Due to the coronavirus pandemic, European football are shutdown for the first time since World War Two. Players and fans are forced to stay at home for humanbeing's health and safety. But it is a totally different situation in the last time. Players were not staying at home at all, instead, some of them joined the army and were sent to the frontline.

On 15th March, 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the German Army to invade Czechoslovakia. It seemed that war was inevitable. On 8th April, Bolton Wanderers played a home game against Sunderland. Before the game started, Harry Goslin, the team captain, spoke to the crowd: "We are facing a national emergency. But this danger can be met, if everybody keeps a cool head, and knows what to do. This is something you can't leave to the other fellow, everybody has a share to do."

Of the 35 players on the staff of Bolton Wanderers, 32 joined the armed services and the other three went into the coal mines and munitions. This included Harry Hubbick, who resumed his career down the pits and Jack Atkinson and George Hunt served in the local police force. A total of 17 players, including Harry Goslin, Danny Winter, Billy Ithell, Albert Geldard, Tommy Sinclair, Don Howe, Ray Westwood, Ernie Forrest, Jackie Roberts, Jack Hurst and Stan Hanson, joined the 53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment.

(Bolton Wanderers players in 1939: Billy Ithell, Danny Winter, Jackie Roberts, George Caterall, Don Howe and Harry Goslin)

It was decided that the Football League should begin on 26th August. More than 600,000 people watched these games. On Friday, 1st September, 1939, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland. The football that Saturday went ahead as Neville Chamberlain did not declare war on Germany until Sunday, 3rd September. The government immediately imposed a ban on the assembly of crowds and as a result the Football League competition was brought to an end. Blackpool, who had won all three games so far that season, was top of the First Division table at the time.

On 14th September, the government gave permission for football clubs to play friendly matches. In the interests of public safety, the number of spectators allowed to see these games was limited to 8,000. These arrangements were later revised, and clubs were allowed gates of 15,000 from tickets purchased on the day of the game through the turnstiles.

(Jack Fairbrother and Willie Hamilton of Preston North End joined the Blackburn Police Force on the outbreak of the war.)

The government imposed a fifty mile travelling limit and the Football League divided all the clubs into seven regional areas where games could take place. London clubs arranged for their regional competition to begin on the last Saturday in October. One group was composed of Arsenal, Brentford, Charlton, Chelsea, Fulham, Millwall, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United. The other group included Aldershot, Brighton, Clapton Orient, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient, QPR, Reading, Southend and Watford.

Some of the players had already joined the armed forces. West Ham United decided that this was unfair on those players who were unavailable for selection. The club decided to pay all their players thirty shillings a week whether or not they played. Shortly afterwards, the Management Committee of the Football League passed a resolution instructing all clubs to follow West Ham's example.

(James Barron, the Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper is beaten by a shot from Sam Small of West Ham United in the 1940 Football League Cup Final.)

After the declaration of war in September 1939, Adolf Hitler did not order the attack of France or Britain as he believed there was still a chance to negotiate an end to the conflict between the countries. This period became known as the Phoney War. As Britain had not experienced any bombing raids, the Football League decided to start a new competition entitled the Football League War Cup.

The entire competition of 137 games including replays was condensed into nine weeks. However, by the time the final took place, the "Phoney War" had come to an end. On 10th May, 1940, Adolf Hitler launched his Western Offensive and invaded France. In the days leading up to the final, the British Expeditionary Force was being evacuated from Dunkirk.

In the final held at Wembley on 8th June, 1940, West Ham United beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0. Despite the fears that London would be bombed by the Luftwaffe, over 42,300 fans decided to take the risk of visiting Wembley. The only goal was scored by Sam Small after a shot from George Foreman had been blocked by James Barron, the Blackburn goalkeeper.

(West Ham players celebrate winning the Football League Cup Final. Left to right, Corporal Norman Corbett, Ted Fenton, Charlie Bicknell, Archie Macaulay and George Foreman.)

The Luftwaffe carried out its first bombing raid of London on 10th July, 1940. During the Battle of Britain clubs continued to play football. On 19th September, 1940, soon after the beginning of the Blitz, the Football Association relaxed their ban on Sunday football to provide recreation for war workers. Winston Churchill took the view that the continuation of football was good for the morale of the nation.

Between September 1940 and May 1941, the Luftwaffe made 127 large-scale night raids. Of these, 71 were targeted on London. The main targets outside the capital were Liverpool, Birmingham, Plymouth, Bristol, Glasgow, Southampton, Coventry, Hull, Portsmouth, Manchester, Belfast, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham and Cardiff. Some two million houses (60 per cent of these in London) were destroyed and 60,000 civilians were killed and 87,000 were seriously injured. Of those killed, the majority lived in London.

(Raich Carter while working for the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1940.)

On the outbreak of the Second World War the England inside-forward, Raich Carter, joined the Sunderland Fire Service. This was a reserved occupation and his action was interpreted as being a tactic to avoid military service. As a result, Carter was often booed by the crowd in friendly games he played during the conflict. This caused Carter a great deal of stress and on 2nd October 1941 he joined the RAF. Like most professional footballers, Carter became a Physical Training Instructor, and did not see any action during the war.

Major Frank Buckley had been a senior officer in the Football Battalion during the First World War. He attempted to re-join the British Army in 1939 but at the age of 56 he was considered too old. However, he was manager of Wolves at the time and did encourage his players to join the armed forces. According to the Football Association publication, Victory Was The Goal (1945), between 3 September 1939 and the end of the war, 91 men joined the armed forces from Wolves, 76 from Liverpool, 65 from Huddersfield Town, 63 from Leicester City, 62 from Charlton, 55 from Preston North End, 52 from Burnley, 50 from Sheffield Wednesday, 44 from Chelsea, 41 each from Brentford and Southampton, and each from Sunderland and West Ham United.

On 12th May, 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of France. The 53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment was sent to help the French but came under attack from the advancing Panzer divisions. Harry Goslin was credited with destroying four enemy tanks and this resulted in him being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Goslin, Don Howe, Ray Westwood, Ernie Forrest, Jack Hurst and Stan Hanson, were lucky to make it back to the French port of Dunkirk where they were rescued by British ships.

(53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment football team: Standing: Danny Winter, Harry Goslin, Stan Hanson, George Catterall, (Lt Col G. Bennet), Billy Ithell, Jack Hurst, Frontrow: Albert Geldard, Don Howe, Ray Westwood, Jackie Roberts, Tommy Sinclair.)

In January 1940 Wilf Mannion was conscripted into the British Army. He was sent to France and took part in the battle to stop the advance of the German Army during the Western Offensive. A local newspaper reported that Mannion had been killed but he was one of the soldiers who was evacuated from Dunkirk.

On his return to England he was selected to play for his country in an unofficial international against Scotland in January 1942. Soon afterwards Wilf Mannion was sent to South Africa. On 10th July 1943 he was a member of the force that invaded Sicily in an attempt to overthrow Benito Mussolini. His commanding officer was Hedley Verity, the England cricketer. Mannion later recalled: "I remember we lost half the company that day. We were pinned down all day by the enemy. Hedley was caught in the crossfire and hit in the chest. He was a wonderful man and I was his company runner for a number of years. We served together all over the place."
While some footballers joined the armed forces, others found occupation in the support services. Jack Fairbrother and Willie Hamilton of Preston North End joined the police force, whereas Ernie Callaghan of Aston Villa, served as a reserve policeman and was awarded the British Empire Medal for conspicuous bravery during a bombing raid on Birmingham in September 1942.

The Blitz was still taking place when the 1941 Football League Cup Final took place at Wembley on 31st May. Preston North End and Arsenal drew 1-1 in front of a 60,000 crowd. Preston won the replay at Blackburn, 2-1. Robert Beattie got both of Preston's goals.

In the 1940-1941 season Preston North End needed to win their last game against Liverpool to win the North Regional League title. Wolves also won the Football League War Cup in 1942 beating Sunderland 4-1.

The British Army invited some of the best footballers to became Physical Training instructors at Aldershot.

Most of Arsenal's first-team joined the Royal Air Force. Some of them got jobs as Physical Training instructors and did not see action overseas, whereas others in the team went abroad.

Arsenal lost the use of its ground during the war as Highbury was used as an Air Raid Patrol Centre. Plymouth Argyle Home Park ground was badly damaged during an air raid in February 1941. So also was the grounds of Sunderland (Roker Park), Sheffield United (Bramall Lane), Chelsea (Stamford Bridge) and Southampton (Dell). Ten bombs that hit the Bramall Lane ground in December 1940, demolished half the John Street Stand and badly damaged the pitch.

In August, 1944, a V1 Flying bomb hit the greyhound kennels close to Wembley Stadium.

Eight players registered with Arsenal died during the Second World War. Bobby Daniel, a Flight Sergeant Gunner in the RAF, was killed on 23rd December 1943. Other Arsenal players in the RAF who died included Sidney Pugh, Harry Cook and Leslie Lack.

Bill Dean, a goalkeeper who got into the Arsenal team in 1940, told friends: "Well I have fulfilled my life's ambition, I have played for Arsenal." Dean died in action with the Royal Navy in March 1942.

Liverpool and England full-back, Tom Cooper, was a sergeant in the Military Police. He was killed on 25th June 1940 near Aldeburgh when his motor cycle was involved in a head on crash with a bus. As a result of his death the military issued an order that all servicemen were no longer allowed to ride their motorcycles without wearing a crash helmet.


Jackie Bray, the Manchester City player, joined the Royal Air Force in 1940. He won the British Empire Medal and later worked in the unit that rehabilitated wounded fighter pilots. His club mate, Eric Westwood, took part in the D-Day landings and was mentioned in dispatches. Bill Shorthouse was badly wounded at Normandy but survived to play for Wolverhampton Wanderers after the war.

Bill Edrich, better known as a cricketer but also played football for Tottenham Hotspur, was a Squadron Leader pilot who took part in several bombing raids on Nazi Germany. Harold White, who played for West Bromwich Albion before the war, won the Military Medal in March 1942.

However, fight against coronavirus is another kind of war in a sense. People don't need to go to the frontline to fight and kill, but everyone's effort is making a contribution to the final victory against COVID-19. And the triumph of us will eventually come...

Source: https://ghanasoccernet.com/stories-of-football-during-wwii-last-time-when-european-football-were-shutdown?amp=1

Cc Lalasticlala
MissyB3
Fynestboi
Dominique
mynd44

we are at war right now against the Chinese

So this is Chinese invasion

I no read even two lines finish... So I no go comment

history repeating itself, viral war

The football culture in Europe has always been very strong. According to this article even during ww2, matches were still being played and thousands were coming out to watch these matches.
Imagine 43000 supporters visiting Wembley at the peak of the war when Hitler invaded France...Amazing really
I just hope the Corona virus will abate so that we can return to enjoy our favourite addiction. Life has not been the same ever since.