9th Far Eastern Games

The football tournament of the 9th Far Eastern Games was played in Tokyo in May 1930. 

 25.05.30  Japan 7-2 Philippines 
 27.05.30  China 5-0 Philippines 
 30.05.30  Japan 3-3 China 

 Japan conceded the final match rather than play extra time. China were therefore the champions.

Alcántara for Spain

Paulino Alcántara first represented Catalunya as an 18 year old in 1915. He also represented the Philippines in the 1917 Far Eastern Games. It is likely that he played in all 3 of the Philippines' games, the last of which was abandoned due to fighting.
On returning to Europe he continued to represent Catalunya.
He would have been expected to represent Spain when they made their entry into international football at the 1920 Olympics, but he was unavailable due to his medical studies.
 Alcántara made his Spain debut in 1921. He played 5 internationals, scoring 6 goals:

09.10.21	Spain	2	0	Belgium	Bilbao
Alcántara captained Spain on his debut and scored both goals (55 & 80 min)
18.12.21	Spain	3	1	Portugal	Madrid
Alcántara scored Spain’s 2nd and 3rd  (23 & 50 min)
20.04.22	France	0	4	Spain	Bordeaux
Captain for the 2nd time, Alcántara scored the 2 opening goals (20 & 27 min)
04.02.23	Belgium	1	0	Spain	Antwerp
16.12.23	Spain	3	0	Portugal	Seville
Alcántara was captain, Español’s Zabala scored all 3 goals.

Philippines

National Almanac and Guide of the Philippine Islands (1926) featured an article by Ignacio De Ycaza  on A history of soccer football in the Philippines.
In this timeline of football in the Philippines the italicized words are taken from Ignacio De Ycaza's text.


1890s

Soccer football was introduced in the Philippines by English sportsmen, members of the Manila Club, two or three years before Dewey fought the battle of Manila Bay (1898). This sport was at first looked upon with a great deal of suspicion by the Filipinos, who considered football as the gamboling of half-mad foreigners.

But a few members of the younger generation, being highly imitative by nature, very soon began to follow, as closely as possible, the principle or fundamental ideas of the game. …As there were not enough players in the entire city to form two regular teams, they were forced to practice by matching the fire forwards against five members of the defensive line of the same team.

Some boys that had been sent to college in Hong Kong, China, returned home and taught their friends a little bit about the fine game of soccer or association football. (Within) a year more there were two or three embryonic soccer teams in Manila...

(1898)...The Spanish-American War broke out, and those two or three little football teams were disbanded and scattered to the four points of the compass. The heads of the different families to which these boys belonged decided to abandon the city, either to save themselves and their families from the bombardment they expected at any moment, or to cast their lot with the Filipino troops outside the city limits.

1900s

When peace reigned again, and the Americans began to inculcate in the Filipinos their love for all athletic games and sports, these first football teams, whose members had by this time passed from childhood into adolescence, were reorganized and trained.

Five or six athletic clubs sprang up almost over night. Among them were the Manila Sporting Club, the Paris Club, and the Manila Jockey Club. These organizations specialized in soccer and actually came to play a very creditable game. (On of these was)…the Sandow football team (which) came into existence in 1906 with some promising new players …

The first official football match in the Philippines was held in Manila on the 15th of October, 1907, in celebration of the opening of the Philippine Assembly. The trophy for this contest, a beautiful silver cup donated by the Hon.William H. Taft (later President of the USA), then Governor-General of these islands, was won by the Sandow team; which developed into the Sandow Athletic Club in 1909, and branched out into further athletic activities.

1906 Manuel Amechazzura plays for Barcelona. He is believed to have been the club's first paid player.

1907 Philippine Football Federation (PFF): Founded, the first in Asia. 

1910s

In 1910 the Bohemian Sporting Club was organized and began to train football players with such ability that in a couple of years’ time it became one of the most formidable Filipino soccer teams in the islands, and the most dangerous rival of both the English team called the Nomads, and the Sandow Athletic Club.

1912 Philippines born Paulino Alcántara made his first appearance for Barcelona as a 15 year old .

1913 The Philippines hosted the Far eastern Games - there was a football tournament that was contested between Bohemians (Philippines) and South China A.A. (China) This is often lisred as an International, but Bohemians fielded many non- Filipino players (from Britain, Spain, USA).
More on the Phillipines in The Far Eastern Games here.

1913-18 Teus ( Eduardo Teus López-Navarro) from Manila, plays in goal for Real Madrid.

1915- Juan Garchitorena  joins Barcelona.


1920s

In 1920 the Circulo Social Deportivo was organized and produced a football team which rapidly graduated from the junior to the senior category. It kept persistently at the heels of the Bohemian Sporting Club and almost neck and neck with the Aurora Athletic Club in the race for the annual football championship of the Philippines…”

“To further propagate the love for this fine sport and to regulate the football championship contests, which take place every year among the various athletic clubs of Manila, all the football teams belonging to such clubs within the city limits banded themselves together and organized the Philippine Amateur Football Association. This Association held its first championship in 1921 under the auspices of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation.

“Casino Español showed interest in soccer football and several matches were played between teams of that organization, to select a team from amongst the members of the club . In 1922 the Casino team and made a very good showing although it could not wrest the championship from the Bohemian Club ...”

Far Eastern Games

Japan 1927

The Far Eastern Games were a multi sport event run under the supervision of the IOC. They were conducted between 1913 and 1934.  The ten football tournaments were dominated by China and also featured plenty of controversy.

China wins-9 runners up-1
Phillipines wins-1 runners up-6 third-2
Japan runners up-2 third-5
Dutch East Indies runners up-1 

The first Football competition, in 1913 (Manila), was contested by Philippines and China. The records are vague over what actually took place. The RSSSF lists two matches, (China 1-0, Philippines 2-1) whereas other sources list a single match and credit Philippines with either a 2-1 or 3-1 victory. China were represented by club side South China A.A., and Philippines by Bohemians. This was a source of controversy as the team consisted of British, Spanish and American players.

In 1915 (Shanghai) South China A.A. again represented China (having won a tournament for the right to do so). They drew 0-0 with Philippines in a game that saw both sides have a player dismissed and won the second game 1-0.

There was mayhem at the 1917 tournament (Tokyo). Japan (represented by  Tokyo Higher Normal School) lost their first game 15-2 to Philippines.  When in the next match China scored a penalty to take a 4-0 lead the Philippines goal keeper responded by punching the goal scorer. A brawl ensued and Philippines withdrew from the tournament.

Japan didn't enter the football tournament of 1919 (Manila)- China prevailed in a three game series against Philippines

1921 (Shanghai) Japan returned but South China A.A made it 4 wins a row.
1923 (Osaka) and 1925 (Manila) saw the Hong Kong based club extend their winning streak with little drama.

Controversy returned in 1927 (Shanghai). China beat Japan 5-1 in the opener and then Japan secured their first win, beating the Philippines 2-1. Then all hell broke loose in the final match of the round- robin. China were awarded an early penalty and the Philippines team walked off the pitch in protest. Persuaded to return after some ten minutes they then had a player dismissed. China's second goal led to fighting on the pitch. Philippines forfeited the match at half-time.

 1930- China

1930-Japan

 1930-Philippines

Philippines star was waning, and Japan benefited from both this and their own improvement.
1930 (Tokyo) Both Japan (7-2) and China (5-0) made light work of Philippines, but when the decisive match was tied at 3-3 Japan refused extra time, choosing instead to forfeit.

1934 (Manila)- the opening game , in which China beat the hosts 2-0, was a very spirited affair. China, apparently reduced to 7 men by injuries and the Philippines to 9 suggests it was a very physical encounter (one newspaper report described the pitch as a battlefield) and both Japan and the Dutch East Indies lodged complaints with the tournament organizers after watching this fixture. The following day Dutch East Indies made their international debut in style, beating Japan 7-1.
China were the eventual winners, undefeated in their 3 matches.

Paulino Alcántara- El Rompe Redes

Football is all about goals, and how is this for a goal scoring record: appearances- 357, goals -369.
more than A goal a game over a 13 season playing career- not bad, particularly as the team in question is Barcelona.

Philippines born Paulino Alcántara  made his first appearance for Barcelona as a 15 year old in 1912 and scored a hat trick on debut, earning the nickname El Rompe Redes (the Net Breaker).
In 1916 Alcántara returned to The Philippines, spending two seasons with Bohemians FC. He represented his country at the Far Eastern Championship Games in Tokyo, helping them defeat Japan 15–2. The next game, against China, was abandoned due to fighting on the pitch with China 5-0 up.
On his return to Barcelona he was played as a defender, but this didn’t last long, club members succesfully pressed for his return to the forward line.
Having previously represented The Philippines and Catalonia, Alcántara made 5 appearances and scored 6 goals for Spain between 1921 and 1923. His international career was curtailed by his medical studies: for example, he declined the opportunity to play in the 1920 Olympics. In a match vs. France in 1922 Alcántara lived up to his nickname, literally shooting through the net.
Alcántara later coached the Spanish national team.

Thanks to J.F.K.