Walter Bahr
Skilful US midfielder who helped inflict a humiliating defeat on England in the 1950 World Cup
WALTER BAHR, who has died aged 91, was the last survivor of perhaps the greatest shock in World Cup history, when in 1950 the United States side of which he had previously been captain defeated England 1-0 in Brazil.
There could not have been greater disparity between the two teams. These were the days before England’s humblings later that decade by Hungary and they were, with the hosts, considered the tournament favourites.
By contrast, the US had lost their previous seven tournament matches by an aggregate of 45 goals to 2. Bahr, a tall and skilful defensive midfielder, had scored one of the goals against Cuba which had qualified them for the World Cup. Yet he had also recently experienced thrashings when captaining the US Olympic side at the 1948 Games.
Excuses were made afterwards for England, such as their having rested Stanley Matthews for the secondround match in Belo Horizonte. Yet in truth they were well-prepared for the game – arriving already changed into their blue shirts while the US struggled with a makeshift dressing room – and fielded household names such as Tom Finney, Stan Mortensen, Billy Wright, Alf Ramsey and Roy Bentley.
Although the Americans’ manager, Scotsman Will Jeffrey, had picked pairs of players who knew each other’s game at club level, including left- and right-halves Bahr and Ed Mcllvenny, the side had not trained together much. While England had won against Chile, the US lost their first match against Spain, and the British press labelled the team of postmen, dishwashers and hearse drivers “a band of no-hopers.”
Indeed, once they kicked off England dominated the match, but could not score. Then, in the 37th minute, Bahr shot at goal from 25 yards out and, as the English keeper Bert Williams moved to parry, the ball’s flight was diverted into the net by a diving header from the US centre-forward, Joe Gaetjens.
Gaetjens was in fact Haitian, from a well-to-do family which had sent him to New York to study accountancy, though he spent most of his time playing football. He was later to be murdered by the Tonton Macoutes of Papa Doc Duvalier’s regime.
Cheered on by the local crowd, which hoped to see England eliminated, the US held on through the second half. There were suspicions that they were favoured by the Italian referee when Mortensen was poleaxed on the edge of the penalty box, and when it seemed as if a header by Jimmy Mullen might have crossed the line of the US goal.
The result was confirmation, however, that – as Bahr put it – “in sport, the ball can bounce both ways”. What is less remembered is that England failed to progress from the group because they also lost their next match to Spain.
England’s defeat by the US attracted recriminations from Fleet Street, although the sports pages concentrated more on the England cricket team’s first defeat at home to the West Indies. The result garnered even less attention in an America yet to fall in love with soccer.
Just one US reporter attended the tournament and it is said that when the scoreline came in to the New York Times they assumed it was a hoax and did not print it. And when, following the side’s elimination by Chile, Bahr returned home, he was met at the airport not by cheering crowds but by his wife, Davies.
Walter Bahr was born on April 1 1927 in Philadelphia and grew up in a working-class district of the city where many worked in textile mills. He began playing soccer at 10 with the Lighthouse Boys’ Club, and at 16 joined the Philadelphia Nationals.
The club played in the professional American Soccer League, then the principal competition in the US, albeit one confined largely to the North-east. With the team, Bahr won the title four times in the early Fifties, and again in 1956 after moving to Uhrik Truckers. As there was little money in the game, he worked during the week as a high school teacher.
He made his debut for the US in 1949 and went on to win 19 caps. Subsequently, he coached at Temple University and at Penn State University from 1974 to 1988. All three of his sons played soccer professionally – his daughter was a national-level gymnast – and two of them subsequently won American Football Super Bowl titles playing as specialist place-kickers.
After the Brazil tournament, it was 40 years before the US again qualified for the World Cup. Interest then began to quicken in those who had played in the historic victory in Belo Horizonte. “Another 50 years and we’ll be really famous!” quipped Bahr. His abiding memory of the match, however, was of feeling sorry afterwards for the England team because of all the criticism they would face.
His wife and children survive him.
Walter Bahr, born April 1 1927, died June 18 2018