Notes

"An opinion being expressed more and more in football circles here is that the time has come to suspend-or even abolish-the home international football tournament among England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The English point of view is that since the War Ireland and Wales have not been good enough opposition for England, and that the tournament distracts English attention from foreign countries, who are more worthy adversaries, and are of greater importance from the prestige point of view. "In order to avoid eliminating the matches altogether it is suggested that by changing them to friendlies the selectors would have to make experiments or even to field a "B" team. Thereby they would have fewer calls on star players, and could reduce to a minimum the complaints that are frequently voiced by clubs to-day that the international programme is making too big a drain on their resources. "A typical English fan yesterday told me that in his opinion Ireland and Wales, despite a few outstanding players (in Ireland's case Doherty and Vernon), were little better than good second division sides. The Scots, he said, remained as effective opponents, and in place of the international tournament he suggested that a trophy should be put up for the England-Scotland games, along the lines of the Calcutta Cup for Rugby" - Fleet Street, Sunday Night, The Northern Whig and Belfast Post, Monday, 9 October 1950.

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CG