The First Mitropa Cup, 1927

Hugo Meisl

Every soccer fan is familiar with international cup competitions like the Champions League.  Nearly ninety years ago, Austrian Hugo Meisl was the first to come up with this idea. In those days, professional soccer just started in countries like Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Meisl wanted a knock-out tournament, just like the national cups everybody already knew, with the champions of each participating country.

Hugo Meisl (born 1881) thought home and away matches would be best, this way everybody had equal chances. Of course, he needed eight teams to get a decent set up, with quarter finals, semi finals and a final. And as Germany and Italy did not have a national league yet, he asked the top two teams of the four countries that did compete: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. That last choice was a surprise. Yugoslavia didn’t play professional soccer and had no reputation whatsoever on international level. The two clubs Hajduk Split and BSK Belgrade were merely used to get the numbers right.

The cup was called Mitropa Cup, derived from the German words ‘Mittel Europa’, meaning Central Europa. The teams that participated from August 14 until the final on November 13, were as follows:

Club	Country	Achievement in league 1927
Admira Wien	Austria	Champion 1926-1927
Rapid Wien	Austria	Third place 1926-1927
Sparta Prague	Czechoslovakia	Champions 1927
Slavia Prague	Czechoslovakia	Runner-up 1927
Ujpesti TE	Hungary	Runner-up 1926-1927
MTK Hungaria Budapest	Hungary	Third place 1926-1927
NK Hajduk Split	Yugoslavia	Champion 1927
BSK Beograd	Yugoslavia	Runner-up 1927

·        * Missing in this line-up were runner-up Brigittenauer AC (BAC) from Austria and Hungarian champion Ferencvaros, for reasons unknown.

·        * The capitol cities Vienna, Prague and Budapest all provided two clubteams, which was no surprise as those cities were the soccer centre of their countries.

The Quarter Finals

Gyorgyo Orth (MTK Hungaria FC)

On August 14, the Mitropa Cup got on it’s way in Vienna, Prague and Belgrade. With two clubs from Prague, Slavia played its first home match a week later. All return matches were played on August 28. With Rapid Vienna, Slavia Prague and Hungaria FC easily through to the next round, the matches  between Sparta Prague and Admira Wacker were the most memorable in these quarter finals. Both teams played very rough, with injuries and even a fight in the locker room afterwards. Evzen Vesely, normally a substitute player in the Sparta squad, had already scored the first two goals in Sparta’s 5-1 victory in the first match. He was even more vital two weeks later, when Admira had equaled the 5-1 score after an hour. Vesely's 2-5 and 3-5 prevented Sparta from playing an extra match.

The results of the quarter finals (winners in bold):

Rapid Vienna – Hajduk Split	8-1	Johann Hoffmann (3), Ferdinand Wessely (2), Karl Wondrak (1), Johann Horvath (1), Johann Luef (1); Mirko Bonacic (1)
Hajduk Split – Rapid Vienna	0-1	Johann Hoffmann (1)
Sparta Prague – Admira Vienna	5-1	Evzen Vesely (2), Josef Horejs (2), Jan Maloun (1); Franz Runge (1)
Admira Vienna – Sparta Prague	5-3	Anton Schall (2), Ignaz Sigl (1), Franz Runge (1), Karl Stoiber (1), Evzen Vesely (2), Josef Silny (1)
BSK Belgrade – MTK Hungaria FC	2-4	Kuzman Soritovic (1), Nikola Marjanovic (1); Rudolf Jeny (1), Zoltan Opata (1), Janos Kvasz (1), Gyorgy Skvarek (1)
MTK Hungaria FC – BSK Belgrade	4-0	Gyorgy Orth (2), Gyorgy Molnar (1), Geza Balasits (1)
Slavia Prague – Ujpesti TE	4-0	Jindrich Soltys (1), Josef Kratochvil (1), Frantisek Svoboda (1), Karel Bejbl (1)
Ujpesti TE – Slavia Prague	2-2	Jozsef Fogl III (2); Antonin Puc (2)

Frantisek Kolenaty (Sparta Prague)

The Semi Finals

Things were getting closer during the semi finals. Hungaria FC and Sparta first draw 2-2 in Budapest, with Sparta the better team. Back in Prague, Hungaria was able to stop the Sparta attacks: 0-0. As the away goals rule wasn’t invented yet, an extra match was needed. But Sparta Prague successfully claimed Hungaria FC’s Kalman Konrad wasn’t allowed to play in the last game, given his previous American adventure with Brooklyn Wanderers. So Sparta went throught to the final.

In the other semi final, Slavia’s goalkeeper Frantisek Planicka denied the Rapid Vienna-attackers with great saves. Thanks to his performance, Slavia won their home match 2-1. Back in Vienna, it was a great free kick on 1-1 from Ferdinand Wessely that beat Planicka and made the final a clash between Austrian and Czechoslovakia, or Vienna and Prague.

MTK Hungaria FC – Sparta Prague	2-2	Zoltan Opata (1), Rudolf Jeny (1); Adolf Patek (1), Josef Silny (1)
Sparta Prague – MTK Hungaria FC	0-0
Slavia Prague – Rapid Vienna	2-2	Josef Kratochvil (1), Antonin Puc (1); Johann Horvath (1), Johann Luef (1)
Rapid Vienna – Slavia Praag	2-1	Karl Wondrak (1), Ferdinand Wesely (1); Antonin Puc (1)

Winner Sparta Prague

The Final

Four weeks after the semi finals, Sparta Prague and Rapid Vienna met in Prague for the first match. It was believed the Mitropa Cup had a very strong final. Twentyfive thousand spectators saw a nervous beginning, with Sparta leading 2-0 and 3-1. It was 3-2 at halftime, but after the break Rapid was overrun by Sparta, who scored another three goals. With a 6-2 score, the spectators were convinced it was over and joyously invaded the pitch. 

Finalist Rapid Vienna

Two weeks later, Rapid Vienna tried the impossible, and failed. The Austrians played unfair, especially Franz Weselik should have been red carded. But only Antonin Perner (Sparta) was expelled from the game, after an hour. After a 2-0 lead for Rapid, Josef Silny scored 2-1 eight minutes from time, which ended all hopes for Rapid coach Edi Bauer and his team. Bauer (33) had placed himself in the starting eleven, but the gifted striker failed to make an impression. During the Cup ceremony, Sparta’s captain Karel Pesek was struck by a rock, and some two hundred policemen had to protect the Sparta Prague team from other attacks from the crowd.

Sparta Prague – Rapid Vienna	6-2	Josef Silny (2), Adolf Patek (2), Karel Pesek (1), Josef Sima (1); Franz Weselik (1), Ferdinand Wessely (1)
Rapid Vienna – Sparta Prague	2-1	Franz Weselik (1), Johann Luef (1); Josef Silny (1)

Josef Silny

So, Sparta Prague deservingly was the first winner of the Mitropa Cup. During those six matches they used only fourteen players, no less than eight players were ever-present.

Their attacker Josef Silny became top goalscorer with five goals, Johann Hoffmann and Ferdinand Wessely (both Rapid Vienna), Antonin Puc (Slavia Prague) and Evzen Vesely (Sparta Prague) all scored four.

In total 64 goals were scored in 14 matches, an average of more than four and a half goals per match. Janko Rodin (Hajduk Split), Kuzman Sotirovic (BSK Belgrade) and (as mentioned) Antonin Perner all were sent off. 

The Mitropa Cup got off to a shaky start, as there was too much violence on the playing fields. But the prestige was big from the start. That even got better from 1929 onwards, as the Italian clubs started to participate.

Sparta Prague in Mitropa Cup, 1927

Player	Position	Date of birth	Matches	Goals
Frantisek Hochman	Goalkeeper	02-04-1904	6	0
Karel Steiner	Defender	26-01-1895	4	0
Antonin Perner	Defender	29-01-1899	6	0
Jaroslav Burgr	Defender	07-03-1906	2	0
Frantisek Kolenaty	Midfielder	29-01-1900	6	0
Ferdinand Hajny	Midfielder	03-02-1899	6	0
Karel Pesek	Midfielder	20-09-1895	6	1
Evzen Vesely	Forward	Unknown	4	4
Josef Horejs (Austria)	Forward	Unknown	6	2
Josef Silny	Forward	23-01-1902	6	5
Jan Maloun	Forward	11-02-1905	4	1
Josef Sima	Forward	17-08-1905	2	1
Josef Miclik	Forward	Unknown	2	0
Adolf Patek (Austria)	Forward	04-04-1900	6	3

Soccer Pioneers: the first players to reach 50 international caps (countrywise)

Today, September 20, 2013, Egyptian Ahmed Hassan holds the world record for international caps with an amazing 184. Nowadays nearly three hundred players collected 100 international appearances or more, before the Second World War playing 50 caps was a remarkable achievement. Here are the ten players that were the first for their country to play 50 international matches.

Imre Schlosser

1 Imre Schlosser (Hungary, 1889-1959)

Schlosser made his debut for the Hungarian national team in 1906, in a draw with Bohemia (4-4). In total he played 68 matches for his country, of which the match against Austria (3-3 on November 5, 1916), was his 50^th cap. Schlosser became the first ever international player to do so, before him the record holder was Welshman Billy Meredith. Schlosser played another eleven years for his country after that, but only managed 18 more caps. He also held the world record for most international goals (59)scored, until Ferenc Puskas broke that record in 1954.

2 Cayetano Saporiti (Uruguay, 1887-1954)

Saporiti isn’t a household name in international soccer, except in his home country Uruguay and in Argentina. He managed to collect his 50^th and last cap on May 25, 1919. With the national team goalkeeper Saporiti won the Copa America in 1916 and 1917. Of his 50 caps, no less than 42 were against neigbour Argentina.

Armand Swartenbroeks

3  Armand Swartenbroeks (Belgium, 1892-1980)

For eight years, Schlosser and Saporiti were in a league of their own. Then Belgian defender Armand Swartenbroeks collected his 50^th cap on September 4, 1927. Unfortunately, Belgium lost that match in Stockholm 7-0 to Sweden. Swartenbroeks was a member of the Belgium team that won the Olympic title in 1920 in Antwerp. He had the misfortune of not playing any matches for Belgium for five years, due to the First World War. Otherwise, he probably would have been the most capped player before the Second World War.

4 Harry Dénis (Netherlands, 1896-1971)

With a Belgian player at number 3, the Netherlands can’t stay far behind. Harry Dénis was a right back defender, and played in three Olympics (1920, 1924 and 1928). He had the special honour of taking the Olympic oath on behalf of all the athletes in 1928. Dénis played his 50^th cap on June 5, 1928 a 3-1 victory over Belgium at the Olympic Consolations Tournament. His biggest disappointment occured a few days earlier, as the Dutch lost against 0-2 Uruguay in the first round of the Olympics. Dénis was captain of his team in 37 of his 56 international matches.

Umberto Caligaris as a
Juventus-player  

5 Umberto Caligaris (Italy, 1901-1940)

Just like Dénis, Umberto Caligaris played as a right back and also took part at the 1928 Olympics (as he did in 1924). He was more succesfull, as Italy managed to win a bronze medal. Caligaris collected his 50^th cap in an away match against Switserland (1-1) on March 29, 1931.

Caligaris played his 59^th and last match for Italy in February 1934, just a few months before Italy won the World Cup. He was a squad member, but sat on the bench the whole tournament. He was 32 years old at the time. After playing only a few minutes of  a veteran soccer game on October 19, 1940, he was taken to the hospital and died of a aneurysma.

6 Josef Blum (Austria, 1898-1956)

The Austrian Wunderteam (1931-1932) had many outstanding players, like Matthias Sindelar, Fritz Geschweidl, Anton Schall and goalkeeper Rudolf Hiden. Defender (again!) Josef Blum was in the line-up of what was considered the birth of this Wunderteam, a 5-0 victory over Scotland. In the one and a half year after that, Austria won for example 6-0 and 5-0 against Germany, 8-1 against Switserland and 8-2 against Hungary. Blum was one of the oldest players on the team, the match mentioned  against Hungary was his 51th and last one. One month before, he played his 50^th match on March 20, 1932, a 2-1 victory over Italy. Blum’s record of 51 caps lasted until 1954, when Ernst Ocwirk took over.

7 Max Abegglen (Switserland, 1902-1970)

Max, or ‘Xam’ Abegglen is one of three soccer playing brothers (Jean (1899) and Andre ‘Trello’ (1909) are the others), who all played for the Swiss national team. Max was a prolific goalscorer for Switserland, it wasn’t until 2001 that his record of 34 international goals was matched by Kubilay Turkyilmaz (and later surpassed by Alexander Frei). His biggest moment probably were the 1924 Olympics in Paris, where Swisterland reached the final but was beaten by Uruguay. Abegglen played his 50^th cap on April 2, 1933, losing 0-3 to Italy. Abegglen is one of the few players who has a professional soccer club named after him: Xamax Neuchatel, in 2012 demoted to the Swiss Amateur league because of financial problems.

8 Eugen Einman (Estonia, 1905-1963)

The most unexpected name in this top ten is without a doubt Eugen Einman form Estonia. This small country was independent between the two world wars, but hardly made any headlines during this period on the soccer field. Mostly Estonia played Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden or Finland. They failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1934 and 1938. But still, midfielder/defender Eugen Einman was a member of the Estonian team from 1923 until 1935, and collected 65 caps during these years. As the first of country he gained his 50^th cap on August 9, 1933 against  Latvia (2-1 for Estonia).

9 Josef Silný (Czechoslovakia, 1902-1981)

Although Czechoslovakia was a mighty force on the European continent, Josef Silný managed to collect 50 caps, with nearly all of them being friendlies and matches for the Svehla Cup (tournament between Italy, Austria, Hungary and Switserland). Silný was vital in winning the bronze medal in the 1927-1930 edition, scoring four goals. He made his debut one year after the 1924 Olympics, and after that Czechoslovakia didn’t enter the 1928 Olympics and the 1930 World Cup. At last, his 50^th cap was for real as it was the first round of the World Cup, May 27, 1934. Czechoslovakia beat Romania 2-1, but Silny was left out of the team during the rest of the tournament, giving him a silver medal for only playing one of four matches. Still, 50 caps (and 28 goals) is a big achievement.

10 Max Viinioksa (Finland, 1905-1977)

The second dark horse of this top ten ends this list. Finland’s Max Viinioksa made his debut for Finland in 1926, and was a regular for the team for nine years. Actually, Viinioksa favored (ice)hockey (he did play a few matches in the 1933-34 hockeyleague) but in those days the level of play in Finland was low. So, strongly build Viinioksa decided to be a soccer player. He was famous in his own country, but not outside as Finland did not enter the Olympics in 1928, nor tried to qualify for the World Cup of 1930 and 1934. Defender Viinioksa wasn’t in the team anymore when his country played in the 1936 Olympics, losing 3-7 to Peru in the first round. Viinioksa  50^th and last match Viinioksa played on September 8, 1935 against Denmark. It ended 5-1 in favor of the Danes.

Frantisek Planicka (on the right)

Before the Second World War, a total of 32 players were capped 50 times or more for their country. Legendary Czechoslovakian goalkeeper Frantisek Planicka had the world record at that moment, number four placed Severino Minello would be the next record holder. Minello’s 80 caps (last match June 14, 19430 were beaten by Ferenc Puskas (84) and then England’s Billy Wright, who was the first player ever to reach a total (more than) hundred caps in 1959)

Most capped players before the Second World War (31-08-1939)

Frantisek Planicka	Czechoslovakia	1926-1938	73
Angel Romano	Uruguay	1911-1927	69
Imre Schlosser	Hungary	1906-1927	68
Severino Minello*	Switserland	1930-1939	68
Evald Tipner	Estonia	1924-1939	67
Eugen Einman	Estonia	1923-1935	65
Puck van Heel	Netherlands	1925-1938	64
Eriks Petersons*	Latvia	1929-1939	61
Antonin Puc	Czechoslovakia	1926-1938	60
Rudolf Ramseyer	Switserland	1920-1931	59
Umberto Caligaris	Italy	1922-1934	59
Bernard Voorhoof*	Belgium	1928-1939	59
Eduard Ellman-Eelma	Estonia	1921-1935	58
Harry Dénis	Netherlands	1919-1930	56
Jaroslav Burgr	Czechoslovakia	1929-1938	55
Gejus van der Meulen	Netherlands	1924-1934	54
Raymond Braine	Belgium	1925-1939	54
Alberts Seibelis	Latvia	1925-1939	54
Frans Karjagin*	Finland	1929-1939	54
Armand Swartenbroeks	Belgium	1913-1928	53
Guiseppe Meazza	Italy	1930-1939	53
Hector Scarone	Uruguay	1917-1930	52
Virginio Rosetta	Italy	1920-1934	52
Karl-Rudolph Sillberg-Sillak	Estonia	1929-1938	52
Josef Blum	Austria	1920-1932	51
Karoly Fogl II	Hungary	1918-1929	51
Gyorgy Sarosi*	Hungary	1931-1939	51
Cayetano Saporiti	Uruguay	1905-1919	50
Max Viinioska	Finland	1926-1935	50
Josef Silný	Czechoslovakia	1925-1934	50
William Kanerva	Finland	1922-1938	50
Janis Lidmanis*	Latvia	1931-1939	50

*Still active at that time