International Labour Tournaments (Paris) 1928-1938

On four occasions, international tournaments involving workers/labourers national teams were played in Paris between 1928 and 1938.

Palmares

1928 England
1934 Soviet Union
1937 Soviet Union (Spartak Moskva)
1938 Soviet Union (Torpedo Moskva)

In addition, the FSGT (Fédération sportive et gymnique du travail) hosted rencontres sportives internationales in August 1935, a multi-sports event in which Ukraine represented the Soviet Union in football.

Pre-olympic Tournament 1928

NB: France B replaced Russia after the French embassy in Moscow denied
    the Russian players visa to enter France.

Semifinals [Apr 8, stade Pershing, Paris; att: 20,000]
France B       2-2 England        [HT: 1-0]  [England progressed to final]
France A       1-2 Germany        [HT: 1-0]

Third Place Match [Apr 9, stade Pershing, Paris; att: 10,000]
France A       3-1 France B       [HT: 2-1]

Final [Apr 9, stade Pershing, Paris; att: 10,000]
England        4-1 Germany        [HT: 3-1]

Workers World Cup 1934

NB: originally, 12 teams were to enter;
    known as Rassemblement des sportifs contre le fascisme et la guerre impérialiste,
    this tournament replaced the 1934 Spartakiad originally planned in Moscow.

Originally drawn groups:

Pool A (stade Pershing, Paris)
   Soviet Union
   Switzerland
   United States
Pool B (stade de l'Unité, Saint-Denis)
   England
   Sweden
   Alsace
Pool C (stade municipal, Ivry)
   Norway
   Netherlands
   France
Pool D (stade municipal, Clichy)
   Spain
   Czechoslovakia
   Saar

After the four teams in italics withdrew, the tournament was played
as a straight knockout event.  The players of the Netherlands were
denied entrance to France and had to withdrew on Aug 10.

Quarterfinals [Aug 11]
Spain          3-1 Czechoslovakia [HT: 1-0]  [at Clichy]
Norway         w/o Netherlands               [at Ivry]
Soviet Union  11-0 Switzerland    [HT: 4-0]  [at stade Pershing; att: 5,000]
France         0-6 Alsace         [HT: 0-3]  [at Saint-Denis; att: 500]

Semifinals [both at stade Pershing]
[Aug 12]
Norway        13-0 Spain          [HT: 6-0]  [att: 20,000]
[Aug 13]
Alsace        0-15 Soviet Union  

Friendly [Aug 13, Ivry; att: 300]
Switzerland    4-3 Saar           [HT: 3-1]

Final [Aug 14, stade Buffalo, Montrouge; att: 25,000]
Soviet Union   3-0 Norway         [HT: 2-0]

Labours World Cup 1937

NB: played directly after the Labour Olympiad in Antwerpen; all four entrants
    had played there as well, with the Soviet Union represented by Spartak Moskva 
    and Spain by the republican side which had its stronghold in Catalonia.
    The tournament was set up in cooperation with the 1937 World Expo.

Semifinals
[Aug 4, stade Buffalo, Montrouge; att: 5,000]
Soviet Union   4-0 England        [HT: 1-0]
[Aug 5, stade La Cipale, Vincennes; att: 7,500]
Spain          3-2 Switzerland    [HT: 2-0]

Friendly [Aug 5, stade La Cipale, Vincennes; att: 7,500]
France        0-12 Palestine      [HT: 0-4]

Final [Aug 8, stade Olympique, Colombes; att: 9,000]
Soviet Union   2-0 Spain          [HT: 1-0]

30th Anniversary FSGT 1938

NB: the Fédération sportive et gymnique du travail (FSGT) was formed in 1934
    when the Fédération sportive du travail (FST), founded in 1908, merged
    with the Union des sociétés sportives et gymniques du travail (USSGT),
    which had been formed as a split-off from the FST in 1921;
    the Soviet Union were represented by Torpedo Moskva;
    Czechoslovakia were a selection from the Sudetenland.

Semifinals
[Jun 23, Courbevoie]
France         1-5 Norway         [HT: 0-2]
[Jun 24, stade Buffalo, Montrouge]
Soviet Union   8-0 Czechoslovakia [HT: 2-0]

Third Place Match [Jun 26, stade Pershing, Paris; att: 15,000]
France         4-3 Czechoslovakia [HT: 1-1]

Final [Jun 26, stade Pershing, Paris; att: 15,000]
Soviet Union   6-0 Norway         [HT: 2-0]
  [Soviet Union (White Jersey, Black short):
     Fiedotov, Pietrov, Stapanov, Riazantzev, Karitchev, Maslov, Kotmchetkov, Yerchov,
     Sokolov, Polliakov, Kotchetov;
   Norway (Blue Jersey, Black short):
     Jonassen, Johansen J., Imensen, Wasenius, Hansen, Rehn, Heintz, H. Johansen,
     Johansen B., Ellingsen, Carlsen]

Friendly [Jul 3, Marseille; att: 15,000]
Torpedo M.    14-0 Catalonia XI
  [match set up by the FSGT and the newspaper Rouge-Midi; the Catalonian side consisted
   of soldiers who had arrived in Marseille during the night prior to the match]

Labour International Matches Index

Labour Olympiads 1925-1937

About this document

Sources: L'Humanité, Sport (official magazine of FSGT), archives available on Gallica BnF, the French National Library

Prepared and maintained by Jérôme Perani for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Jérôme Perani
Last updated: 18 May 2023