England national amateur football team
The England national amateur football team once beat France by fifteen goals to nothing. That match was played away from home on the 1st of November 1906. Stanley Harris scored seven of the goals, and Vivian Woodward added four more. The side that produced this result had no professionals in it, and for decades it was treated as a serious international force. Why did England need a separate team of amateurs at all? How did a group of unpaid players outscore much of Europe? Was the side that won Olympic gold really England, or was it Britain? And why did the Football Association eventually decide that this team no longer had a reason to exist?
In 1901, the growth of professional football changed what it meant to be a good player in England. Amateurs could no longer easily find places in the main national team, so the amateur side was formed to give them a stage of their own.
Its first international was played against Germany at White Hart Lane in London on the 21st of September 1901. England won 12-0, and R. E. Foster scored six of the goals. Even so, an official England amateur team was not founded until five years later.
Germany would meet the English amateurs again in 1909.
Sixteen times the England amateurs won the British Amateur Championship, and five of those wins were shared. No other team in that competition won as often.
Between 1906 and 1910, the side went 20 matches without a defeat. Many of its opponents were the full representative teams of European countries, which usually fielded a mixture of amateurs and professionals. The English amateurs still beat a good number of them.
The Football Association does not count these matches as full senior internationals. Some of the opposing countries do count them. That disagreement matters because of the scorelines, which were the heaviest ever suffered by several nations. The Netherlands lost 12-2 in 1907. In 1909, Germany lost 9-0 and Belgium lost 11-2. In 1912, Sweden lost 12-2 and Hungary lost 7-0.
The results against Sweden and Hungary were recorded under a different name, Great Britain.
Two Olympic football tournaments, in 1908 and 1912, sit at the centre of an argument about the team's identity. Historians disagree over whether the England amateur side was effectively the Great Britain Olympic team on those occasions.
The Football Association's website counts the gold medals from both tournaments as wins for the England amateurs rather than for a British team. Bryon Butler's book supports that view, because it shows that the winners' certificate names England.
Mark Chapman's England's Amateurs site takes the opposite position. It says the 1908 and 1912 teams were Great Britain, and it points to photographs showing the players wearing the Union flag on their shirts.
The source suggests that both arguments can be true at once. The 1956 Olympic tournament shows how. The team played as Great Britain, yet the Football Association organised it, and it was made up solely of amateur Englishmen because the other home nations had withdrawn their support.
Vivian Woodward scored 46 goals in 30 appearances between 1906 and 1914, and a further 11 in unofficial matches. No one else comes close in the pre-war record.
Harry Stapley is second, with 28 goals in 14 appearances between 1907 and 1909, plus six in unofficial games. Cyril Dunning scored 11 goals in only four appearances. Gordon Hoare also scored 11, in 14 appearances, all of them in 1909.
Arthur Berry made 25 appearances between 1908 and 1913 and scored 10 times. Harold Walden managed nine goals in just three appearances in 1912. Willie Jordan scored six, while Arthur Bell, Syd Owen and Frederick Chapman each settled on five.
This list covers only the matches before World War I, from 1906 to 1914. The team itself carried on for many years after that.
In 1974, the Football Association stopped treating amateurs and professionals as separate groups. From then on it simply called them "players", and the England amateur team was disbanded.
The idea of a second England side did not disappear completely. A semi-professional representative team, made up of players from the National League System, now plays in the amateur team's place.
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Common questions
When was the England national amateur football team formed?
The England national amateur football team was formed in 1901. Professional football was growing, and amateur players could no longer easily find places in the main England team.
What was the first match played by the England national amateur football team?
The team's first international was against Germany at White Hart Lane, London, on the 21st of September 1901. England won 12-0, with R. E. Foster scoring six goals.
How many times did the England national amateur football team win the British Amateur Championship?
The England amateur team won the British Amateur Championship on 16 occasions, five of them shared. It was the most successful team in the competition.
Who was the top goalscorer for the England national amateur football team before World War I?
Vivian Woodward was the top scorer, with 46 goals in 30 appearances between 1906 and 1914, plus 11 in unofficial matches. Harry Stapley was second with 28 goals in 14 appearances.
Was the England national amateur football team the same as the Great Britain Olympic team?
Sources disagree. The Football Association counts the 1908 and 1912 Olympic golds as England amateur wins, while Mark Chapman's England's Amateurs site says the teams were Great Britain and notes that photographs show Union flags on the shirts.
Why was the England national amateur football team disbanded in 1974?
The Football Association abolished the distinction between amateurs and professionals in 1974 and began calling all of them simply players. A semi-professional team drawn from the National League System now plays in the amateur side's place.
All sources
15 references cited across the entry
- 1BookUK Amateur International Football: The Complete Record 1901-1974Brian McColl et al. — Lulu Enterprises Incorporated — 2017
- 3The First England Amateur International MatchMark Chapman — England's Amateurs — 15 April 2009
- 5England's and its Amateurs' series of 18 matches unbeaten eachKarel Stokkermans — Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation — 30 March 2004
- 7Belgium – List of International MatchesRec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
- 8In some years, notably 1908, 1912 and 1956, the Great Britain Olympic team was the England national amateur football team playing in the colours of the United Kingdom. Sources differ as to whether thi
- 10BookThe Official History of The Football AssociationBryon Butler — Queen Anne Press — 1991
- 11Disputed status of international matches at amateur levelMark Chapman — England's Amateurs — 25 March 2009
- 14IV. Olympiad London 1908 Football Tournament12 May 2022
- 15V. Olympiad Stockholm 1912 Football Tournament15 June 2022
- 17Vivian John Woodward - International AppearancesRec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation — 28 January 2021