Bournabat Football Club

Bournabat Football and Rugby Club (Αθλητικός Όμιλος Μπουρνόβα) was a sports club of Bornova, Smyrna (present-day İzmir), Ottoman Empire. Bournabat FC was consisted of Levantine players and is considered as the first football club ever in Turkey. The club's colours were red and black. It was dissolved after the Burning of Smyrna in 1922 as most of the Levantines fled the country.

First years
Bournabat Football and Rugby Club was founded in Bornova, an upscale suburb of Smyrna, inhabited mainly by Greeks and Levantines, in late 1880s. The club's players also competed in other sports as every year at St George celebrations at the Bornova Stadium, such as a competition called the Panionian Games organized by Panionios F.C.. The club co-existed in Bornova with other sports clubs, the Bournabat Junior Athletical Association (B.J.A.A.), consisiting of young athletes, and Athletic Union of Bornova, at the time.

The first recorded match in the Smyrna area was between Bournabat and Smyrna FC in 1894 at the Bornova meadow. Bournabat FC was the strongest team in Smyrna in the 1890s. This team consisted of English and French players with the Greek language used as means of communication: MJ Whithall, Ed. Charnaud, Percy Joly, Jim. R. Giraud, Pelcoc Whithall, AJ Whithall, Herbert Joly, AE La Fontaine, Edmund Giraud, Jim Gout, Hav. Joly, Th. Tarrazzi, Herbert Whithall, D. Whithall, Eddie Whithall, G. Whithall, J. Whithall.

In 1889 Bournabat played against Constantinople FC and there is a report from that historical match, according to historian Mehmet Yüce from 2012:

The squads were: Bournabat Football Club: Walter E. Lawson, Charles Wilkinson, Edgar Giraud, Harry Giraud, Charles Giraud, J. Wilkinson, Richard Whittall Junior, Horald Lawson, Reginald Lawson, Louis Senn, Francis Barker, F. Le Bailly, James Joly, Godfrey Barker, Robert Wakeford. Constantinople Football Club: Biliniski (defenders) – Ernest Thomson, Edwin Whittall, Frank Barker (midfielders) – Willie Whitall and Mountain (defensive midfielders) – J. Thomson, Fitzmaurice, Osman, Hampson, John Thomson, Reggie Whitall, H. Barker, B. Bond and Sellar (forwards).

1906 Olympics squad
In 1906 the club won the Olympic tournament of Smyrna against Apollon Smyrnis and Panionios and its players represented the city in the 1906 Olympics in Athens. Bournabat FC had five members of the Whittall family that won the 1906 Olympic football silver medal. Herbert Whittall, his cousins Albert, Edward, Godfrey and Donald Whittall, along with two other cousins, Jacques and Edmund Giraud and Percy la Fontiane made up the majority of the Smyrna team. Hebert Octavius was at one time the ‘manager’ of the Rugby & Football team in its early days.

The club's squad reperesented Smyrna XI in the 1906 Olympics in Athens.

Later years
In 1907 and 1908 two more clubs were founded in Bornova, Ermis and Thiseas, both of Greek background, but none was as dominant as Bournabat FC. The club was one of the most powerful in Smyrna during the 1910s competing with Greek and Armenian teams. No team from the area of Smyrna had ever beat the club until 1914, when it lost to Turkish club Altay S.K. by 3–1 in a friendly. Following the next years until 1922, the club changed its name to Barbarian and competed in the Smyrna football league sanctioned by the Hellenic Athletics Federation.

All of the club's players, as most of the Levantine clubs had a Greek NOC for travel purposes.

Smyrna XI Matches
Smyrna XI consisted of players from the Smyrna area (Apollon Smyrnis, Panionios, Maccabi etc.) playing friendlies in Greece and Constantinople and representing th city in the Olympics. Most of the Smyrna XI players who played friendlies in Constantinople were from Bournabat FC. The emblem of the Smyrna XI was a Cross pattée to show the dominance of Christianity in the city.





Notable players

 * Percy La Fontaine
 * Edward Whittall
 * Albert Whittall
 * Edwin Charnaud
 * Donald Whittall
 * Herbert Whittall
 * 🇫🇷 Jim Giraud
 * 🇫🇷 Edmund Giraud
 * 🇬🇷 Mamakos (defender)

Notable managers

 * Herbert Octavius Whittall (b.1858 - died 1929)

Honours

 * Olympic tournament of Smyrna:
 * Winners: 1906
 * Bornova tournament:
 * Winners: 1894, 1897