March 1 – Jules Rimet for President

HE never kicked a ball in anger, yet set the sport he loved well on it’s way to the all-conquering global phenomenon that we have on our hands today. It was on this day in 1921 that Frenchman Jules Rimet became president of Fifa, armed with the Miss World-esque dream of bringing nations across the world closer though football.

Rimet was born in Theuley, France in 1873 into modest surroundings as the son of a grocer. After migrating to Paris aged 11, he would study to become a successful lawyer and in his mid-20s he would set up a sports club called Red Star that had an open-door policy to those from all classes.

At this time football was beginning to spread across Europe, despite being held in low regard by the upper echelons of French society who saw the sport as a game for the lower classes, thugs and Englishmen.

Rimet set about raising the profile of football in the country and by 1904 he and his contemporaries set about the formation of Fifa, an organisation that aimed to bring about a world football competition.

These efforts were derailed by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 and also by the popularity of the amateur Olympic football tournament, but when Rimet took over the presidency in 1921 he would again push for a world football tournament.

Despite not getting any joy from the games amateur organisations and the FA back in Blighty, Rimet pushed on regardless. In 1928 Fifa announced plans for the first ever World Cup, to be held in Uruguay two years later, as their government offered to play all travel expenses.

With no air travel available the decision was opposed by many European federations whose clubs did not want to lose their players for three months. Rimet was there though, carrying the small trophy that would later bear his name in his bag. Hosts Uruguay would of course win the inaugural title, beating Argentina in the final, causing riots in both countries.

Save for the cancellation of the 1942 World Cup due to the Second World War, the competition went from strength-to-strength, with England even bothering to show up in 1950.

Rimet kept the top job at Fifa until 1954, seeing the organisation grow 12 member countries to 85 and in 1956 he was even nominated for the Nobel Prize. He died in October that year and even in his wildest dreams he would surely not have imagined the sheer size and scale of the game today, as he envisioned a game in which “men will be able to meet in confidence without hatred in their hearts and without an insult on their lips.” Almost Jules, almost.

Watch some footage from the fruit of Rimet’s labours below and read about the man who would have surely starred for England in the early days of the World Cup here.