Godfrey Whittall

Godfrey Whittall (24 December 1882 – 22 September 1957) was an Anglo-Ottoman footballer who played as a forward for Bournabat FC and was one of five members of the Whittall family who competed in the football tournament at the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens, winning a silver medal as a member of the Bournabat Olympic team representing Smyrna.

Early life Godfrey Whittall was born in İzmir on 24 December 1882, as the fifth of nine children from the marriage of Mary Maltass (1851–1938) and Edward Whittall, an Anglo-Ottoman merchant and amateur botanist.

The founder of the family was the Liverpool-born Charlton Whittall (1791–1867), who worked for a trading company in his hometown, which sent him to Smyrna (now İzmir), a major sea port, where he later set up his own trading company named C. Whittall & Co.

In the early 20th century, Smyrna had the best football in the Ottoman Empire, hence why the Greeks invited a team from that region to participate in the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens. At the Olympics, Smyrna were knocked-out in the semifinals by a Copenhagen XI (5–1), who went on claim gold, but the withdrawal of the Athens team during the final and their subsequent disqualification meant that Smyrna and Thessaloniki would face each other for second place on 25 April 1906, in which the Whittalls, who formed a powerful attacking quintet, played a crucial role in helping their side to a 12–0 victory, thus winning the silver medal, which still is the greatest success of Izmir football in official matches.

Later life and death Whittall married Winifred Constance Evelyn Calvert, with whom he had three children, Rodney (1913–?), Cedric (1913–1914), and Evelyn (1916–?). Professionally, he worked at Lloyd's Agency Network, being its agent at Canakkale in the Dardanelles before emigrating to the Mashonaland West in Zimbabwe, where he died on 22 September 1957, at the age of 74.

Honours Smyrna XI Intercalated Games