1913 European Bandy Championships was, according to some sources, a European Championship tournament for national teams in bandy held in February 1913 in Saint-Moritz or in Davos, Switzerland. However, there are no known contemporary sources for this[1] and the oldest known source for the competition being held is from a Swedish book on bandy from the 1970s, itself not citing any sources.[2] It is likely that the information could be a mixup with the actual 1913 LIHG Championship, which was an ice hockey tournament between ice hockey club teams from different European countries.
While it probably should be considered a factoid, the tournament has still been referred to as if it was a historical fact in many books and magazines about bandy and even led to a centenary celebration tournament being arranged by the Federation of International Bandy in 2014.
Overview
editThe 1913 European Championship were supposedly played by national teams representing Austria, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, France, and Switzerland.[3] It is usually claimed to have been arranged by the International Ice Hockey Federation established in 1908 and that the teams were 7-men-teams.
Since Sweden and Russia followed the rules of 11-men teams, they are supposed to have rejected the invitation and competed in the 1913 Nordic Games in Stockholm, where a bandy competition actually took place. The 1913 Nordic Games were arranged at the same time as the European Championship competition should have taken place. The German team consisted mostly of the members of Leipziger SC, which was supposed to play in Stockholm as well, but because many of its players were selected for the German national team, they decided to travel to Switzerland.[4]
Revivals
editOn 6 January 2014, the Federation of International Bandy arranged a four nation tournament in Davos to celebrate the anniversary of the alleged 1913 European Championship. Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Netherlands played at the same venue as was thought to have been used for the competition 101 years ago.[5] The Dutch won this unofficial European Championship.[6]
In 2016, a somewhat smaller tournament dubbed the Davos Cup was held with national teams from three European countries. This was won by Estonia.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Чемпионат номер «ноль» или забытый чемпион мира - Архив новостей - Федерация хоккея с мячом России". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22.
- ^ this oldest identified source was Åke Dunér: Bandy genom åren, 1975
- ^ Ilya Trisvyatsky (February 14, 2013). "Bandy: A concise history of the extreme sport". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- ^ Bandy World Map Archived 2009-07-31 at the Wayback Machine Bandytips. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ "Bandy is back in Davos". Federation of International Bandy. 5 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ "Unofficial European Championships 2013/14". Bandysidan. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ "Davos Cup – Back in the game!". Federation of International Bandy. 13 January 2016. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2014.