1aHéctor Scarone (URU)
1928 Los Andes.
A prolific scorer, Scarone scored 301 goals in 369 appearances for Nacional and led his club to 8 Uruguayan championships. Scarone was also an important member of the Uruguay national team which dominated the 1920s, winning the gold medal at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and four South American Championships.
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1bDixie Dean (ENG)
1935 John Scerri's Cigarettes.
An inaugural member of the English Football Hall of Fame, William “Dixie” Dean’s 60 goals in the 1927-28 season still stands as the record in England today. Dean acquired his nickname in his youth, purportedly because his dark complexion and hair bore a resemblance to people from the Southern United States.
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1cManuel Seoane (ARG)
1925 Cigarrillos Dolar.
One of Argentina’s greatest players of all-time, Seoane was the Primera División top scorer in 1922, 1926 and 1929. Seoane and Raimudo Orsi led Independiente, nicknamed "Los Diablos Rojos" ("The Red Devils"), to championships in 1922 and 1926. Independiente went undefeated in 1926 in large part due to Seoane’s goal scoring! Known as a football strategist, Seoane won four Copa Américas with Argentina and later managed the national team from 1934 to 1937.
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1dJimmy McGrory (SCO)
1925 DC Thomson Adventure & Vanguard.
McGrory is the all-time leading goal scorer in top-flight British football with a total of 550 goals, including 57 League and Scottish Cup goals from 39 games in the 1926-27 season. His trademark shot, an almost horizontal, bullet header earned him the nickname the “Human Torpedo."
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1ePedro Petrone (URU)
1930 El Titan.
Pedro Petrone could easily have made the first XI squad. The prolific striker won national championships in 1924 and 1934 in Uruguay. He played in Italy from 1931-33 where he was said to be the league’s fastest player. Petrone was the top goal scorer in Serie A in the 1931-32 season. Petrone was a key member of the Uruguay national team that won Olympic gold in 1924 and 1928 as well as the first World Cup.
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1fJosé Leandro Andrade (URU)
1930 Cigarillos Crack.
Arguably the best player of the 1920s and the world’s first black football superstar, J.L. Andrade won club three club championships with Nacional and Peñarol, two Olympic gold medals, the inaugural World Cup and three Copa Américas. Andrade received international stardom after his brilliant performance at the 1924 Olympics. He was nicknamed “The Black Pearl” decades before that nicknamed was also given to Pelé. During the 1928 Olympics semi-final match against Italy, Andrade collided with a goal post. Though we would enjoy continued success after 1928, the injury blinded Andrade in one eye.
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1gGyörgy Orth (HUN)
1926 Greiling.
Considered a Top 5 player in the world between 1921-1925, György Orth played brilliantly for clubs in Italy (Pisa), Austria and his native Hungary until suffering a severe knee injury in 1926. Orth would go on to be a successful coach, including coaching Chile in the 1930 World Cup
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1hKarel Pešek-Káďa (CZE)
1926 Greiling.
Karel Pešek-Káďa was the star center-half and the leader of the best continental club in the world in the early 1920s, Sparta Prague. “Iron Sparta” as the club was known won 51 consecutive domestic games between 1920 and 1923, including winning all 5 domestic titles during this period. Pešek led the Czechoslovakian national team to the 1920 Olympic finals, beating Yugoslavia, Norway, and France along the way by a combined score of 15-1. Pešek was also a world-class ice hockey player and concurrent with his football success, won a bronze medal with the Czechoslovakian hockey team at the 1920 Olympics
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1iJosé Nasazzi (URU)
1928 Petrol.
Nicknamed "El Gran Mariscal" ("The Great Marshal"), Nasazzi was the son of an Italian father and Spanish mother. The best defensive player in the world during the 1920s, Nasazzi captained Uruguay during the 1930 World Cup. In the finals, Uruguay trailed Argentina 2-1 at halftime. Nasazzi rallied his teammates, leading them to a famous 4-2 victory and becoming the first captain to lift the Jules Rimet Trophy.
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1jVirginio Rosetta (ITA)
1920s Zaini Chocolates.
An expert defender and precision passer, Virginio Rosetta won a total of eight club championships (tied with two others for the record), two with Pro Vercelli and six with Juventus (including five consecutive). Rosetta was so respected that he captained Italy in its first game in the 1934 World Cup.
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1kRicardo Zamora (SPA)
1923 Juncosa.
Ricardo Zamora is widely considered the best goalkeeper of the prewar era. He joined RCD Español at the early age of 16 and enjoyed success on Barcelona, Real Madrid and Español. Zamora also started in all 15 of Spain's international matches during the early- to mid-1920s, leading the recently formed national team to an 11-1-3 record. Zamora was known for his toughness. In 1929 he continued playing versus England with a broken his sternum, handing England its first defeat by a non-UK team. “El Divino” was noted for wearing a cloth cap and a white polo-neck jumper on the field.
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1lManager: Herbert Chapman (ENG)
1936 Gallaher.
Herbert Chapman is widely regarded as the greatest club manager in the pre-war era. He first took charge as player-manager in 1907 with Northampton Town and turned the club around from the bottom of Southern league within just a few years. In 1925, he took the helm for Arsenal and built the previously trophyless team into a powerhouse that would go on to win five League titles in the 1930s.
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2aHughie Gallacher (SCO)
1921 Pinnace.
One of the “Wembley Wizards” who beat England 5-1 at Wembley Stadium in 1928, Hughie Gallacher amassed 463 goals in 624 matches at the club level. Gallacher averaged more than one goal per game for Scotland, the highest strike rate of any Scottish national team member.
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2bAlan Morton (SCO)
1930 Barratt & Co.
Given the nickname “the Wee Blue Devil” by frustrated English fans, the diminutive Scottish winger Alan Morton was just 5’4”. Morton won nine Scottish championships with the Glasgow Rangers between 1921 and 1931. Morton was instrumental in Scotland’s famous 5-1 upset of England in 1928, three of his crosses being converted to goals.
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2cJózsef Takács (HUN)
1938 Union König.
József Takács was one of the most prolific scorers of the 1920s, scoring 359 goals in 221 league games between 1917 and 1934 (per Hungary Wikipedia) for a strike ratio of…1.62 goals per game. He scored 10 goals in the 1928 Mitropa Cup. Takács is the 15th all-time career scorer. He won three Hungarian league titles and was top league scorer on five occasions.
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2dRaymond Braine (BEL)
1933 Star.
Belgium’s first professional player, Braine helped Sparta Prague win Czechoslovak First League titles in 1932 and 1936 as well as the 1935 Mitropa Cup. He was twice Czechoslovak First League top scorer. Braine is the fifth all-time scorer for the Belgium national team with 26 goals in 54 matches.
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2eJan de Natris (NED)
1924 Moslem Anglo American.
Voted Ajax’s best player for the first half of the 20th Century, older Ajax fans claim legendary Dutch winger Jan de Natris was better than Johan Cruyff. De Natris was one of the fastest players of his era, able to run the 100 meter dash in 11.1 seconds. He was good passer and set piece taker. Capped 23 times for the Dutch national team, he helped the Netherlands finish third at the 1920 Olympics and fourth at the 1924 Olympics.
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2fJosep Samitier (SPA)
1923 Juncosa.
Nicknamed “El Mag” (“The Magician”), Josep helped pioneer the midfielder role. With 333 club goals, Samitier is Barcelona’s third top goal scorer, behind Paulino Alcántara and Lionel Messi. Samitier was a member of Spain’s inaugural Olympics team which received the silver medal at the 1920 Olympics (after Czechoslovakia’s disqualification).
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2gAdolfo Baloncieri
1926 Editore Sconosciuto.
The great Italian midfielder/inside forward was considered the predecessor to Giuseppe Meazza. Baloncieri controlled the midfield, but was also a great scorer. Playing for Torino with two strikers in front of him - Julio Libonatti and Gino Rossetti – to form the "Trio of Wonders", Baloncieri still managed to score 93 goals in 131 games. Baloncieri is considered Italy’s best offensive player in the pre-Meazza era.
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2hPedro Cea (URU)
1928 Los Andes.
Uruguay’s leading scorer at the 1930 World Cup, Pedro Cea was also part of the national team’s 1924 and 1928 Olympic gold medal teams. At the club level, Cea won multiple Uruguayan championships for Nacional.
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2iUmberto Caligaris (ITA)
1927 La Torinese Milano,
One of the best defenders of the 1920s, Umberto Caligaris competed with Virginio Rosetta for the right back starting position on the Italian national team in the 1920s. He would later join Rosetta and goalkeeper Giampiero Combi on Juventus to form on of the best defenses of all-time, winning five consecutive scudettoes. His 59 caps for the Italian national team stood as a record until 1971.
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2jHarry Denis (NED)
1930 Miss Blanche Sport/Filmsterren 1e Serie.
Harry Dénis, a prominent defender in the 1920s, started for the Netherlands National Team in all three Olympic tournaments of the decade. He helped the Netherlands win the bronze medal in 1920 and finish in fourth place in 1924. In all, he was capped 56 times by the Netherlands including 37 matches as team captain.
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2kTesorieri, Americo
1926 Dolar. The Argentine goalkeeper Americo Tesoriere won 14 titles with Boca Juniors in total, including 5 league titles between 1919 and 1926. For the Argentina national team, he won two Copa Américas in 1921 and 1925, allowing zero goals in both tournaments.
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2lManager: Jack Greenwell
1922 Chocolates Sultana.
As a player, English footballer was recruited to play for Barcelona where he won Catalunya Championships in 1913 and 1916 and struck up a close friendship with Paulino Alcántara. The players were unhappy with Barcelona’s first-ever full-time manager. John Barrow, who was fired after just 4 months. Recently retired Greenwell was made the new manager at the request of the players. He led Barcelona into its first golden age, winning 5 Catalunya Championships and 2 editions of the Copa del Rey. Later in his career, Greenwell managed Peru to a win in the South American Championship. He is the only non-South American manager to accomplish this feat.
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3aPaulino Alcantara (PHI/SPA)
1920s Caramelo Futbol.
1923 Paulino Alcántara, the first Asian to play for a European club, remains today as Barcelona’s top goal scorer (after Lionel Messi) despite starting as a defensive player one season and retiring at age 31 to become a doctor. Alcántara led Barca to five Copas Del Rey.
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3bDomingo Tarasconi (ARG)
1926 Dolar.
Domingo Tarasconi was the top scorer in Argentine Primera División in 1922-24, 1927 and 1934, and led Boca Juniors to five Argentine titles. With the national team, Tarasconi won 3 Copa Américas and was the top overall goal scorer at the 1928 Olympics.
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3cSven Rydell (SWE)
1927 Rich's Sport.
For more than 80 years, Sven Rydell was Sweden’s all-time leading scorer with 49 goals (in just 43 games) for the national team. One of the best forwards of the 1920, Rydell led Sweden to a bronze medal at the 1924 Olympics.
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3dRoberto Cherro (ARG)
1928 Cigarrillos Dolar.
The leading goalscorer in Argentine Primera Division in 1926¸1928 and 1930, Roberto Cherro he scored 221 goals in 305 games for Boca Juniors. He led his club to five league titles between 1926 and 1935. For the national team, Cherro scored 13 goals in 16 appearances, including famously scoring all 4 goals in a match against Uruguay in 1933.
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3eAlex Jackson (SCO)
1925 DC Thomson Adventure & Vanguard.
One of the “Wembley Wizards,” forward Alex Jackson scored a hat-trick in Scotland’s famous 5-1 drubbing of England in 1928. On the club side, Jackson led Huddersfield Town to a league title in 1926 and two FA Cup finals. Early in his career, Jackson played in the United States for Bethlehem Steel.
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3fManuel Fleitas Solich (PAR)
1925 Cigarrillos Dolar.
The godfather of Paraguayan football, Manuel Fleitas Solich towered over his contemporaries with his tall build. In addition to two Paraguayan championships, Solich played in Argentina where he captained Boca Juniors to the 1930 Argentine title.
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3gMax Abegglen (SWI)
1926 Greiling.
A world-class midfielder in the 1920s, Max Abegglen led Switzerland to a silver medal at the 1924 Olympic Games. He scored 24 times in 68 appearances for the national team. He led Grasshopper Zurich to six league titles and five Swiss Cupsiegers between 1927 and 1942. He was nicknamed both “Abegglen II” to distinguish him from his brother and “Xam.” Today, the Swiss team Neuchâtel Xamax is named in his honor.
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3hDavid Meiklejohn (SCO)
1925 Barratt & Co.
Defender David Meiklejohn played for the Glasgow Rangers from 1919 to 1936, winning 12 Scottish League championships and 5 Scottish Cups. He was capped 15 time by Scotland, 6 times as captain.
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3iJosef Blum (AUS)
1926 Greiling.
A legendary left back, Josef Blum was the long-time captain of the Austrian national team with 51 caps between 1920 and 1932. In 1931, Blum helped First Vienna win both a national championship and the Mitropa Cup, one of Europe's first international club competitions.
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3jWillie McStay (SCO)
1923 Pinnace (medium size).
Willie McStay, fullback for Celtic, led the club to four league titles in 1917, 1919, 1922 and 1926, as well as thee Scottish Cups. He was capped 10 times by Scotland.
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3kAndrés Mazali (URU)
1930 Apiario Iris.
Andrés Mazali, goalkeeper for Uruguay and Nacional, won a lot of trophies in the 1920s. Between 1922 and 1924, he won three domestic league titles with Nacional, conceding only 29 goals in total over the three seasons. With Uruguay, he won gold medals in both the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, conceding only 2 and 5 goals in each respective tournament. Additionally, Mazali helped the National Team win the 1924 South American Championships. Mazali was due to start at the 1930 World Cup, but was banned from participating by the National Team coach after he was caught breaking curfew to go on a date with a mystery blonde.
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4aHeinrich Stuhlfauth (GER)
1927 Reunion Cigarettes.
Between 1916 and 1933, legendary goalkeeper Heinrich Stuhlfauth played 606 games for FC Nuremberg. He won five national championships (1920, 1921, 1924, 1925 and 1927) with the club. Between 1918 and 1922, Nuremberg did not lose in 104 association games, with a goal differential of 480:47.
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4bTull Harder (GER)
1926 Greiling.
One of the best ever German center forwards, Otto “Tull” Harder is one of HSV’s two most famous players (Uwe Seeler being the other). Harder scored 24 times in just 20 appearances for the German national team. Harder’s legacy is controversial, however. After retiring from football, Harder was a senior member of the Nazi party and was subsequently sentenced for war crimes.
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4cBilly Walker (ENG)
1925 Lacey's Gum.
Aston Villa’s all-time top scorer, Billy Walker scored 214 goals in 478 league matches. He won an FA Cup with Villa in 1920 and was considered one of England’s top footballers in the early 1920s. Walker was also a successful manager, winning FA Cups with Sheffield Wednesday in 1935 and with Nottingham Forrest in 1959.
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4dJohann Horvath (AUS)
1932 Monopol.
Austria’s prolific striker in the 1920s and early 1930s, Hans Horvath was well known for his passing ability and technique. He led Rapid Wien to Mitropa Cup finals appearances in 1927 and 1928 and helped the club win league championships in 1929 and 1930. He scored 29 times for Austria in 46 appearances, including 2 goals at the 1934 World Cup.
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4eJulio Libonatti (ARG/ITA)
1925 Dolar.
Forward Julio Libonatti starred in the 1921 South American Championships where he led the tournament with 3 goals and led Argentina to victory. Libonatti became the world’s first trans-Atlantic transfer when he moved from his native Argentina to play in Italy. In his second season with Torino, he led Serie A in scoring with 21 goals. Libonatti was capped 15 times by Argentina and 17 times by Italy, scoring 23 goals in the 33 matches.
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4fHarry Chambers (ENG)
1924 John Filshill.
Harry Chambers was Liverpool’s high goal scorer for the first five seasons following WWI. He led the club to back-to-back league championships in 1922 and 1923. In total, Chambers scored 151 goals in 338 appearances for Liverpool.
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4gPaul Nicolas (FRA)
1927 Chocolat D'Aiguebelle.
Arguably the greatest center-forward of French football, Paul Nicolas was a member of the French national team in the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics. Capped 35 times in total, he scored 20 goals for France. Nicolas won the French Cup four times with Red Star Paris.
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4hHans Kalb (GER)
1926 Greiling (Perforated Edges).
The central player for FC Nürnberg during the 1920s, Hans Kalb led the team to 5 German titles. Kalb played 681 matches for Nürnberg in all.
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4iJosef Pöttinger (GER)
1928 Gartmann.
Renowned German striker Josef Pöttinger started for Bayen Munich at just 16 years of age. He scored 57 goals in the 1925-26 season, helping the club win the South German championship. Pöttinger’s opponents resorted to brutal fouls in order to stop him, which led to constant injuries and forced him to retire at the age of 27.
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4jLuigi Cevenini (ITA)
1934 Principe Sport.
Forward Lugi Cenenini scored 156 goals in 190 matches for Inter Milan and led the club to a league title in 1920. Capped 29 times by the Italian national side, Luigi served as Italy’s captain from 1925 to 1927. He was nicknamed “Cevenini III” to distinguish him from his four brothers who also played football professionally.
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4kFrantišek Kolenatý (CZE)
1926 Greiling.
Midfielder František Kolenatý was a key member of “Iron Prague”, the dominant AC Sparta Prague club of the 1920s. Capped 28 times by Czechoslovakia, he was a member of the 1920 and 1924 Olympic squads.
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4lRoy Goodall (ENG)
1932 Monopol. The English national team’s captain for 12 years, Roy Goodall was one of the best defenders of his generation. He was captain of Huddersfield Town when it became the first club to win English top flight for three consecutive seasons.
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4mHughie Ferguson (SCO)
1921 Pinnace.
Hughie Ferguson was a prolific scorer, averaging 0.855 goals per game over his career. He was the Scottish Football League top scorer on three occasions (1917–18; 1919–20; 1920–21). In 1927, he scored the winning goals in the FA Cup final, helping Cardiff City become the only non-English club to ever win the FA Cup. Ferguson is only seven men in the entire history of the Football and Scottish Football Leagues to have scored 350 League goals.
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4nFiló (BRA/ITA)
1932 Cioccolato Zaini. Amphilóquio Guarisi - or Filó as he was known in Brazil - was the top scorer in first division Brazilian football in 1926 and was on the Paulistano team that won the Brazilian League in 1926, 1927 and 1929. He played for both the Brazilian and Italian national teams and in 1934 became the first Brazilian born player to win the World Cup.
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4oElisha Scott (IRE)
1921 DC Thomson Adventure.
Liverpool’s longest-serving player, Elisha Scott was one of the world’s best goalkeepers of the 1920s. He was a major part of the back-to-back Championship winning teams of 1922 and 1923, missing just 3 games of the first title and none in the second. Scott was capped 31 times by Northern Ireland. He was also a highly successful manager, guiding Belfast Celtic to 10 Irish league titles and 6 Irish Cups in 12 seasons between 1936 and 1948.
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4pJózsef Fogl (HUN)
1932 Nestor Gianaclis.
During the 1920s, József Fogl and his brother Károly together formed a defensive unit known in European football as “Fogl lock” for both their club, Újpest, and the Hungarian national team. József captained Újpest when it won the 1929 Mitropa Cup, the 1930 Coupe des Nations and the 1929 and 1930 Hungarian League titles.
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