In commemoration of the start of the First World War one hundred years ago there are are number of activities which are logged at the Football Remembers website. This includes a game to be played on December 17 between British and German army teams. Here’s what Andy Zimbalist and I wrote about the 1914 Christmas Day truce in National Pastime.
“On Christmas Day, in the middle of one of the most gruesome and senseless wars in history, German and British soldiers in the trenches crossed No-Man’s Land to share a drink and exchange sausages for plum pudding. Saxon and Scottish infantrymen mixed freely, and soon talk got round to a discussion about soccer. Several British soldiers recorded in their memoirs the stories of Germans who had played while living in England before the war. Lieutenant Stewart of the Sutherland Highlanders was presented with a photograph of the 133rd Saxon Regiment’s prewar team. In more than one sector of the front a match was proposed.
Whether any matches were actually played, and under what conditions (given the size of the foxholes created by the incessant shelling) is less clear, but several eyewitnesses suggest that some kind of rustic free-for-all took place using rolled up papers or old tin cans for a ball. The official history of the Lancashire fusiliers claims that “A”Company won a match against the Germans, 3–2. Shocked by the implications of this truce, the British and German High Commands prohibited any further fraternization, and these events were not repeated. For many people this story symbolizes the potential for sport to overcome barriers and focus on our common humanity.”
A good book on the subject is Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton (London: Pan Macmillan, 1994).