Footballers in first world war

[Reg Martin]

Article on BBC website - and even though its about our friends from Leyton/Clapton it is genuinely interesting.
The pointless waste of so many young lives and the horror of life in the trenches still has the power to shock.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leyton_orient/7507975.stm

 

[SUFCEssex]

similar story in the sun today about the 1908 olympics team. i love reading all these old stories.

 

[SUBBlue]

That article got me looking into the World War history.

Over the course of both World War 1 & 2 the total estimated loss of life was 92,000,000 people - a totally astounding figure that I found hard to believe when I first saw it.

The soldiers in the trenches have my ultimate respect as I'm not sure I could have done the same.

 

[BlueJ]

These lads were the first to ever play an international game for England weren't they when they faced the Germans on Christmas day??

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

These lads were the first to ever play an international game for England weren't they when they faced the Germans on Christmas day??

The first England International match was held ages before the First World War and was away to Scotland on the 30th Nov 1872 and was infact the first official international match between any nations.

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cach...nternational+matches&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=uk

Have you seen the England formation in that match it was 1-2-7 and the game ended 0-0!!! Also the England goalie swapped with another player & played out on the pitch for a while.