Franz König

Adolphus Franciscus "Frank" König (7 May 1874 – 9 December 1959) was a Belgian footballer who played as a forward for Belgian club Racing Club de Bruxelles. He was also a manager who coached the Belgian squad that participated in the football tournament at the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was also a referee who refereed the first game of the Netherlands national team. He was also a founding member of the Belgian Football Association in 1895. He was topscorer in the Belgian First Division in two back-to-back seasons in 1898 and 1899. Besides being an outstanding football player, he was also an outstanding athlete who also performed in other modalities, notably athletics.

Biography König was born in Ghent to Swiss parents, but moved to England as a child to study there. While in England, he was introduced to football and developed an interest in the growing sport. In 1895 he returned to Belgium and shortly after his arrival he was one of the founding members of the Belgian Football Association on 1 September 1895.

He then joined Sporting Club de Bruxelles, which participated in the very first edition of the Belgian Championship in 1895–96, and König helped his side to a 3rd place finish just behind Antwerp FC and champions F.C. Liégeois. The club withdrew during the next season and was dissolved, and most of the players, including him, decided to join Racing Club de Bruxelles in 1897. In his first season at Racing, König helped the club win the Belgian championship, and again in 1899–1900.

König was a member of the Belgian squad who won a bronze medal in Paris, acting as coach of a team made up almost entirely of students of the University of Brussels.

König refereed his first and last international match on 30 April 1905, a Low Countries derby between Belgium and the Netherlands in the 1905 Coupe Vanden Abeele, ending in a 4–1 win to the Dutch after extra-time, but more important than the result was its historic relevance since it was the Dutch's very first official game. '''