In 1900 the Belgian count Van der Straeten Ponthoz offered a cup to the winner of an international tournament. As the champions of the three existing continental leagues were present in Brussels, the newspapers at that time called it the club championship of the continent. So can we consider R.A.P. from Amsterdam the first ever European champions?
The second edition with only the leading teams from Holland and Belgium, ended in a row. H.V.V. left the tournament as they were discontent with the refereeing of their semifinals match against Racing Club Brussels. According to the Dutch the referee allowed too much foul play. The dispute raised the question, whether there should be an overall governing body for international matches. This finally led to the foundation of FIFA in 1904.
The tournament was last held in 1907, when Union became the first club to win it 3 times in succession and were allowed to keep the cup for all time. It was succeeded by the Coupe Jean Dupuich.
1900 R.A.P. (Amsterdam)
1901 H.B.S. ('s-Gravenhage)
1902 Pilgrims FC (London)
1903 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles)
1904 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles)
1905 Union Saint-Gilloise
1906 Union Saint-Gilloise and Racing C.B. (Bruxelles) [shared]
1907 Union Saint-Gilloise
1900 R.A.P. (Amsterdam) 2-1 H.V.V. ('s-Gravenhage)
1901 H.B.S. ('s-Gravenhage) 1-0 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles)
1902 Pilgrims FC (London) 4-2 D.F.C. (Dordrecht)
1903 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles) 6-5 Pilgrims FC (London) [aet]
1904 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles) 3-2 Union Saint-Gilloise
1905 Union Saint-Gilloise 5-1 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles)
1906 Union Saint-Gilloise 2-2 Racing C.B. (Bruxelles) [aet]
1907 Union Saint-Gilloise 1-0 Hampstead FC
1st edition 15/16 april 1900 Participants: Antwerp FC Antwerpen Belgium Grasshopper Club Zürich Switzerland H.V.V. Den Haag Netherlands Léopold FC Brussels Belgium Racing I & II Brussels Belgium R.A.P. Amsterdam Netherlands First Round R.A.P. 2-1 Racing H.V.V. 8-1 Léopold Racing II w/o Antwerp FC Grasshopper bye Semifinals Grasshopper 2-3 R.A.P. H.V.V. 3-0 Racing II Final R.A.P. 2-1 H.V.V.
2nd edition 7-10 april 1901 Participants: Athletic & Running Brussels Belgium Beerschot Antwerpen Belgium Celeritas Rotterdam Netherlands D.F.C. Dordrecht Netherlands H.B.S. Den Haag Netherlands H.V.V. Den Haag Netherlands Léopold Brussels Belgium Racing Brussels Belgium R.A.P. Amsterdam Netherlands Rapiditas Rotterdam Netherlands Sporting Brussels Belgium First Round Racing 6-1 D.F.C. R.A.P. 11-2 Athletic & Running Celeritas w/o Beerschot Quarterfinals Rapiditas 2-0 Sporting H.V.V. 6-3 Léopold R.A.P. 0-1 H.B.S. Celeritas 1-3 Racing Semifinals H.B.S. 3-0 Rapiditas Racing abd H.V.V. [abandoned at 1-1] [HVV left the field with the score 1-1, Racing declared winners] Final H.B.S. 1-0 Racing
Quarterfinals [Mar 30] Union Saint-Gilloise 2-8 D.F.C. (Dordrecht) H.B.S. 4-1 Daring B.C. Pilgrims FC w/o Voorwaarts Tiel [forfait Tiel] Léopold Club w/o RC Roubaix [forfait Roubaix] Semifinals [Mar 31] D.F.C. (Dordrecht) 2-1 H.B.S. Pilgrims FC 4-0 Léopold Club Final [Apr 1] Pilgrims FC 4-2 D.F.C. (Dordrecht)
First Round [Apr 11] Beerschot A.C. w/o Velocitas Breda [forfait Velocitas] Pilgrims FC 6-0 Daring B.C. Olympia C.B. 2-1 Celeritas D.F.C. (Dordrecht) 7-3 Léopold Club Racing C.B. 1-0 Maidstone FC Athletic R.C.B. bye Union Saint-Gilloise bye H.B.S. bye Quarterfinals [Apr 12] Beerschot A.C. 2-5 Athletic R.C.B. Pilgrims FC 8-1 Olympia C.B. D.F.C. (Dordrecht) 1-2 Racing C.B. Union Saint-Gilloise w/o H.B.S. [forfait H.B.S.] Semifinals [Apr 13] Athletic R.C.B. o/w Racing C.B. [forfait Athletic] Pilgrims FC 6-1 Union Saint-Gilloise Final [Apr 14] Racing C.B. 6-5 Pilgrims FC [aet]
First Round [Apr 2] Beerschot A.C. w/o H.V.V. [forfait H.V.V.] Athletic R.C.B. w/o D.F.C. (Dordrecht) [forfait D.F.C.} H.B.S. w/o Léopold C.B. [forfait Léopold C.B.] Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 F.C. Liégeois Celeritas bye Daring C.B. bye [new name for Daring B.C.] S.A. Montrouge bye Racing C.B. bye Quarterfinals [Apr 3] Celeritas 1-2 Daring C.B. S.A. Montrouge o/w Racing C.B. [forfait Montrouge] Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 H.B.S. Beerschot A.C. 4-2 Athletic R.C.B. Semifinals [Apr 4] Racing C.B. 5-0 Beerschot A.C. Union Saint-Gilloise w/o Daring C.B. [forfait Daring C.B.] Final [Apr 5] Union Saint-Gilloise 2-3 Racing C.B.
Quarterfinals [Apr 23] Union Saint-Gilloise 3-1 East Sheen FC D.F.C. (Dordrecht) 4-1 Daring C.B. H.F.C. (Haarlem) 6-2 Léopold C.B. Racing C.B. 3-0 Magdala FC Semifinals [Apr 24] Union Saint-Gilloise 2-1 H.F.C. (Haarlem) Racing C.B. 3-1 D.F.C. (Dordrecht) Final [Apr 25] Union Saint-Gilloise 5-1 Racing C.B.
Quarterfinals [Apr 15] Union Saint-Gilloise bye Daring C.B. 1-0 H.F.C. (Haarlem) Emerity FC 0-2 Racing C.B. Léopold C.B. bye Semifinals [Apr 16] Union Saint-Gilloise 4-2 Daring C.B. Racing C.B. 4-1 Léopold C.B. Final [Apr 17] Union Saint-Gilloise 2-2 Racing C.B. [aet] [the organisation was at a loss as how to handle the situation in which the final was drawn after extra time; after contacting the secretary of the (English) FA, it was decided to proclaim both teams as 'joint holders']
Quarterfinals [Mar 31] Hampstead FC 5-3 R.C. Roubaix Racing C.B. 2-0 Emerity FC Sparta (Rotterdam) 2-0 Léopold C.B. Union Saint-Gilloise 12-0 Dortmund FC Semifinals [Apr 1] Hampstead FC 3-1 Racing C.B. Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 Sparta (Rotterdam) Final [Apr 2] Union Saint-Gilloise 1-0 Hampstead FC
Prepared and maintained by Allard Doesburg and Dirk Willocx for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Allard Doesburg
(allard.doesburg@wanadoo.nl)
and Dirk Willocx
Last updated: 15 Sep 2004
(c) Copyright Allard Doesburg, Dirk Willocx and RSSSF 2002/04
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.