course the most high-profile one. This seems to confirm I'm on the right track with my assessment of player quality. Even a middle-ranking player for a smaller country like Romania is more highly-rated than a non-capped player for a big country like Hungary. Without their Hungarians the Romanian NT is in the absolute doldrums, somewhere at the bottom with Slovakia. That is of the teams still competing, of course. Most of the Eastern Europeans are non-starters in this era.

Our European tour ends once again with the great enigma, the Soviet Union. I made a big breakthrough with them when I discovered their yearly rankings. For those who don't know, the Soviets did a ranking of the 33 best players in the league from 1948 on (also a couple from before that). Now I got my hands on rankings from pre-1948, too, done retroactively by a journalist. There's no Soviet NT around, but this is certainly the next best thing.

We know the Soviets emerge post-war with a huge bang, but their quality during it is largely an enigma. I played things conservatively and went pretty closely with their pre-war level (same as I did with the Czechs). Fedotov, Blinkov and Ponomarev are the stand-outs, with several others good enough for second tier. Interestingly, the rankings also put into question the high standing of some of the highly-rated players from the Dynamo tour. Semichastny doesn't appear to have been as big a deal as the English thought, and even Khomich isn't even considered to be the best goalie in the country (it's Akimov generally).

5. South America

South America in this era benefits from the problems in Europe. With my laxing of the three-year rule, the roster is absolutely stacked with Brazilians and especially Argentinians. Uruguay have most of their starters included, too. Some possibly slightly past it players like Lolo and Erico are still good enough to make it in. Bria is another one who seems to have been highly impressive in Brazil. There were plenty of articles dedicated specifically to him, which I didn't see even top attacking stars get that often.

 

1940-1945: Goalkeepers

Azevedo, Joao (Portugal)
Ballabio, Erwin (Switerland)
Darui, Julien (France)
Dawson, Jerry (Scotland)
Glaser, Franjo (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Griffanti, Luigi (Italy)
Gualco, Sebastian (Argentina)
Jahn, Helmut (Germany)
Livingstone, Sergio (Chile)
Marks, George (England)
Martorell, Alberto (Spain)
Paz, Anibal (Uruguay)
Reimann, Theodor (Slovakia)
Soriano, Jose (Peru)
Swift, Frank (England)
Toth, György (Hungary)

 

1940-1945: Fullbacks

Right-Backs:
Bacuzzi, Joe (England)
Brozovic, Miroslav (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Carabine, Jimmy (Scotland)
Compton, Leslie (England)
Da Guia, Domingos (Brazil)
Foni, Alfedo (Italy)
Janes, Paul (Germany)
Minelli, Severino (Switzerland)
Nilsson, Harry (Sweden)
Paverick, Bob (Belgium)
Polgar, Gyula (Hungary)
Rudas, Ferenc (Hungary)
Salomon, Jose (Argentina)
Sesta, Karl (Austria/Germany)
Scott, Laurie (England)
Teruel, Ricardo (Spain)


Left-Backs:
Alberti, Jorge (Argentina)
Beattie, Andy (Scotland)
Biro, Sandor (Hungary)
Dubac, Ernest (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Hapgood, Eddie (England)
Hardwick, George (England)
Hughes, Billy (Wales)
Marante, Jose (Argentina)
Miller, Karl (Germany)
Muniz, Agenor (Uruguay)
Norival (Brazil)
Oceja, Isaac (Spain)
Rava, Pietro (Italy)
Schmaus, Willibald (Austria/Germany)
Szucs, Sandor (Hungary)
Zastera, Jiri (Czechoslovakia)

 

1940-1945: Halfbacks

Centre-Half:
Andreolo, Miguel (Uruguay/Italy)
Blinkov, Vsevolod (USSR)
Brandao, Jose (Brazil)
Bria, Modesto (Paraguay)
Cullis, Stan (England)
Emanuelsson, Arvid (Sweden)
German Gomez (Spain)
Jazbinsek, Ivan (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Jones, T.G. (Wales)
Jordan, August (Austria/France)
Jorgensen, Oscar (Denmark)
Lazzatti, Ernesto (Argentina)
Perucca, Angel (Argentina)
Rohde, Hans (Germany)
Smejkal, Rudolf (Czezchoslovakia)
Varela, Obdulio (Uruguay)


Wing-Halves:
Afonsinho (Brazil)
Britton, Cliff (England)
Busby, Matt (Scotland)
Campatelli, Aldo (Italy)
Colombo, Bartolome (Argentina)
Depetrini, Teobaldo (Italy)
Ferreira, Francisco "Xico" (Portugal)
Gabilondo, Ramon (Spain)
Gambetta, Schubert (Uruguay)
Grahn, Karl-Erik (Sweden)
Grezar, Giuseppe (Italy)
Hanreiter, Franz (Austria/Germany)
Ipina, Juan Antonio (Spain)
Jaime (Brazil)
Kitzinger, Albin (Germany)
Kolsky, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Kupfer, Andreas (Germany)
Lehner, Gustav (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
MacAulay, Archie (Scotland)
Mercer, Joe (England)
Procopio, Zeze (Brazil)
Ramos, Jose (Argentina)
Rodriguez, Raul (Uruguay)
Sarosi, Bela (Hungary)
Shankly, Bill (Scotland)
Sing, Albert (Germany)
Soo, Frank (England)
Sorensen, Arne (Denmark)
Sosa, Carlos (Argentina)
Welsh, Don (England)
Yacono, Norberto (Argentina)
Zubieta, Angel (Spain)

 

1940-1945: Wingers

Right-Wingers:
Amado, Lauro (Switzerland)
Biavati, Amedeo (Italy)
Bickel, Alfred (Switzerland)
Castro, Luis Ernesto (Uruguay)
Cimermancic, Zvonimir (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Delaney, Jimmy (Scotland)
Epi (Spain)
Kincses, Mihaly (Hungary)
Lehner, Ernst (Germany)
Matthews, Stanley (England)
Munoz, Juan Carlos (Argentina)
Pedernera, Adolfo (Argentina)
Porta, Roberto (Uruguay)
Riha, Jan (Czechoslovakia)
Tesourinha (Brazil)
Waddell, Willie (Scotland)


Left-Wingers:
Ademir (Brazil)
Aeby, Georges (Switzerland)
Aston, Alfred (France)
Compton, Denis (England)
De La Mata, Vicente (Argentina)
Fedotov, Grigory (USSR)
Ferraris, Pietro (Italy)
Garcia, Enrique (Argentina)
Gorostiza, Guillermo (Spain)
Hansen, Kaj (Denmark)
Liddell, Billy (Scotland)
Loustau, Felix (Argentina)
Nyberg, Arne (Sweden)
Smith, Leslie (England)
Toth, Matyas (Hungary)
Zapirain, Bibiano (Uruguay)

 

1940-1945: Forwards

Inside-Forwards:
Bican, Pepi (Austria/Czechoslovakia)
Bodola, Gyula (Romania/Hungary)
Campos, Paco (Spain)
Carlsson, Henry (Sweden)
Carter, Raich (England)
Ciocca, Anibal (Uruguay)
Conen, Edmund (Germany)
Decker, Karl (Austria/Germany)
Doherty, Peter (Northern Ireland)
Goulden, Len (England)
Gren, Gunnar (Sweden)
Hagan, Jimmy (England)
Heisserer, Oscar (France)
Herrerita (Spain)
Jair (Brazil)
Kopecky, Vlastimil (Czechoslovakia)
Labruna, Angel (Argentina)
Loik, Ezio (Italy)
Ludl, Josef (Czechoslovakia)
Martino, Rinaldo (Argentina)
Mazzola, Valentino (Italy)
Mendez, Norberto (Argentina)
Moreno, Jose Manuel (Argentina)
Sastre, Antonio (Argentina)
Schön, Helmut (Germany)
Stevenson, Alex (Ireland)
Tim (Brazil)
Varela, Severino (Uruguay)
Walker, Tommy (Scotland)
Walter, Fritz (Germany)
Wilimowski, Ernst (Poland)
Zizinho (Brazil)


Centre-Forwards:
De Cleyn, Bert (Belgium)
De Freitas, Heleno (Brazil)
Dodds, Jock (Scotland)
Garcia, Atilio (Argentina/Uruguay)
Erico, Arsenio (Paraguay)
Fernandez, Teodoro (Peru)
Gabetto, Giuseppe (Italy)
Lawton, Tommy (England)
Leonidas (Brazil)
Mundo (Spain)
Nordahl, Gunnar (Sweden)
Peyroteo, Fernando (Portugal)
Piola, Silvio (Italy)
Ponomarev, Alexander (USSR)
Pontoni, Rene (Argentina)
Zsengeller, Guyla (Hungary)

 

1940-1945: Second tier

Goalkeepers:
Acuna, Juan (Spain)
Akimov, Anatoly (USSR)
Bartram, Sam (England)
Bergqvist, Sven (Sweden)
Breen, Tommy (Ireland)
Csikos, Gyula (Hungary)
Ditchburn, Ted (England)
Eizagirre, Ignacio (Spain)
Ferrari, Pietro (Italy)
Honores, Juan (Peru)
Horak, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Klodt, Hans (Germany)
Maspoli, Roque (Uruguay)
Sidlow, Cyril (Wales)
Sorensen, Egon (Denmark)
Vacca, Claudio (Argentina)


Right-Backs:
Balogh, Sandor (Hungary)
Hansen, Poul (Denmark)
Millan, Jose (Spain)
Sokolov, Viktor (USSR)
Sproston, Bert (England)


Left-Backs:
De Zorzi, Rodolfo (Argentina)
Moog, Alfons (Germany)
Oswaldo (Brazil)
Shaw, Jock (Scotland)
Sobrero, Juan Carlos (Argentina)
Sokolov, Vasily (USSR)
Streitle, Jakob (Germany)
Szalay, Istvan (Hungary)
Valussi, Victor (Argentina)


Centre-Halves:
Baxter, Bobby (Scotland)
Dykes, Jimmy (Scotland)
Franklin, Neil (England)
Joy, Bernard (England)
Olajkar, Sandor (Hungary)
Semichastny, Mikhail (USSR)
Sold, Wilhelm (Germany)
Strembel, Leon (Argentina)


Wing-Halves:
Batagliero, Jose (Argentina)
Bigua (Brazil)
Buckingham, Vic (England)
Dino (Brazil)
Esperon, Gregorio (Argentina)
Gellesch, Rudi (Germany)
Kokotovic, Mirko (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Machin, Francisco (Spain)
Malinin, Konstantin (USSR)
Mateo, Andres (Spain)
Petschovschi, Iosif (Romania/Hungary)
Prucha, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Raich, Josep (Spain)
Schubert, Helmut (Germany)
Senecky, Karel (Czechoslovakia)
Willingham, Ken (England)


Right-Wingers:
Amorim, Pedro (Brazil)
Belen, Alberto (Argentina)
Boye, Mario (Argentina)
Burdenski, Herbert (Germany)
Claudio (Brazil)
Kirchen, Alf (England)
Menti, Romeo (Italy)
Neri, Giacomo (Italy)


Left-Wingers:
Arlt, Willy (Germany)
Buyle, Fernand (Belgium)
Caskie, Jimmy (Scotland)
Durek, Ludwig (Austria)
Egresi, Bela (Hungary)
Gyetvai, Laszlo (Hungary)
Klingler, August (Germany)
Pelegrina, Manuel (Argentina)


Inside-Forwards:
Alonso, Chus (Spain)
Bertoni, Sergio (Italy)
Brown, Sailor (England)
Cesar (Spain)
Chirmini, Oscar (Uruguay)
Edelston, Maurice (England)
Escola, Josep (Spain)
Gauchel, Jupp (Germany)
Hall, Willie (England)
Kartsev, Vasiliy (USSR)
Lushta, Riza (Albania)
Magallanes, Adelfo (Peru)
Mannion, Wilf (England)
Servilio (Brazil)
Stroh, Josef (Austria)
Trevisan, Guglielmo (Italy)
Villadoniga, Segundo (Uruguay)


Centre-Forwards:
Amadei, Amedeo (Italy)
Campanal, Guillermo (Spain)
Langara, Isidro (Spain)
Martin, Mariano (Spain)
Mortensen, Stan (England)
Pirilo, Silvio (Brazil)
Puricelli, Hector (Uruguay/Italy)
Sarlanga, Jaime (Argentina)
Sobirk, Helmut (Denmark)
Spielmann, Francisc (Romania/Hungary)
Szusza, Ferenc (Hungary)
Westcott, Dennis (England)
Wölfl, Franjo (Croatia/Yugoslavia)
Zarra, Telmo (Spain)

 

Good info. There are a lot of players on my lists that aren't in their primary position. That's because some positions have a much higher number of top players than others. Throwing players into their B-positions allows me to include everyone I want to.

Do you have a view on the career of Heisserer? I originally included him in late-30s based on modern reputation, even though he didn't stand out in the reports. Now I feel his peak was in the immediate post-war era, though. As it stands, I've included Fedotov in the late-30s wingers and thrown Veinante in the IFs instead of Heisserer.

Do you have more info on Russian clubs playing against foreign teams in the 40s-early 50s? Having dates would help look into them. The only ones I know about are Dynamo's UK tour and 1947 Swedish tour.

Did the USSR award footballer of the year awards at the time, or just the best 33 and sportsman of the year?

 

I thought long and hard about Ben Barek for the early 40s. Ability-wise I'm sure he'd belong, but it's hard to include a player who's 100% cut off from everyone else on the list.

Sobirk was a key player and usual starter for Denmark in this era. Solid performer, but he didn't seem to earn any top accolades based on the reports (unlike, say, Kaj Hansen). After the war there was a mention it's too bad Denmark doesn't have players the quality of Sobirk anymore. He should actually be among the wingers. I got distracted by the fact he played some games as CF during this time.

Spielmann was one of the many Romanians capped by Hungary during this time. Some info. His performances were pretty impressive, and he was a close competitor for even a spot in the first tier, but in the end the relative lack of caps disqualified him. The Hungarians knew him as Ferenc Sarvari. The names are sometimes interesting. Hungary also introduced an impressive new talent in a guy named Perenyi. I was like who, until it turned out it was the more well-known Petschovschi.

I basically just described the two types of players the second tier was designed for. It's interesting to make a comparison with the modern era for the second tier. Pretty much all modern second tiers are well-known star players, but a lot of the old time ones are basically just names on a team sheet.