International football was still largely confined to fixtures against the other home nations. But in 1908 football made its official debut as an Olympic sport. An England side was chosen to represent the United Kingdom and took the gold medal. England retained the Olympic crown in 1912; on both occasions the beaten finalists were Denmark.
FIFA founded
Bohemia had sought entry into the 1912 Olympic tournament but had been unable to compete since the country was not a member of FIFA. The Federation International de Football Association had been formed in Paris on 21 May 1904. France, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain were the founding members of world football’s new governing body, England joining the following year.
Over 70,000 people officially attended the Cup Final in 1914 but many preferred to spectate from vantage points outside the ground. This was the last time that Crystal Palace was to play host to the Final, the first time being in 1895 when Aston Villa's John Devey scored a goal forty seconds into the game.
The 19 IS Cup Final was a subdued affair, held in Manchester on a damp afternoon before a crowd of only 50,000, many of whom were servicemen displaying signs of the injuries sustained in battle.
World History
