When World War II was declared in 1939, it had a negative effect on association football; competitions were suspended and players signed up to fight, resulting in the deaths of many players.

League football[edit]

Austria[edit]

World's most in-depth Football Stats / Soccer Stats site. Over/Under, Corners, Match H2H, Tables, Results, HT/FT, Goals, Top Scorers, In-Play & more. We cover 500+ soccer competitions across the globe.

The Republic of Austria had ceased to exist with the Anschluss in 1938 and the Austrian league had become a part of the German football league system, under the name of Gauliga Ostmark. League football resumed in a now independent Austria again in 1945.

England[edit]

The 1939–1940 season was the 65th season of competitive football in England. In September 1939, shortly after World War II was declared, most football competitions were abandoned as the country's attention turned to the war effort.^[1] Regional league competitions were set up instead; appearances in these tournaments do not count in players' official records. A few leagues, such as the Northern League, did manage to complete a season, but more than half of the teams were unable to fulfil all their fixtures and resigned. Many footballers signed up to fight in the war^[1] and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead – Crystal Palace fielded 186 different players during the seven wartime seasons.^[2] The FA Cup was resumed for the 1945-46 season and The Football League for the 1946-47 season.

Germany[edit]

The 1939-40 season started in August 1939, but with the outbreak of the Second World War shortly after, league football was suspended. It only resumed at the end of October, with a number of local city-championships having been played to bridge the gap.^[3] As the war progressed, top-division football became more regionalised. It also expanded into occupied territories, some of them annexed into Greater Germany, increasing the number of tier-one Gauligas considerably from the original 16 in 1933. The last German championship was played in 1944 and won by Dresdner SC, but the last official league game was played as late as 23 April 1945, being the FC Bayern Munich versus TSV 1860 Munich derby in the Gauliga Oberbayern, ending 3-2.^{[citation needed]} The final years of league football saw the rise of military teams, like LSV Hamburg, who reached the 1944 German championship final, since most top-players were drafted into the German armed forces and played for these sides. Representative teams like the Rote Jäger also had a number of German internationals playing for them.^[4]

With the end of the war, ethnic German football clubs in the parts of Germany that were awarded to Poland and the Soviet Union disappeared. Clubs like VfB Königsberg and Vorwärts-Rasensport Gleiwitz, who had successfully competed in the German championship on many occasions^[5] disappeared for good. In Czechoslovakia, where the ethnic German minority in the Sudetenland was forced to leave the country, clubs experienced the same fate. A few, like BSK Neugablonz,^[6] were reformed by these refugees in West Germany.

Some of the events of the war continued to affect German football. Within the first two weeks of the re-development of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in 2009, home of the VfB Stuttgart, 18 undetonated bombs left over from air raids on Stuttgart during the Second World War were found on the construction site. The stadium was originally built, like so many others in Germany, on rubble left over from the war.^[7]

Italy[edit]

The Italian Serie A continued to operate during the war, up until 1943. A regional championship was played in 1944, before resumption of the league in a limited form in 1945.

Scotland[edit]

The Scottish Football League and Scottish Cup were suspended in 1939, with unofficial regional competitions replacing them. These were dominated by Rangers, who won the 1939–40 Emergency League and all of the six Southern League tournaments played, plus four of six Southern League Cups, the one-off Scottish War Emergency Cup in 1940, one of five Summer Cups and the one-off Victory Cup in 1946.^[8][9][10]

Switzerland[edit]

Football was affected less in World War II than it was during World War I.^[11]

International football[edit]

England[edit]

England played 29 unofficial wartime internationals between 11 November 1939 and 5 May 1945, 14 against Wales and 15 against Scotland.^[12]

Germany[edit]

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Germany did not cease to play internationals but was limited to neutral, axis and puppet states. Its first war international was held on 24 September 1939, a loss to Hungary in Budapest. All together, the country played 35 international games during the war, its last on 22 November 1942, against Slovakia.^[13]

Scotland[edit]

Scotland played 19 unofficial wartime internationals between 2 December 1939 and 24 August 1946, 17 against England and one each against Wales and Northern Ireland.^[14]

Wales[edit]

Wales played seventeen wartime unofficial matches for which the players were not awarded caps, and a further six matches in aid of war charities.^[15]

Football for morale[edit]

Football was seen as a morale booster during the horrors of World War II, for both soldiers and civilians.^[16][17]Tom Finney captained Army football teams, and organised friendly matches in Austria and Egypt.^[16][18]

Effects on footballers[edit]

Soldiers[edit]

Some players, such as Norman Corbett, have expressed the opinion that the War ruined their careers.^[19]

Many German players, drafted into the Wehrmacht, saw their careers shortened or interrupted. Fritz Walter, captain of the 1954 World Cup-winning team of Germany who made his debut for the country during the war in 1940, missed many years of his career due to serving in the military from 1942 and spending time as a POW after the war.^[20] Fritz Walter served as a paratrooper and also spent time in a Sovietlabour camp.^[21]

Many German football clubs suffered heavy casualties from Hitler's war. An amateur club like SVO Germaringen saw ten of its eleven players that had won a local youth championship in 1940 not return from the battle fields.^[22]TSV 1860 Rosenheim had 170 of its club members drafted into military service, of those, 44 were killed in action and another 15 are missing. Those that did return found the clubs facilities completely destroyed by air raids on the town in October 1944 and April 1945. Rosenheim was on an important rail- and road intersection.^[23]

The Holocaust[edit]

A number of Jewish footballers died during the Holocaust,^[24] and the Jewish association football scene, once very prominent and influential in international football, was destroyed.^[25] The Hungarian Jewish international footballer József Braun, who died in a Nazi labor camp in 1943.^[26] The Hungarian football manager Árpád Weisz died at Auschwitz in 1944.^[27][28]Henrik Nadler died at an unknown camp working as a labour serviceman.^[29]Julius Hirsch, the first Jewish player to represent the German national team, died at Auschwitz in May 1945.^[30] Hirsch had served for four years in the German Army in the First World War, had been decorated with the Iron Cross and was a German patriot, unable and unwilling to believe that his life could be at risk.^[31]

However, some people also survived the concentration camps. Leo Goldstein survived the camps to become a FIFA international referee.^[32] Goldstein is also a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.^[33] Hungarian coach Alfréd Schaffer was interned at Dachau, and was liberated by the Allies.^[34] He died naturally in the nearby town of Prien am Chiemsee a few months later.

Collaborationism[edit]

Some footballers also collaborated with the Nazis. Alexandre Villaplane, who was captain of the French national side, worked actively with the Gestapo and eventually became a SS lieutenant. He was executed in December 1944.^[35] The Estonian international goalkeeper Evald Mikson was accused by the Simon Wiesenthal Center (in particular by Efraim Zuroff) of committing serious war crimes against Jews during the War, when he was working as Deputy Head of Police in Tallinn.^[36]

Decorated footballers[edit]

Scottish footballer Willie Thornton won the Military Medal, while German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann won a total of five medals, including an Iron Cross.^[37]

Former players killed in action[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abFootball and the Second World War, Spartacus Educational, September 1997
2. ^'Palace During WWII'. Crystal Palace FC. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
3. ^Die deutschen Gauligen 1933-45 - Heft 2(in German) Tables of the Gauligas 1933-45, Booklet 2, page: 47, publisher: DSFS
4. ^Geschichte der Roten JägerArchived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine(in German) History of the Red Hunters, accessed: 13 July 2009
5. ^kicker Allmanach 1990, by kicker, page 160 & 178 - German championship
6. ^Historie - Chronik des BSK OlympiaArchived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine(in German) BSK Neugablonz website - History, accessed: 15 October 2013
7. ^Deutschland deine StadienArchived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine(in German) Weltfussball.de - Article on the redevelopment of football stadiums in Germany, accessed: 9 July 2009
8. ^'The War Years, including The Victory Seasons, 1914-1919 and 1939-1946'. Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
9. ^'Armed Forces Day: Rangers' World War Heroes'. The Rangers Standard. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
10. ^'Rangers supporters campaign for World War Two titles to be recognised by SFA and SPFL'. Daily Record. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
11. ^'Club history: 1933/34 until 1942/43'. FC Basel. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
12. ^Courtney, Barrie (21 March 2004). 'England - War-Time/Victory Internationals - Details'. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
13. ^kicker Almanach 1990 – Die Nationalmanschaften(in German) publisher: kicker, published: 1989, page: 44-103, ISBN3-7679-0297-4
14. ^'All Scotland Results by Date (including unofficial)'. Londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
15. ^Davies, Gareth; Garland, Ian (1991). Who's Who of Welsh International Soccer Players. Bridge Books. pp. 225–232. ISBN1-872424-11-2.
16. ^ ^abAlfred Forrest (13 October 2005). 'Football during WWII'. BBC. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
17. ^'Football League War Cup'. Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
18. ^Kevin McGuiness. 'A life in football: Sir Tom Finney talks to Kevin McGuiness'. Preston Today. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
19. ^'Norman Corbett'. Spartacus International. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
20. ^Fritz Walter Planetworldcup.com, accessed: 13 July 2009
21. ^Walter, FritzEncyclopædia Britannica, accessed: 13 July 2009
22. ^Chronik(in German) SVO Germaringen website - History: until 1950, accessed: 15 October 2013
23. ^TSV 1860 Rosenheim website - VereinschronikArchived 23 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine(in German) Club history, accessed: 13 July 2009
24. ^Bolchover, David (6 May 2019). 'Remembering the cream of Jewish footballing talent killed in the Holocaust'. The Guardian.
25. ^Rich, Dave (25 January 2018). 'How The Holocaust Swept Away European Jewish Soccer'. Forward.
26. ^'Braun, Joszef 'Cziby''. Jews in Sports. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
27. ^'Weisz, Arpad'. Jews in Sports. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
28. ^'Hungarian Players and Coaches in Italy'. RSSSF. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
29. ^'Nadler, Henrik'. Jews in Sports. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
30. ^'Hirsch, Julius'. Jews in Sports. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
31. ^Nationalspieler und Opfer des Nationalsozialismus(in German) Der Westen, Published: 7 April 2008, accessed: 15 October 2013
32. ^'Goldstein, Leo'. Jews in Sports. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
33. ^'Builders' Eligibility List'. National Soccer Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 24 September 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
34. ^'Schaffer, Alfred 'Spezi''. Jews in Sports. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
35. ^'Le footballeur qui voulait être un SS'. Le Monde. 15 March 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
36. ^'WIESENTHAL CENTER WELCOMES ESTONIAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION FINDINGS WHICH CONFIRM HOLOCAUST CRIMES OF EVALD MIKSON'. Simon Wiesenthal Center. 21 June 2001. Archived from the original on 19 March 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
37. ^Paolo Bandini & John Ashdown (1 April 2009). 'Has a referee ever been sent off?'. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2009.

Contents HistoryThe idea behind the World Football League was originally created by Tony Rizzano and Louis Goldman, who in 1973 proposed a Universal Football League that would include teams in Toronto, Mexico City, New York City, Anaheim, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Memphis, and Birmingham. All but Phoenix and Mexico City would eventually get a new NFL or WFL franchise by the end of the decade; Phoenix would have to wait for a team to arrive in 1983, while Mexico City still has no professional football.was the driving force behind the WFL. He had helped start the successful and, some of whose teams survived long enough to enter the established and leagues.

His World Football League did not bring any surviving teams into the, much less survive as a whole league.The fledgling WFL did succeed in raising stagnant salaries in the NFL. Average salaries of NFL players were among the lowest in the four major sports. Davidson's league garnered major news when the, led by John F. Bassett, signed three Miami Dolphins players, fullback, halfback, and wide receiver to what was then the richest 3-player deal in sports, an astounding US$3.5 million to start in 1975. The pact was a guaranteed, personal services contract, so the three would be paid even if the WFL did not survive its first season.Immediately, the NFL took notice as did its players when they were approached to jump leagues.

The lost both their quarterbacks, who signed with the and, who penned a contract to play for the, starting in 1975. The also took roster hits when WFL teams in Hawaii and Houston signed running back and quarterback respectively. The Hawaiians also signed Pro Bowl WR and All-Pro TE. However, Gilliam would end up with the and Kwalick signed with the prior to the 1975 season. By early June 1974, the WFL claimed they had some 60 NFL stars and regulars under contract.The top minor leagues in the United States at the time, the and, were also tremendously affected. The ACFL had survived a suspension of operations in 1972 to return to play in 1973, only to have the WFL lure away most of the ACFL's players with the prospect of playing in a 'major' league. Both leagues were forced to fold.1974 seasonPlaying a 20-game regular season schedule in 1974 – six games longer than the NFL's then 14-game season – the WFL staged no exhibition games (although its teams did participate in preseason scrimmages).

The season was to begin on Wednesday, July 10 and ended on Wednesday, November 13. This was a 20-game season in 19 weeks - a schedule accomplished by having double games (primarily Monday and Friday) on Labor Day weekend. Some complained that the schedule was poorly drafted. For one thing, although most teams played on Wednesday nights with a national TV game slated for Thursday nights, the Hawaiians played their home games on Sunday afternoons.

This meant that when the Hawaiians had a home game they played an opponent who flew to Honolulu after having played just four days earlier. In addition, back-to-back meetings between two teams were common.As was common with many upstart leagues, the WFL's intended lineup of teams changed several times before it even played a down.

Most notably, Bassett's Toronto Northmen were forced to find a new home after the Canadian government threatened to ban any American football team from competing with the; though the never passed, the mere threat of it prompted Bassett to move the team to Memphis, where it became the.The original schedule called for a four-team playoff, with semifinal playoffs held on Wednesday-Thursday November 20-November 21, and the on Friday, November 29 (the night after Thanksgiving). League officials boldly discussed plans for expansion teams in Europe and Asia.In the first few weeks, the WFL looked to be a resounding success. Attendance outpaced the first week of the of 1960, averaging just under 43,000 a game. The box office numbers proved to be the beginning of the WFL's undoing.

In Jacksonville, the admitted that 44,000 tickets were giveaways. The whose first two home games totaled 120,000 fans, told the press that over 100,000 had been sold for almost nothing. Presumably the giveaways were intended in part to pique the public's curiosity and interest, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

Six games into the first season, WFL franchises were in serious trouble. The were looking to move to and the made overtures of bringing the first place club to.By September, the barely one-year old league had bottomed out when two franchises relocated. The relocated to as the, and the, the first WFL team to relocate in mid-season, moved to as the. On top of this, the aforementioned Wheels briefly moved for one game to (this time with nary a complaint from Canadian officials), and then became a for the next six weeks. In October, the league pulled the plug on the and the after 14 games.

The folding of the Jacksonville franchise meant that the would not host World Bowl I. (Coincidentally, Jacksonville was also slated to be the host of the 1986 Championship Game, but that game was never played. It would not be until February 2005 that the city would host its first championship pro football game,.)Reports of financial hardship abounded. Most of the teams were badly undercapitalized (notable exceptions being Birmingham, Memphis, Southern California and the Hawaiians), despite league officials' bold plans.

For instance, the Portland Storm's players were reportedly being fed by sympathetic local fans. The Charlotte Hornets had their uniforms impounded for not paying a laundry bill from the time the team was located in New York, and were forced to miss the playoffs because they couldn't afford to travel to Orlando for their first-round game. The Florida Blazers weren't paid for the last three months of the season, and reportedly survived on meal vouchers.

Davidson resigned as commissioner by the end of October 1974, Hawaiians owner was named the new commissioner a month later.Late in the year, the league announced that it was going to award its MVP a cash prize at the World Bowl. It was literally a cash prize. Rather than endure the embarrassment of media sneers about whether a WFL check would clear, the league neatly stacked cash high upon a table in the middle of the field. The MVP award was a three-way split, and the players involved split the cash.Despite the disasters, many thought the WFL performed fairly well, though below NFL standards. Many games were tight, decided by seven points or less, and the Action Point, the one-point conversion run or pass attempt after a touchdown, was favored among WFL coaches and critics. The league championship – the, or 'World Bowl I' – was staged in between the hometown.

The Action Point proved to be the decider as the Americans won the championship by a single point, 22-21. The day after the World Bowl, the champions' uniforms were confiscated by sheriff's deputies. ( referred to the game, prophetically, as 'The first, and possibly only World Bowl'.)1975 seasonThough many predicted the WFL was dead, the league returned for the 1975 season, with a new leader, commissioner, former co-owner of the 1974 Hawaiians franchise, and some new owners with new names. The deceased Sharks of came back as the 'Express.' The Portland Storm became the Portland Thunder, the Birmingham Americans were replaced by the, and the became the. The World Bowl runner-up folded; its franchise rights were relocated to, as the. Only two teams, Memphis and Philadelphia, returned with the same ownership from the prior season.The league changed its scheduling format from 20 games without exhibitions to 18 games (played in 20 weeks due to the odd number of teams) with exhibitions.

Wild West Online has won additional funding from its investors, enabling the devs to bypass both Kickstarter and Steam early access in favour of a full launch later this year. For more multiplayer. Wild West Online is a emergent systems-driven, open world, Wild West-themed action MMO built from the ground up for PC and featuring world exploration, resource gathering, PvP combat, PvE missions. New details on Wild West Online PvE as its Steam release date is revealed By T.J. Hafer 26 April 2018 Feuding families are just the start of what's planned, and we chatted with the executive. Wild west online ps4 release date. A summary of Wild West Online game info, release dates, and news coverage. Wild West Online - Release Date Announcement Trailer Apr 26, 2018 3:30pm 4.

Gone were weeknight games; the new schedule had games on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. But the league still was snake-bit. Although the original plan called for a July 5 preseason opener and August 2 regular season openers, the regular season had to open a week earlier, with a single game on Saturday, July 26, due to a stadium conflict. This meant that a single regular season game was played in the midst of the last weekend of preseason play (with some preseason games being played the next night).Several more NFL free agents including and signed on with the struggling WFL, and the made an offer to aging, who seriously considered the offer before refusing and resigning with the. The embarrassing rejection by Namath, after they had invested so much in the effort to sign him, seriously hurt the Winds, who folded five weeks into the season. Shortly afterward, the entire league shut down and the, with a league best record of 9-3 were awarded the league championship.With the relative financial stability of the Birmingham and Memphis clubs, both attempted to join the NFL but were refused. In 1979, the Memphis club owners filed an against the NFL.

Their case was ultimately dismissed on May 30, 1984, by which time the owners had already established the in the next professional league, the (which incidentally filed its own, more famous antitrust suit against the NFL in 1986). Although the NFL expanded in 1976, that expansion had been planned before the WFL's first season.LegacyThe league's struggles led to endless sarcastic comments (starting with the league's own abbreviation, which was often pronounced '). Chicago Fire offensive lineman quipped bitterly that he had been offered a million dollar contract: 'A dollar a year for a million years!' The WFL, for all its embarrassing miscues, produced a number of coaches who found success in the NFL: notably, and., a quarterback for the Hawaiians, became a head coach in the NFL and UFL, taking the to in 2001 and the to a win in the.

Memphis head coach went on to become head coach of the, but had more success as general manager of the during the 1980s years. Several players, most notably, and, later found success in the NFL as well.Two WFL alumni made it to the:.

(Csonka and Warfield were, however, already established stars in the NFL before joining the WFL.)The league's most severe impact was on the, who had just won consecutive before the WFL's snagging of three of their star players. Maher, Todd.

Coffin Corner (Professional Football Researchers Association). New, The. Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29. Blum, Ronald (July 12, 2010). Associated Press. KCCI-TV.

↑. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

April 6, 2009. ↑ Hibdon, Glenn (July 19, 2008). Tulsa World. Retrieved July 29, 2010.

Baconian Online. October 20, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2010.

August 31, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2010.

↑. World Football League. August 1, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.External links.

at the.