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Background Information
Playing the Game
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At different points along the Western Front, No Man's Land
witnessed the strange spectacle of impromptu soccer games between
the opposing sides. Where they didn't have a real football they
improvised with a sandbag or tin can, caps serving as goalposts.
One Royal Welsh Fusilier later recalled, 'It was not a game as such
– more of a kick-around and a free-for-all. There could have
been fifty on each side for all I know. I played because I really
liked football. I don't know how long it lasted, probably
half-an-hour, and no one was keeping score.'
In early January 1915, 'The Times' newspaper in London did report
the score of one particular game played near Armentières. A
German officer's account of this unique European tie against
Scotland's Seaforth Highlanders was recorded in the regimental
records of the 133rd Royal Saxon Regiment:
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'A Scottish soldier appeared with a football which seemed to
come from nowhere and a few minutes later a real football match got
underway. The Scots marked their goalmouth with their strange caps
and we did the same with ours. It was far from easy to play on the
frozen ground, but we continued, keeping rigorously to the rules,
despite the fact that it
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only lasted an hour and that we had no referee. A great many of
the passes went wide, but all the amateur footballers, although
they must have been very tired, played with huge enthusiasm. Us
Germans really roared when a gust of wind revealed that the Scots
wore no drawers under their kilts – and hooted and whistled
every time they caught an impudent glimpse of one posterior
belonging to one of yesterday's enemies. But after an hour's play,
when our Commanding Officer heard about it, he sent an order that
we must put a stop to it. A little later we drifted back to our
trenches and the fraternisation ended. The game finished with a
score of three goals to two in favour of Fritz against Tommy.'
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