FOOTBALL IN EUROPE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 20

FOOTBALL IN EUROPE

Football, is playing an ever-increasing part in the intercourse of the European nations, says a London correspondent "of the "Christian Science Monitor.'' During the latter half of March and the first few daya of April quite a number of international matches have been played. In so far as Rugby football is concerned, the interest at present chiefly centres in the British Isles and France and during this period France lowered the colours of Ireland and only gave in to England after an exciting struggle, while the French army had a comparatively easy, victory over the British Army. Nona of the French clubs so far, however, have been able to withstand the onslaughts of a strong Cambridge fifteen which toured through France in April. Germany had many Rugby football clubs before the war, and at Easter an Oxford University team played matches at Hamburg and Frankfurt, winning by 37 and 24 points to 0 respectively. Apart from matches played in the occupied area these are the first matches played by an English team in Germany since before the war. . '' The lure of Association football is far more .universal than in the case of the sister code, and at Easter, besides the visits of English and Spanish teams to France, Prague in particular was the scene of many international contests in which Austrian, Pzecho-Slovak, Danish, and German teams all took part. ''Boldblubben af 93" of Copenhagen, the champions of Denmark and said to be one of strongest teams in Europe, were' the Danish representatives, and great was the elation of the inhabitants of .Prague I when the Czecho-Slovak Club "Sparta" defeated their redoubtable opponents by 3 to 0 and 5 to 2 respectively. In the presence of Dr. Benes, the Foreign Minister of Czecho-Slovakia, Sparta also disposed of the Viennese "Amateurs" by 6 to 0. ■ Other matches at Prague included, .a drawn frame beT tween "Slavia" Of Czecho-Slovakia and "Rapid/ the champions of Austria,, "Rapid" also played tho German D.F.C. at Prague, and defeated them 3 to 2. Easter week also saw the defeat of the Vienna Amateurs 3 to 0 at Vienna by tho Prairee Club. C-Bchic-Karlin, while another Prague club. Union-Zizkov. made a successful foray into. Jugo-Slavia and defeated the Zagreb clubs, Hask ' arid Concordia, by 1 to 0 and 3 to 0 re-' spectively,