When Josef Bican, World Record Goal Scorer, came to Filbert Street

[kushiro]

You've probably seen the news about Cristiano Ronaldo breaking the all-time record for goals in senior football.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10606361/Manchester-United-star-Cristiano-Ronaldo-leading-goalscorer-FIFA-history.html

 

You may not know that the man whose record he broke, Josef Bican, played and scored against Leicester at the age of only 19. It's a fascinating story:

 

 

Part 1

 

It's not easy to find a photo of Josef Bican, top goal scorer of the 20th century, playing in the famous green and white strip of Rapid Vienna. Google it and you mostly find photos of him in the colours of Slavia Prague (his later club), or the Austrian national team. The required image can be found, however, in a rather surprising place.  Look in the archives of the Leicester Evening Mail from 1933 and you see this:

 

 

The photo is from January 28th, when Rapid Vienna were the first ever continental team to play at Filbert Street. The caption reads:

 

Leicester City's new goalkeeper Gourlay diving to save from the Austrian centre forward.

 

As you can see from the team line-ups that day, that centre forward was the man himself - Josef Bican.

 

 

It was a truly prestigious fixture, as the team then touring the UK were one of the top clubs in Europe.

 

There's a lot of talk now about the 'top five Leagues' - in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France - in which all the significant action is presumed to take place. Back then, things were different. In what may have been the very first attempt to rank the clubs and players of Europe, Hungarian newspaper Pesti Napló considered the following eleven clubs 'top class':

 

England:             Arsenal

 

Scotland:            Celtic, Rangers

 

Austria:              Rapid Vienna, Admira Vienna, First Vienna, Austria Vienna

 

Italy:                  Juventus

 

Hungary:           Ferencvaros

 

Germany:          Bayern Munich

 

Switzerland:      Grasshoppers

 

 

That was at the start of 1933.

 

The same newspaper also ranked international sides. These were the top four:

 

 

1) Austria    2) Scotland   3) England   4) Italy

 

 

The Austrian national side were known as the 'Wunderteam'. They were unbeaten for 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932, when they finally lost 4-3 to England in a famous game at Stamford Bridge.

 

Vienna was the centre of the footballing world, where people sat for hours in cafes philosophizing about the game - the latest tactics, the greatest teams, who should and shouldn't be selected for the 'Wunderteam'. When they weren't talking football, they talked politics. The city had the most developed form of social democracy in Europe, with progressive taxes used to fund health, education, housing and sanitation projects. Known as 'Red Vienna', the city joined a very short list of places whose popular nomenclature reflected its politics ('Radical Leicester' being one of the others).

 

Vienna was a city with the workers in control, and Rapid Vienna had started life in 1897 as the First Viennese Workers' Club. After the name change they won the first ever Austrian championship in 1912, and lifted the Mitropa Cup (the forerunner of the European Cup) in 1930. In January 1933 they set off on their first tour of the UK, for games at Ibrox Park, Anfield - and Filbert Street.

 

 

January 21st 1933     Rangers v Rapid Vienna.

 

With Austrian football then so highly regarded, there was a lot of coverage of the tour in the press. An Austrian player, said one piece, 'must have abundant opportunities of out-witting his opponent, of planting him with the dummy, and of leaving him hopelessly non-plussed'. Another piece told us that 'They do not aim at making distance when heading – they believe in guiding the ball down – yes, DOWN – to earth, to the foot of a comrade'.

 

The importance attached to their visit can be grasped when you consider that on the date of this first match, at Ibrox, Rangers had been scheduled to play in the Scottish FA Cup against Arbroath. It was almost unthinkable to reschedule a Cup match because of a friendly, but somehow Rangers were given permission. It caused a bit of a rumpus, but Rangers fans voted with their feet, 54,000 turning up to see the game.

 

The first half was a sensation, with Rapid storming into a 3-1 lead. When Weselik gave them the lead, the Scotsman newspaper reported, 'three of his teammates kissed him'. Rangers legend Bob McPhail then equalised before Ostermann, and the young Josef Bican scored before half time. In the second half, Rangers 'with their sleeves up, waded into their opponents most vociferously'. Their physical strength turned the game and they came back to make it 3-3. They were denied a winner by the brilliance of Rapid keeper Rudolf Raftl, whose 'springs from one end of the goal to the other drew cheers from all round the ground' (see photo below). After the game Raftl was 'chaired off by Glasgow University students celebrating Charity Day'.  

 

 

 

January 25th   Liverpool v Rapid Vienna

 

This was four days after the Rangers match, on a Wednesday afternoon. 20,000 turned up to see another thrilling first half, which ended with the score 2-2, Johann Leuf getting both for Rapid. Once again Raftl was keeping the crowd entertained, with his 'daring goalkeeping'. After the break, Rapid tired, their most notable contribution being a shot from captain Smistik that knocked out the referee. Liverpool took control and scored three more, ending up 5-2 winners.

 

And so the team headed south again. On Friday afternoon they arrived at Leicester station to be 'greeted by Leicester Chairman W.H. Squires, manager Peter Hodge and assistant secretary George Smith'. The Leicester Evening Mail said they were a team from a place called 'Austraia' - perhaps getting confused with another tour taking place at the same time - the infamous 'bodyline' Ashes series down-under, which was just reaching its most critical stage - the MCC threatening to cancel the series if the Aussies didn't withdraw their charge of 'unsportsmanlike behaviour'.

 

January 28th    Leicester City v Rapid Vienna

 

Just like the Rangers fixture, this game took place on a day when most clubs were playing in the Cup. But in this case, no rescheduling was necessary. City had already been knocked out in Round Three, when Dixie Dean helped Everton to win 3-2 at Filbert Street. In fact, if City had still been in the Cup, the Rapid game would not have taken place, and the visitors would have probably played a different club with a free Saturday - perhaps Arsenal, who'd been beaten at Walsall in Round Three in one of the most famous acts of giant killing.

 

Here's the highlights of the Evening Mail match report:

 

The Leicester City supporters were treated to some brilliant football at Filbert Street this afternoon.  In their green and white ringed jerseys Rapid received an excellent ovation. There was quite a good crowd, 18,000 being present at the start.  The band played Viennese music, ending with the Austrian national anthem as the visitors turned out. Before kick-off, captains Adam Black and Josef Smistik presented each other with miniature flags. Black won the toss and Vienna kicked off towards the Double Decker end.

 

The Austrians immediately settled down to some very pretty football, their passing being quite delightful. Quite early, Bican shot just wide of the post, then raised his arms very expressively to show his disgust at his failure. The Austrians seldom headed the ball but were very quick and neat in trapping it or kicking it when in the air. They generally beat the City man when it came to a tackle at close quarters.

 

Sep Smith worked very hard but was too fond of passing up to Barry, who was quite plainly not able to master full back Jestrab. The last few minutes before the interval saw some magnificent goalkeeping by Raftl, who jumped over Paterson's back on one occasion and then threw himself at a centre from Barry.

 

Half Time 0-0.

 

Within three minutes of the restart, City found themselves in arrears. Wagner robbed Smith and sent a long pass to Ostermann, who centred. Gourlay came out to meet Bican as the latter shot, but he could not prevent Binder getting to the ball and sending it hard into the net from one yard range.

 

Four minutes later Barry was cutting into the box when an Austrian defender threw him in a way that looked quite accidental. However, the referee pointed to the spot. Smith took the kick, but Raftl threw himself at the ball and pushed it onto the upright, from which it rebounded slowly as he lay on the ground so that he was able to crawl to it and complete a sensational clearance.

 

The crowd then jeered Paterson for the worst miss of the match. Indeed it had been noticeable for some time that the crowd had been giving rather more encouragement to the visitors than to their own players.

 

Gourlay then pushed out the ball as he lay on the ground with Bican almost a certain scorer.  (Is this the incident shown in the photo at the top?? It looks just like it, although the print deadlines of the Saturday Sports paper meant that photos were usually from early in the game.)

 

After 77 minutes, City equalised. The ball came over from Barry and Paterson shot. Raftl saved and Paterson shot again. This time an upright and a full back intervened and it was only at the third attempt that the centre-forward got the ball in the net.

 

Final Score: Leicester City 1 Rapid Vienna 3.

 

The print deadlines meant that the Saturday Sports edition didn't have time to describe the crucial late goals that gave Rapid victory, and Monday's paper told us only that Weselik and Bican scored 'good goals'. 

 

Part 2 is coming shortly - telling the story of how this defeat would have a large and beneficial effect on the rest of City's season.

 

[kushiro]

Part 2

 

So Rapid Vienna rounded off their tour with a 3-1 win at Filbert Street, Josef Bican scoring the third.

 

There's one part of that match report above that may have raised a few eyebrows:  It had been noticeable for some time that the crowd had been giving rather more encouragement to the visitors than to their own players. There was an obvious reason for the fans' attitude. They were fed up with the dross being served up. City were rooted to the bottom of Division One, and incredibly, hadn't won on Saturday all season (it was now late January).

 

The Rapid game, however, was the catalyst for what we ought to call 'Leicester's First Great Escape'.

 

After the match, Rapid boss Herr Weiss gave the local press his honest assessment of Leicester's performance: "You will never win anything with only three forwards. The WM formation is no good", he said.  That night at a celebration dinner for both clubs, Leicester manager Peter Hodge also had some words of advice. "We have been given a lesson in teamwork. I only hope we take that lesson seriously".

 

The next visitors to Filbert Street were Aston Villa, on February 9th. Villa were chasing the title, we were four points adrift and looking desperate:

 

 

The more cynical City fans were probably just waiting for an opportunity to start the barracking. But that day, something very special happened. City started playing football. It seems they had taken Hodge's words to heart:

 

City's football was brilliant, the quick inter passing of forwards and half-backs continually having the Villa defenders guessing, said the Leicester Evening Mail. The reporter from Birmingham was equally surprised: 'Leicester played a delightful, open game - the kind of football expected from champions'. 

 

City won 3-0, with Arthur Maw getting a hattrick. You can see the third below - the picture is poor quality, but look at that net bulge:

 

 

Two days later, Bolton came to Filbert Street and we finally won on a Saturday, 2-0 - Maw again and Johnny Campbell on the scoresheet. Hodge had no doubt heard Weiss' comments about tactics - we were now playing something similar to the traditional 2-3-5 formation. 

 

Next up was a visit to Liverpool, who had just beaten Everton 7-4. City went behind, but then fought back heroically to win 2-1, the clincher a 35 yarder from Roger Heywood. Those two points lifted us off the bottom. 

 

The good form continued, but the fight for survival that year was brutal, our rivals also pulling off crucial victories in the run-in. Come the final Saturday we needed a point at home to West Brom. We won 6-2 - Maw getting another hattrick. The teams that went down were two that looked relatively safe in 16th and 17th in that table above - Bolton and Blackpool.

 

So that was the first of many 'great escapes' in the Leicester City story. But what of Rapid and their 19 year old striker?

 

Their first game after arriving back from the UK was against a team called Neubau in the Cup. Rapid won 17-2, with Bican scoring four.  His days at Rapid were numbered, however.

 

The world was changing. The same weekend that Rapid played at Filbert Street, momentous events were taking place in Germany. President Hindenburg chose Adolf Hitler to be the new Chancellor. The following year, authoritarian forces in Vienna crushed the city's dream of social democracy, and Bican would leave Rapid soon after, first for rivals Admira, then Slavia in Prague - a city he apparently believed to be safe from fascist influence. 

 

In 1938, Rapid Vienna won the Cup. Not the Austrian Cup - the German Cup. The competition was then called the Tschammer Pokal - named after the head of German sport, the  Reichssportführer.  Austria, of course, had been swallowed up by Nazi Germany. 

 

Best to end on a lighter note - the Leicester Evening Mail cartoonist's depiction of how two Rapid Vienna directors responded to Bican's goal at Filbert Street: