Association football during World War I
When World War I was declared in 1914, it had a negative effect on association football; in some countries competitions were suspended and players signed up to fight, resulting in the deaths of many players. Frederick Wall, Secretary of the Football Association, famously implied Jimmy Hogan was a traitor for spending the duration of World War I in Europe.
English club Harrogate Town were due to play their first ever match on 5 September 1914, but the match was cancelled due to the outbreak of the war.
Between 1915 and 1919 competitive football was suspended in England. Many footballers signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players instead. The Football League and FA Cup were suspended and in their place regional league competitions were set up; appearances in these tournaments do not count in players' official records.
Even though the Swiss Football League was not suspended, some 5,800 footballers – out of a total of 8,500 – signed up to fight. However, most of the pitches were destroyed – 420,000 square feet (39,000 m2) out of a total of 920,000 square feet (85,000 m2) had been turned into potato fields.
After the outbreak of war in 1914, the Swiss national side did not compete again until 1920.
The Christmas truce, was a series of brief unofficial cessations of hostilities occurring on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day of 1914 between German and British or French troops in World War I, particularly that between British and German troops stationed along the Western Front. During the truce, a game of football was played between the British and German soldiers.
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