Smyrna F.C.
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (September 2011) |
 Smyrna FC 1894 | ||
| Full name | Smyrna Football Club or Bournabat Football and Rugby Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1894 | |
| Ground | Punta Çayırı, Smyrna | |
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Smyrna FC or Bournabat Football and Rugby Club was a sports club of Bornova, Smyrna (present-day İzmir), Ottoman Empire.[1] The emblem of the club was a Cross pattée.
History[edit]
Back in 1809 Liverpool-born Charlton Whitall, the great-grandfather of eight members of the 1906 Olympic football team, went to Smyrna, a major sea port in Western Ottoman Empire, on behalf of the Liverpool trading company he worked for, aged 18. Two years later he established his own trading company, C.Whittall & Co, and they exported Turkish produce to England. Over the years his family was established and grew in Smyrna, becoming part of the Levantine community, consisting predominantly of Westerners (mostly British, French, Dutch and Italian) who settled long term or permanently in the Ottoman Empire.
Smyrna FC or Bournabat Football and Rugby Club was founded by his Englishmen descendants in Bornova, an upscale suburb of Smyrna, inhabited mainly by Greeks and Levantines, in 1894.[2] Smyrna FC was the strongest team in Smyrna in the 1890s. This team consisted of: MJ Whithall, Ed. Charnaud, Percy Joly, Jim. R. Giraud, Pelcoc Whithall, AJ Whithall, Herbert Joly, AE La Fontaine, Edmund Giraud, Jim Gout, Hav. Joly, Th. Tarrazzi, Herbert Whithall, D. Whithall, Eddie Whithall, G. Whithall, J. Whithall.[3]
In 1906 the club won the Olympic tournament of Smyrna against Apollon Smyrnis and Panionios and its players the city in the 1906 Olympics in Athens. Smyrna FC had five members of the Whittall family that won the 1906 Olympic football silver medal. Herbert Whittall, his cousins Albert, Edward, Godfrey and Donald Whittall, along with two other cousins, Jacques and Edmund Giraud and Percy la Fontiane made up the majority of the Smyrna team. Hebert Octavius was at one time the ‘manager’ of the Rugby & Football team in its early days.
In 1906 and 1907 two more clubs were founded in Bornova, Ermis and Thiseas, both of Greek background, but none was as dominant as Smyrna FC. The club was one of the most powerful in Smyrna during the 1910s competing with Greek and Armenian teams. No team from the area of Smyrna had ever beated the club until 1914, when it lost to turkish club Altay S.K. by 3-1.
All of the club's players, as most of the Levantine clubs had a Greek NOC for travel purposes.
1906 Olympics squad[edit]
The club's squad reperesented Smyrna XI in the 1906 Olympics in Athens.[4]
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF |  Edmund Giraud
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29 November 1880 (aged 25) |  Smyrna FC
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| MF | Jim Giraud
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14 May 1882 (aged 23) | Smyrna FC
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| MF | Henri Joly
|
Smyrna FC
| ||
| GK |  Edwin Charnaud
|
0 December 1886 (aged 19–20) | Smyrna FC
| |
| MF | Percy La Fontaine
|
0 December 1888 (aged 17–18) | Smyrna FC
| |
| FW | Albert Whittall
|
14 June 1879 (aged 26) | Smyrna FC
| |
| FW | Donald Whittall
|
25 February 1881 (aged 25) | Smyrna FC
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| FW | Edward Whittall
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5 May 1888 (aged 17) | Smyrna FC
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| FW | Godfrey Whittall
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24 December 1882 (aged 23) | Smyrna FC
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| FW | Herbert Whittall
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0 December 1884 (aged 21–22) | Smyrna FC
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| DF | Zareh Couyoumdjian
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0 December 1883 (aged 22–23) | Smyrna FC
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The Matches[edit]
| Smyrna FC | 10–20 | Royal Navy Crew |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Smyrna FC | 3–1 | Galatasaray SK |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Smyrna FC | 1–2 | Galatasaray SK |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Smyrna FC | 1–4 | Fenerbahçe SK |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
| Smyrna FC | 0–2 | Istanbul Team (6 Fenerbahçe players and 5 Galatasaray players) |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) |
Notable players[edit]
Percy La Fontaine- Edward Whittall
- Albert Whittall
- Edwin Charnaud
- Herbert Whittall [5]
Jim Giraud- Edmund Giraud
Notable managers[edit]
- Herbert Octavius Whittall (b.1858 - died 1929)
Honours[edit]
- Olympic tournament of Smyrna:
- Winners: 1906
- Bornova tournament:
- Winners: 1894, 1897
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ FUTBOLUN TARİHÇESİ (in Turkish) Archived 2007-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Levantine Heritage
- ^ From the 19th to the 20th Century in the Ottoman Empire (In Turkish)
- ^ "Football at the 1906 Athina Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ Herbert Whittall
Sources[edit]
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