Thomas Balvay

Thomas Balvay

Thomas Balvay (b. 1888 - d. 1945) [ [http://www.weltfussball.de/schiedsrichter_profil.php?id=17277 John Balway :: Einsätze ] ] was a football referee in the 1920s and 1930s and one of four European referees who participated in the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay. Indeed he was the only match official from France at the tournament.

The Mystery

However, Cris Freddi, an English football historian, has stated that Balvay was an English teacher living in Paris during the 1920s and, as such, he would be one of the first Englishman to have participated in a FIFA World Cup. Freddi writes: "Balway is believed to have been an Englishman living in Paris. The French FA website calls him Georges Balvay, but this is apparently an error (contemporary French sources spell it Balway and several sources call him John". ['Complete Book of the WC 2002, reprinted 2006] .

This has been used by others to underline that he was indeed an Englishman who lived and worked in Paris in the 1920s. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A771004 BBC - h2g2 - The Finals of the 1930 World Cup ] at www.bbc.co.uk] But, as Freddi himself say, we have to tread carefully here. So little is known about this man that we can't be sure what he was called - except that he probably wasn't Thomas and his surname wasn't spelt Balvay!

His Name

There is also dispute as to the correct spelling of his name [ [http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Dome/4982/resul30.htm Resultados 30 ] at www.geocities.com] [ [http://home.trollnet.no/knuta/vmstatistikk.html Fotball VM statistikk ] at home.trollnet.no] ,. [ [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://users.skynet.be/pluto/Textwk/Referee/referee1930.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DJohn%2BBalway%26start%3D50%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2006-06,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN Translated version of http://users.skynet.be/pluto/Textwk/Referee/referee1930.html ] at users.skynet.be] The French Football Federation record that his name as Georges Balvay and also Thomas Balvay. [ [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fff.fr%2F%2Fcfra%2Factu%2Fchiffres%2F1706.shtml&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8 Referees of the French Cup Finals] - Official website of the French Football Federation] FIFA indicates that his name was John Balway. [ [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1/results/matches/match=1091/report.html FIFA World Cup 1930] - Official FIFA World Cup web site]

Career

He had been an international referee since 1922 [ [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://futbol.sportec.es/seleccion/ficha_partido.asp%3Fpar%3DPORESP%26nj%3D4%26c%3D1&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DThomas%2BBalway%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2006-06,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN Select matches in Spain] ] and twice refereed the Coupe de France (in 1926 and 1928). [ [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fff.fr%2F%2Fcfra%2Factu%2Fchiffres%2F1706.shtml&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8 Referees of the French Cup Finals] - Official website of the French Football Federation]

He travelled to Uruguay on the SS "Conte Verde", which also took Jules Rimet and the French, Belgian, Romanian and Brazilian teams to the first World Cup; picking up the teams en route from Genoa to Rio de Janeiro before disembarking at Montevideo harbour. [ [http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=1/index.html FIFA World Cup 1930] - Official FIFA World Cup web site] [ [http://www.world-cup-betting-2006.com/world-cup-1930.htm World Cup History - 1930, Uruguay ] ]

When the ship docked at Rio Harbour, Balvay learnt that his wife had passed away in France.Fact|date=November 2007

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Thomas Balvay — ou John Balvay ou Georges Balway, né le 2 février 1888 et mort le 15 juillet 1945, fut le premier arbitre français à arbitrer lors d une coupe du monde, celle de 1930. Il fut arbitre FIFA de 1922 à 1930. Il y a débat sur sa nationalité car il… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coupe du monde de football de 1930 — Infobox compétition sportive Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Généralités Sport Football …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coupe Du Monde De Football De 1930 — Sport Football Organ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coupe du Monde de football de 1930 — Sport Football Organ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coupe du monde 1930 — Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Sport Football Organ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coupe du monde de football 1930 — Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Sport Football Organ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Finale de la Coupe du Monde de football de 1930 — Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Sport Football Organ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Football-Coupe Du Monde 1930 — Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Coupe du monde de football de 1930 Sport Football Organ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arbitres de la Coupe du monde de football — Voici la liste des arbitres ayant officialisé au moins un match de la Coupe du monde de football. Sommaire 1 Coupe du monde 1930 2 Coupe du monde 1934 3 Coupe du monde 1938 4 Coupe du monde …   Wikipédia en Français

  • SS Conte Verde — (Italian for Green ) was a Lloyd Sabaudo Line ocean liner active in the early 20th century. She originally provided transatlantic passenger transport between Genoa and New York City. After acquisition by Italian Line in 1932, she became a part of …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”