15.12.14

Tottenham Hotspur and Woolwich Arsenal on Tour, 1912


Spurs at Leipzig
When the 1911-12 season ended on April 29th Woolwich Arsenal were in 10th place in Division 1 and Tottenham Hotspur in 12th. The famous North London rivalry had yet to come into being, as Arsenal were still based in Plumstead (South East London). In May 1912 both clubs embarked on tours of central Europe (Germany, Austria-Hungary) and played each other in an exhibition match at Vienna arranged by Hugo Meisl. 



Tottenham Hotspur
12.05.12  
Hull City
2
0
Tottenham Hotspur
Brussels
The Belgian Charity Cup- Beddeker Cup
Hull City retaining the trophy.

16.05.12  
VfB Leipzig
1
3
Tottenham Hotspur
Leipzig
The hosts were Mittel-Deutschland champions and had made the semi-finals of the national championships.

20.05.12  
Wiener Sport Club
2
5
Tottenham Hotspur
Vienna
24.05.12  
Woolwich Arsenal
4
0
Tottenham Hotspur
Vienna
An exhibition match for a solid silver cup and medals.

27.05.12  
Ferencváros
1
4
Tottenham Hotspur
Budapest
Fradi were the champions of the Budapest league, winning 14 out of 18 games and having a goal difference of 57.

28.05.12  
Hungary
2
2
Tottenham Hotspur
Budapest
The Hungary and Austria teams were preparing for the Olympic Tournament at Stockholm.

30.05.12  
Hungary
3
4
Tottenham Hotspur
Budapest
02.06.12  
Austria
3
0
Tottenham Hotspur
Vienna
Both Austria and Hungary featured in the second round of that summer's Olympic tournament- Hungary had a bye in the first round and lost 7-0 to Great Britain in the second. Austria beat Germany 5-1 before losing 3-1 to the Netherlands.
They went on to meet in the final of the consolation tournament, Hungary winning 3-0.

Woolwich Arsenal
11.05.12 
Hertha BSC Berlin
0
5
Woolwich Arsenal
Berlin
12.05.12 
Viktoria 89 Berlin
2
2
Woolwich Arsenal
Berlin
1911’s German National Champions.  Former Tottenham player Jack Brearley took up the coaching position at Viktoria at about this time.

16.05.12 
Deutscher FC Prag
1
4
Woolwich Arsenal
Prague
19.05.12 
Ferencváros
1
2
Woolwich Arsenal
Budapest
22.05.12 
Grazer AK
0
6
Woolwich Arsenal
Graz
24.05.12 
Woolwich Arsenal
4
0
Tottenham Hotspur
Vienna
26.05.12 
SK Rapid Wien
2
8
Woolwich Arsenal
Vienna
Rapid were the Austrian League champions…

27.05.12 
Wiener Sport Club
0
5
Woolwich Arsenal
Vienna
…and WSC had finished the season just one point behind Rapid.

29.05.12 
Sp Vgg Fürth
0
6
Woolwich Arsenal
Fürth 
Fürth were managed by Billy Townley , the former Blackburn Rovers player.




It was Arsenal's second visit. They had toured Belgium, Netherlands, Germany  and Austria -Hungary in 1907.  Tottenham were of course old hands at the touring lark. Having visited Austria -Hungary  in 1905 they had since played in Belgium, South America and Germany.