A very early Football Association tour blazer badge relating to the first ever England v Germany international football matches played in Berlin, 23rd
£300 - £500
A very early Football Association tour blazer badge relating to the first ever England v Germany international football matches played in Berlin, 23rd and 24th November 1899, originally belonging to the pioneering F.A. official Charles James Hughes (1853-1916), the cloth badge with intricate silk work and metal thread featuring the British Royal Coat of Arms, Union Jack and German Navy Ensign flags, and the Prussian Eagle, inscribed THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, 1899, very good condition possibly unused Although deemed unofficial, and played a short while before the German Football Association (DFB) was founded, these twin back-to-back games were the first ever England v Germany international football matches - and the start of one of the most famous rivalries in world football. The matches were played on a Football Association Tour of Germany at the invitation of Walther Bensemann, Secretary of the German Committee for International Soccer Matches. The historic first Germany v England match on the 23rd November 1899 ended as a 13-2 win for the tourists. Five of the England goals were scored by Burnley's Edgar Chadwick. The other goals all came in braces, scored by the amateurs E.D. Brown (Clapton) and Geoffrey Wilson (Corinthians), and the professionals Fred Forman (Nottingham Forest) and Billy Bassett (WBA). The crowd was recorded as 1,500. In the second game, played at 10am the following day, and attended by 512 spectators, England won the match 10-2, with half the visitors' goals being scored by Newcastle United's Joe Rogers. The Corinthians amateur Stanley Taylor scored a brace, as did Nottingham Forest's Frederick Forman, whilst West Bromwich Albion's Billy Bassett netted the other England goal. In both matches the German goalscorers were Bock of Fortuna Berlin and Walter Jestram of Berliner Thor uFC Britannia 1892. The German team for both matches included Ivo Schricker who would go on to become the third FIFA General Secretary 1932 to 1951.