Wolstenholme and Woodward. Prisoner in Germany After retiring as a player Bloomer went to Germany in July 1914 to coach Britannia Berlin 92. However within three weeks of arriving the First World War broke out. When Germany declared war on Russia, his contract was cancelled at once, and Herr Fauber, President of Britannia Berlin 92 advised Bloomer to get out of Germany as soon as possible but he could not get out of the country. Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914. On 5 August 1914, Steve Bloomer, anxious to leave Germany, went to the British Consul office in Berlin. He was stopped by two gendarmes who questioned him, and his translator. Along with about a dozen others, he was marched through the streets of Berlin for about a quarter of a mile to the Alexander Platz, accompanied by a guard with revolvers and swords. At the Alexander Platz he was questioned by magistrates with others, and arrested. Bloomer was given a slip of paper with his name and description, and told to report to the police at periodic intervals. On 6 November 1914, he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in the Spandau district of Berlin. According to the Derby Daily Telegraph, which relayed details in a letter written from Bloomer to his wife, he was arrested as a prisoner of war on 5 November 1914, although another source gives the date of his arrest as 6 November 1914. Bloomer was one of several former professional footballers among the detainees. Others included his former England colleague Sam Wolstenholme; his former Middlesbrough teammate Fred Pentland; a Scotland international, John Cameron; John Brearley, once of Everton and Tottenham Hotspur; and a German international, Edwin Dutton, who had previously played for Britannia Berlin 92. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. The Ruhleben Football Association was formed and cup and league competitions were organised with as many as 1,000 attending the bigger games. The teams adopted the names of established teams and in November 1914, Bloomer captained a Tottenham Hotspur XI, that also included Dutton, to victory in a cup final against an Oldham Athletic XI. On 2 May 1915, an England XI featuring Pentland, Wolstenholme, Brearley and Bloomer played a World XI captained by Cameron. Bloomer also played cricket at the camp and in May 1915