Hermann Friese

Georg Paul Hermann Friese (22 May 1880 – October 1945) was a German-Brazilian athlete, association football player who played as a forward, and referee. He is considered alongside Charles Miller, Hans Nobiling and Oscar Cox one of the most important pioneers of football in Brazil and is recognized as the first exceptional footballer there.

Early life and family Friese was born in Hamburg, the son of Hermann Peter Johannes Friese and Henriette Friedericke Adelaide Bertha Hohlers.

Friese was also coach of the team where around 1909 Arthur Friedenreich obtained his first experiences. "Fried", these days considered of one of the greatest players of all time, was son of a German businessman that migrated from Hamburg and a black Brazilian woman. By intervention of Friese, statutes of the club prohibiting the membership of coloured people were removed.

Friese also was a football referee - then not uncommon for a player - and officiated the deciding matches of the State Championships of 1903, 1904, 1910 and 1920. He also was referee of the Troféu Interestadual of 1910, where Botafogo FC of Rio de Janeiro defeated AA das Palmeiras with 7–2 in the Velódromo of São Paulo.

On 22 October 1916, he officiated the State Championship between Santos FC and Ypiranga, which also was the opening match for the stadium of Santos, the Vila Belmiro. Santos won the match 2–1. Altogether, Friese arbitrated at least 53 State Championship matches.

These days, Friese is one of ten patrons of the Academia Paulista de Árbitros de Futebol "Charles Miller," an honour he shares with World Cup referees like José Roberto Wright, Armando Marques, Arnaldo Cézar Coelho and Romualdo Arppi Filho, amongst others.

Still in Europe he was a formidable track and field athlete, winning the German championship over 1500 metres of 1902. In May 1907 he was the sole representative of Brazil in an international competition in Uruguay and in one evening won the 1500 and 800-metre competitions and finishing second over 400 metres.