|
 When
Claudio Reyna made his 100th appearance for the United States
Men's National Team in a full international against Honduras on
June 2, he joined a unique club. A very small percentage of
those who represent their country ever reach the 100 cap
plateau, although with the increase in the number of
internationals being played in the recent decade, more and more
are reaching that magic number. Reyna's record, and those of the
other six U.S. men who have been capped 100 times or more, stand
in stark contrast to those players who represented the U.S. in
the past. Reyna made his full international debut January 15,
1994 against Norway in Tempe, Arizona. In the 10 years between
then and the end of 2003 he played 97 times for the U.S. out of
a possible 171 internationals.
By contrast Walter Bahr, who like
Reyna played a key midfield role for the U.S. national team in
the 10 years between 1948 and 1957, appeared in only 19
internationals, but that was out of a total of 21. He, and a few
other Hall of Famers, would certainly have reached the 100-cap
mark if the US team had played as many international matches
during their playing days as it does now.
But what is an international
cap, the term so often used to denote an international
appearance of a number of international appearances? The history
of the actual practice of awarding a cap for an international
is, like many other things in soccer's past, clouded in the
mists of antiquity, but soccer historians all agree that it has
its beginning in the very early days of the sport when players
wore headgear during games.
In those far off days there was no
standard dress just as there were no standard rules, and there
is very little detailed information available about what the
players wore. But a FIFA book published in 1986 that includes
some history contains the following interesting observation
regarding players dress.
"Another story was the dress, which
in those days did not leave much room for freedom of movement."
The book states. It continues "Heavy boots that were often
equipped with leather strips on the bottom served as football
boots. Later on these strips were replaced by studs that had to
be knocked into the soles. The ankles were quite well protected
by the leather. The pants were long and used to be stuffed into
the socks. Sweaters were worn then instead of jerseys. And,
nowadays hardly conceivable: the players wore caps that had to
fit tightly. This of course, was not quite ideal for being good
in the air."
The practice of wearing caps in
soccer goes back a long long way and may well have had its
origin in English Public Schools (Editors note: These would be
private schools in the USA) where it was, and no doubt still is,
a part of the dress code. Thus when one school played some form
of football against another the players wore their school caps.
An account of a football game as early as 1851 at Rugby School
mentions the players wearing house caps of different colors.
Engravings of that period also show Rugby schoolboys wearing a
variety of caps, some resembling American football helmets, some
bowler hats or jockey caps. It is claimed that the first true
international caps were awarded in 1886, although some form of
headgear was worn in the first international when Scotland
played England in Glasgow in 1872. At a meeting of the Football
Association of England held on January 30, 1886 N.L. Jackson
proposed that "All players taking part in future England
internationals be presented with a white silk cap with a red
rose embroidered on the front. These to be termed "International
Caps." A sub committee then met to select a suitable cap and on
May 10, 1886 the design was decided upon; Royal blue velvet,
with a rose in front and date on the peak. Later editions would
contain the name of the country played against on the peak,
along with the year. The caps had a silver tassel, and three
lions in place of the rose.
However, the images that were made
of the first ever soccer international played in Glasgow in 1872
between Scotland and England show both sides wearing caps of a
variety of descriptions. The Scots all wore the same color caps,
the English wore an individual cap; perhaps of their school. The
National Football Museum in Preston, England has a shirt from
this game, and with it came a cap, which it is thought was also
worn in this game. This cap is of an odd design - no peak,
pillbox style, and multi colored.
In talking to former Scottish
international Graham Leggat some years ago he told me that when
he played for Scotland, after the game was over, when the
players returned to their dressing room, the players found a cap
hanging on their peg. At one time caps were also awarded to
players who played for the United States, although the practice
was not continued as far as we know. The one occasion we know
about was in 1925 at Ebbets Field for the international against
Canada.
But it seems that the practice of
awarding of an actual cap was originally confined to the four
British associations and did not extend to the continent of
Europe or South America, although no research on this subject
seems to have taken place. But if players no longer receive
caps, then it raises the question of what they receive, if
anything, to mark playing for their country?
Thanks to Richard
Williams, formerly of the Scottish Football Museum, David Barber
of the English Football Association, and Peter Holme of the
National Football Museum for their assistance in preparing this
article.
History by Colin
Colin Jose, who is North
America's preeminent soccer historian gives you an insight of
soccer history that is not known by the average soccer fan.
Colin has been researching soccer for over 40 years and has a
real passion for the history of ' The Beautiful Game'. |
