The Blizzard‘s Jonathan Wilson is speaking at the Chalke History Festival tomorrow at 10:30am – there’s still time to buy tickets using this link: https://programme.chalkefestival.com/?date=2024-06-24 

Here he is, discussing his choice of topic – The Greatest Football Match of the Second World War – with our two interns Simon Compton-James and Jake Rutherford interviewing him.

Jake and Simon have also put together a couple of essays in and around the general topic. Enjoy.

The Death Match

In 1941, when Germany was invading eastern Europe, all professional football was dissolved. In Kyiv, a large vacuum formed in the space football previously occupied, not just for the players but the members of the public as well. In order to raise morale and give the illusion of a harmonious and functioning culture, a German Officer decided to arrange a series of friendly matches for the team of Nazi’s. However, there was one issue. All the professional footballers didn’t play football anymore. Conveniently for the Nazi’s, a small group of them had been working in a bakery in Kyiv and were willing to play. So, a group of Dynamo Kyiv players along with 3 ex-police officers, a train conductor and a few players from Lokomotiv Kyiv formed FC Start and were set to play a variety of fixtures against Nazi Soldiers in the Summer of 1942.

These matches would not be easy for FC Start. They hadn’t played organised football in years and were living off insubstantial rations. They were too hungry to train properly and were limited to only kicking a ball about, for an hour or two. They were unprepared but nonetheless they beat the team of rookie officers. Then 3 days later in a rematch they won by an even more convincing 6-0, although a lot of these scores are up for debate. FC Start were flying, winning their next 2 matches against a Hungarian club, and then going on to win many more. The success brought a smile back to the streets of Kyiv as more and more people came to watch. Obviously, the Germans did not like this, so to put an end to it they assembled their own team, called Flakelf, of ex German internationals from the Air Force, who were strong, well fed, and mean. They played aggressive football but that didn’t stop FC Start from winning comfortably, just like every other team that came before them. The cheer from the stands was undeniably in support of FC Start as they tore the Germans apart. The Nazi fans were calling for them to be hung from the crossbar, and the bakery they were founded in was under threat for giving them food before games. To make matters worse, Flakelf had called for a ‘Revenge Match’ on the 9th of August, to prove the ‘inferiority’ of the Ukrainian footballers.

As the day of the match approached, the Germans knew they had to put an end to the success of FC start, so an agent of the Gestapo paid them a visit before the match. He told them to salute Hitler before the match, and to lose on purpose. This was obviously intended to shut down any ideas of defiance and remind everyone who found hope in FC Start’s success who was really in charge. The players were silent in response, and the Gestapo agent took that as a yes, but when the game began, he was proved wrong. It was a physical match, with the Flakelf obviously out for revenge. “They were hitting us so hard that we could hear our bones creaking,” a player later recalled. “The officials on the field turned a blind eye to it and even smirked at such roughness.” It was clear that this was not going to be a fair game. They couldn’t respond with the same physicality, and any attempt to work the ball into the box was met with the offside flag. Despite them being clearly onside. It quickly became apparent that the only way they would score is by taking long shots and praying. And it worked. By half time they were winning 3-1, and they continued to score. The final score is debated but FC Start managed to win.

Some accounts talk of a passionate and rowdy crowd that showed fight against the cruel Nazi rule. Others tell the story of a crowd that was quiet out of fear, but the story remains consistent in the fact that FC Start won. This act of defiance came at a price. 4 of the players were killed, although it is believed to have been unrelated to the football, and many of the people at the bakery were arrested for defying nazi orders and giving them extra rations. But the match did bring to light the falseness of Aryan superiority that the Nazi’s believed in, and also acted as a statement of Ukrainian patriotism and strength against the Germans.

Simon Compton-Jones

Escape to Victory

In the summer of 1981, Escape to Victory was released. The film itself was inspired historically by the ‘Death Match’; a famous game taking place in 1942 between members of the Nazi Luftwaffe and an eclectic group of primarily Ukrainian footballers, the majority hailing from Dynamo Kyiv, and also from the 1961 Hungarian war film Two Halves in Hell, similarly an artistic reflection of the game.

At the time, the director John Huston was well regarded as a talented actor, director and screenwriter; he received numerous accolades including 2 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globes and a star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame. Ipswich town stars John Wark, Russell Osman and Laurie Sivell all credited Huston with being able to produce a film about a ‘realistic football match’, something many other movies haven’t been able to do as effectively.

This film starred legendary actors Sir Michael Caine and Max von Sydow, as well as Sylvestser Stallone, who had already starred in the two opening films of the Rocky franchise.

Paying notes to its athletic roots, the film also pulled together an enviable team of multiple professional footballers, both in acting and stand in roles. 3-time World Cup winner Pelé, World Cup winning England Captain Bobby Moore, and World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardiles (just to name a few) all featured in various roles.

Adding to this, several of the Ipswich town squad were in the film – just before the release, they had won the 1981 UEFA Cup and had narrowly missed out on the domestic league title. From the team, the cast would include Goalkeeper Laurie Sivell, Centre Half Russell Osman as well as arguably the two greatest Ipswich players ever, John Wark and Kevin Beattie. The initial use of that many Ipswich players came after Sir Bobby Robson had called a meeting for the players, and asked the squad if they wanted to “help in the making of this film” Russell Osman said. He continues that “I hadn’t got anything arranged or booked, so I said ‘Yeah, fine’.” A few weeks later, he was working with Caine and Stallone.

Although not making an appearance, England Goalkeeper Gordon Banks made a behind-the-scenes appearance, coaching Sylvester Stallone to help him prepare for the film.

Stallone, playing the role of the POWs goalkeeper, clearly struggled to grasp the ins and outs of the sport. This is supported by Ipswich star, John Wark, saying that football didn’t come naturally to Sylvester Stallone, mentioning that the Rocky star had even asked “Can I score the winning goal?”, which although possible, might have detracted from any semblance of realism the film tried to maintain – at least in the footballing sphere. Sivell also said that Stallone continually bounced the football around like a Basketball player, again hinting at his fundamental lack of understanding of the beautiful game. However, he was made the hero in the end with his character saving a penalty and securing the POWs a draw, although it did take nearly 6 attempts for Stallone to get near saving an attempt.

The film itself revolves around a team of allied POWs agreeing to play an exhibition match, led by Captain John Colby (Michael Caine), against the Germans. The Germans agree to host the game in a full stadium in Paris, which the POWs see as the perfect opportunity to escape. Robert Hatch portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, was concurrently planning his own escape, and his superiors allowed him to if he made it to Paris, where he could contact the French resistance, and then be intentionally recaptured, to pass information back to those who are imprisoned. Hatch would be recaptured in time for him to participate in the game, acting as the prisoners starting goalkeeper. The Allied team had initially to escape the Nazis control at half time through a tunnel, however, Doug Clure, portrayed by Ipswich’s Russell Osman would speak against attempts to escape. Despite being 4-1 at half time, the players would then re-enter the pitch, and overturn this deficit, with the game finishing 4-4. Despite a Russell Osman equaliser being ruled out, Pelé would then grab an equaliser, a bicycle kick that left even Nazi officers in awe of his skill. With the game ending 4-4, the crowd would then storm the pitch, with some of the spectators helping disguise the players in order to help them escape.

On a final footballing note, the audience of the film are spoiled to slow motion replays of Pelé’s outstanding overhead kick, on repeat, showcasing his immense talent at playing football and also Huston’s trusting of the footballers to dictate the on-field action. Sivell, who portrayed the German goalkeeper, would go on to say “we did it a few times until we could get it right”, as he had featured in the slow-motion replays for Pele’s bicycle kick equaliser. 

Jake Rutherford