Eyup! The name’s Dungood, Boyce Dungood, football manager! I’d like to welcome you to Glory Days – Football in Times of War.
Football has a long, long history and some of it is tied up with war. There’s a tale that the first game of football was played using the head of a Danish prince killed in a battle... but I don’t reckon that’s true! In the reign of Henry V, playing football was against the law because it stopped men from practicing with their bows and arrows, which would be useful in battles.
In 1914, when the First World War began, football was the most popular national sport, especially with young men just the right age to fight for their country. Entire football teams joined the army together…and some died together too. Football was still played in wartime, as a way of keeping cheerful and a way of keeping fit! Many footballers joined up in the Second World War too, and many lost their lives.
This site tells some of their stories, and looks at how the Commonwealth War Graves Commission remembers them, by recording their details, and looking after their graves and memorials.