A huge thanks to Paul Brown for a review copy of his new book,
The Ruhleben Football Association: How Steve Bloomer's Footballers Survived a World War Prison Camp.
The following is the listed description of the book:
In 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, several of Britain's greatest footballers were interned in a brutal German prison camp at Ruhleben, near Berlin. Among them was Steve Bloomer, the prolific England striker widely regarded as the best player of his generation. Surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards, living in squalor and on meagre rations, and with their families and freedom far out of reach, Bloomer and the others found salvation in what they knew best – football.
They bartered for balls, marked out pitches, and formed the Ruhleben Football Association, organising league and cup competitions involving hundreds of players and watched by thousands of spectators.
The conditions at Ruhleben – a former horse racing track – were appalling, with around 4,500 men packed into 11 filthy stables. Food was scarce, the guards were cruel, and the commandant was incompetent. Gradually, though, as the Great War for Civilisation raged around them, Bloomer and his fellow prisoners established some order within the confines of the prison camp.
This is the true story of how the prisoners used the game of football to survive, and how some of them used it to escape.
Prominent footballers in Ruhleben prison camp:
Steve Bloomer: England, Derby County, Middlesbrough
Fred Pentland: England, Blackburn Rovers, Middlesbrough, QPR, Brentford, Stoke, Blackpool, Halifax Town, Small Heath (Birmingham City)
John "Jack" Cameron: Scotland, Queen’s Park, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur
Sam Wolstenholme: England, Everton, Blackburn, Norwich City
John "Jack" Brearley: Tottenham, Everton, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Notts County
Edwin Dutton: Germany, Newcastle United
Percy Hartley: Preston North End, Huddersfield Town, Exeter City
Walter "Wattie" Campbell: Everton
The book contains more than 30 photographs and illustrations.
Ruhleben, the WW1 British civilian based POW camp located just outside Berlin, is a subject I have long been fascinated by, with my great uncle John Paton interned there as a young lad from 1916-1918, and being the inspiration for my own The Ruhleben Story project (
http://ruhleben.tripod.com). It was a place filled with so many extraordinary folk, and Paul's book takes a superb look at the story of one particular group of inmates, the professional footballers interned at the start of the war for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, including English international Steve Bloomer.
The book is structured across twelve chapters, with an additional prologue and epilogue, followed by brief biographical accounts of the professional footballers, as well as various source acknowledgements. Paul starts with Bloomer's story, before reaching the extraordinary camp in Chapter 3. He then describes the camp, its organisation and administration,before introducing other players such as Fred Pentland (England and Middlesborough) and John Cameron (Scotland), who found themselves there for similar reasons.
As POWs, the inmates had to find interests to occupy themselves, and in the case of the footballers, it was the establishment of the Ruhleben Football Association. Paul expertly describes its creation and structure, the league seasons played in the camp between prisoners of different barracks, as well as the international on May 2nd 1915 between the "England XI" and "World XI" sides.
The book is a superb account of the tribulations endured, and is well illustrated with many photos I've not seen before. Thoroughly recommended!
The Ruhleben Football Association: How Steve Bloomer's Footballers Survived a World War Prison Camp is published by Goal Post books (
www.goalpostbooks.co.uk), and is priced at UK£10.
(With thanks to Paul Brown)
Chris
You can pre-order my new book,
Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at
http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available,
Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at
http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and
Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at
http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on
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