The fascinating case of Robert Weil

[MC Prussian]

Swiss football magazine "Zwölf" features an interesting article in its newest issue (No.54).

 

We all pretty much thought Bruno Berner was the first Swiss footballer ever to don a Leicester shirt, yes?

 

Wrong.

 

That title goes to Robert Weil who wore the blue shirt for the club for just seven months in 1946/1947 as a "guest player".

 

 

He is still alive and doing rather well, living in a home for the elderly in the Swiss capital of Bern, the city he grew up in as the son of a druggist. Robert Weil is now 89 years old, six months shy of his 90th birthday, and told "Zwölf" about his time in England, his arrival in London, how he lived there and how he almost missed out on getting out of the train at Leicester main station because it didn't seem to be signaled properly back then. Upon meeting with the club's representatives at the time, the club cashier waved with bundles of pound notes for petty cash, asking "How much do you want?". "Bob" was overwhelmed, didn't know what to say and in the end, he declined gracefully.

 

His training routine consisted of regular trips back down to London for sessions at Chelsea FC - twice a week. But he was all on his own, not allowed to train with the CFC first team, using his personal equipment only.

As an anecdote, he tells the story of how baffled his then-Leicester teammates were when he showed them his boots with interchangeable cleats - a novelty in the 40ies.

 

One newspaper announced his transfer with the headline "The New Outside Left" and a few games (and goals) later, there was "Weil Again". "Bob", as called by his LCFC colleagues, felt rather awkward about it.

Games in the Second Division attracted regular crowds of 6'000 to 8'000 people, with fixtures against the likes of Tottenham, Newcastle or West Ham.

 

In his most precious memories of playing for Leicester, he thinks back to away days episodes, such as traveling to Southampton and finding out that the Leicester end was boosted by sailors trying to wind up Saints fans. Or spending the night in Bournemouth in a hotel with a cinema attached to it.

 

Douglas "Dally" Duncan was the manager that season and Weil recalls him as a walking cliché of a Scotsman, always trying to save money and whatnot - for instance, Duncan had his broken glasses temporarily fixed by the use of some (scotch?) tape - and spending little talking time when addressing his squad.

Before each kick-off, the simple motto was "Enjoy the game!".

 

Weil remembers a certain Sileby-born Jack Lee as the best player during his short stint at Leicester. "City's first post-war hero" - "tall, elegant, fantastic at headers" as Weil puts it. Another teammate was midfielder Johnny King who used to whistle his most favourite tune on a regular basis: "I've got sixpence to last me all my life, and twopence to send home to my wife. I still know the lyrics and the melody - would you like to hear me perform it for you?".

 

This loan period lasted for just over half a year, then "Bob" had to return back home to Switzerland. Leicester were keen to keep him, but Young Boys Berne, where he started his career and where he was still under contract, were calling and there was no coming back to England from then on.

For all the time at Leicester, there was no salary paid nor any incentives for winning matches - as opposed to regular footballing life in Switzerland in the 40ies, where you got 50 Swiss Francs for a win and 30 for a draw.

"A certain Mr. Samuel took great strides to look after me, though. And I was able to learn some English, too."

 

The day he left Leicester, he received a home shirt and an official thank you letter.

 

"When I look back, I was way too modest back in the days. But happy nonetheless".

 

Robert "Bob" Weil in Switzerland colours.

 

Robert Weil's career as a pro then continued at his hometown club BSC Young Boys, the place where he received his first pro contract at the age of 17. Years at FC Lugano and FC Fribourg followed - he also played for the Switzerland national team a few times. With his Jewish background, Weil was in fact prohibited from signing for some other Swiss clubs, for example, as antipathy and antisemitism was still rife in the years following WWII.

In 1954, whilst playing with Fribourg against Grasshopper Club and accidentally colliding with then-Grasshopper goalkeeper Preiss, he heard the Zurich masseur/medic ramble: "Typically Hebrew from this damned Jew!".

"I had to restrain myself from not punching the masseur in the face and luckily, the referee also intervened rather quickly."

 

In later years, he finished his active career where it all started, at BSC Young Boys, in 1956 and then also spent some time kicking the ball on an amateur basis for Jewish outfit SC Hakoah, based in Zürich. He participated in the Makkabiade, the Jewish Olympics, four times and trained the BSC Young Boys youth for years, being one of the founding fathers of the YB School of Football in 1972.

 

In his present spare time, he continues to enjoy going to BSC Young Boys home matches, watching from the stands, courtesy of two lifetime tickets for his achievements with and efforts for the club.

"There's still people who know and greet me by name. I'm just glad they're not asking for autographs any longer" he adds with a simper on his face.

[Voll Blau]

 

His most precious memories of playing for Leicester consist of away days episodes, such as traveling to Southampton and finding out that the Leicester end was boosted by sailors trying to wind up Saints fans. Or spending the night in Bournemouth in a hotel with a cinema attached to it.

 

[Vince Vega]

Thank you MC.  Fascinating read.

[MPH]

cracking stuff. thanks for posting!

[Vacamion]

From the thread title, I thought this was going to be about a bloke who was born an old man but got younger...

Good read. Hard to believe there was still anti-semitism in Western Europe after the war.