England Match No. 212 - Ireland - 23 October 1937

England Football Online
	Page Last Updated 12 March 2022	*Éireann*

211 vs. Finland 212 213 vs. Wales	Saturday, 23 October 1937 Home International Championship 1937-38 (50th) Match Ireland 1 England 5 [0-2]		Match Summary Ireland Party England Party
		Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast, county Antrim Attendance: 36,000; Kick-off: tbc GMT
		England - George Mills (allowed to go on from an offside position to score 10, a well-placed low drive from a Crayston pass 20, rebound after Goulden's shot had hit the post 55), Willie Hall (close-range shot from a Brook pass 58), Eric Brook (from a pass by Mills 75). Ireland - Alex Stevenson (89).
Results 1930-39		? won the toss, ? kicked-off.

Match Summary

Officials	Ireland	Type	England
Referee - Willie Webb Scotland Linesmen - not known The international match fee for each player is now £8.		Goal Attempts
		Attempts on Target
		Hit Bar/Post
		Corner Kicks Won
		Offside Calls Against
		Fouls Conceded
		Possession

Ireland Team

Rank:	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 34th to 35th	Colours:		Green jerseys with white white winged collars, white shorts.
Capt:	x	Selectors:		Team Selection by Committee, on Monday, 18 October 1937;
Ireland Lineup
	Breen, Thomas	25	15 June 1912	G	Manchester United FC, England	6	20 GA
2	Hayes, William E.	21	7 November 1915	RB	Huddersfield Town AFC, England	1	0
3	Cook, William	28	20 January 1909	LB	Everton FC, England	10	0
4	Mitchell, William	26	22 November 1910	RH	Chelsea FC, England	14	0
5	Jones, John	30	3 April 1907	CH	Glenavon FC	23	0
6	Browne, Robert J.	25	9 February 1912	LH	Leeds United AFC, England	3	0
7	Kernaghan, Norman	20	29 July 1917	OR	Belfast Celtic FC	3	2
8	Stevenson, Alexander E.	25	9 August 1912	IR	Everton FC, England	10	4
9	Martin, David K.	23	1 February 1914	CF	Nottingham Forest FC, England	8	3
10	Doherty, Peter D.	24	5 June 1913	IL	Manchester City FC, England	7	0
11	Madden, Owen	20	5 December 1916	OL	Norwich City FC, England	1	0
reserves:		reserves not known

2-3-5		Breen - Hayes, Cook - Mitchell, Jones, Browne - Kernaghan, Stevenson, Martin, Doherty, Madden
Averages:		Age	24.3	Appearances/Goals		7.8	0.7

England Team

Rank:	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 5th to 4th	Colours:		The 1935 home uniform - White collared jerseys, navy blue shorts, black socks topped with two white hoops
Capt:	Sam Barkas, first captaincy, replacing Alf Young	Selectors: In charge: W.C. Cuff		The fourteen-man FA International Selection Committee, following the trial match, on Wednesday, 13 October 1937. 179th match, W 114 - D 30 - L 35 - F 537 - A 203.
England Lineup
	Woodley, Victor R.	27	26 February 1910	G	Chelsea FC	5	4 GA
2	Sproston, Bert	22	22 June 1915	RB	Leeds United AFC	2	0
3	Barkas, Samuel	27	29 December 1909	LB	Manchester City FC	3	0
4	Crayston, W. John	27	9 October 1910	RH	Arsenal FC	6	0
5	Cullis, Stanley	20	25 October 1916	CH	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	1	0
6	Copping, Wilfred	30	17 August 1907	LH	Arsenal FC	14	0
7	Geldard, Albert	23	11 April 1914	OR	Everton FC	4	0
8	Hall, G. William	25	12 March 1912	IR	Tottenham Hotspur FC	2	1
9	Mills, George R.	28	29 December 1908	CF	Chelsea FC	1	3
10	Goulden, Leonard A.	25	9 July 1912	IL	West Ham United FC	3	1
11	Brook, Eric F.	29	27 November 1907	OL	Manchester City FC	17	10
reserves:		Bill Scott (Brentford FC) and originally Stan Cullis (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), replaced by Leicester City FC's Septimus Smith
team notes:		Reserve Stan Cullis earned his debut after original centre-half and captain, Huddersfield Town AFC's Alf Young, dropped out because of an ankle injury. Sam Barkas was appointed as the replacement captain on 22 October. George Mills is the first player to score a hat-trick on his debut since Jimmy Settle did so in February 1899.

2-3-5		Woodley - Sproston, Barkas - Crayston, Young, Copping - Geldard, Hall, Mills, Goulden, Brook.
Averages:		Age	25.7	Appearances/Goals		5.3	0.9

Match Report

England were generally expected to beat Ireland in the opening match of the international tournament at Windsor Park, Belfast, on Saturday, and they did so by five goals to one. Ireland were outclassed in every department of the game, and at no time looked like challenging England's supremacy...

Mills nearly scored in the opening minutes with a shot that Breen saved magnificently, but he was luckier when in the 10th minute he was allowed to go on from what seemed an off-side position to score for England. Crayston then gave a good pass to Mills who, passing Jones, shot a second goal with a well-placed drive...

...However, a third goal to England soon came, Mills scoring after Goulden had hit the upright with a hard drive. A fourth goal followed quickly. Mills passed to Goulden, the ball went from him to Copping, and then to Brook, who returned it for Hall to beat Breen from close range...

...But he could not prevent England adding a fifth goal, scored by Brook from a pass by Mills. Just before the end Stevenson scored for Ireland. - The Times - Monday 25th October, 1937

PLAYERS TO BE NUMBERED AT BELFAST INTERNATIONAL

   The Council of the English Football Association, at their meeting in London yesterday [4 October 1937], embarked upon a new departure when they agreed that teams in the Ireland v. England international match at Belfast on October 23 should be numbered.
   Mr R. Graham, secretary of the S.F.A., when asked last night regarding the Scottish position on the numbering of international players, expressed the opinion that the S.F.A. would not consider the matter unless they were approached by some of the other national bodies.

   The decision to number the England team suggests a change of policy.
   The "Mail" understands that it is almost certain that all England teams in future will be numbered providing their opponents agree.
   Mr W. Pickford, in an exclusive interview after the Council meeting, said:- "This is the first time an England international team has been numbered and I personally am in favour of the numbering of players in all matches. Of course, I cannot speak for the Council, but I am sure that many of the members see eye to eye with me. In a 70,000 crowd, I am certain that there are hundreds of people who like the guidance of numbers in helping to identify players." - 5 October 1937

Although Stanley Rous, in May of this year, stated that the touring members of the England party would be numbered, we believe the final sentence of the Ireland match report sums up the anomaly.... "For the first time in international matches between home countries the teams of both sides were numbered." - 24 October 1937

Football League

Football League Division One
23 October 1937

Team P Pts

Chelsea 12 17

Wolverhampton Wanderers 12 16

Brentford 13 16

Charlton Athletic 12 15

Sunderland 12 15

Arsenal 12 14

Preston North End 12 14

Leeds United 12 14

Stoke City 12 13

Bolton Wanderers 12 13

West Bromwich Albion 12 13

Middlesbrough 12 12

Manchester City 12 12

Birmingham 12 11

Huddersfield Town 12 11

Leicester City 12 11

Grimsby Town 12 10

Everton 12 9

Blackpool 13 9

Derby County 12 9

Liverpool 12 8

Portsmouth 12 4

Division One matches played on 23 October 1937:

BIRMINGHAM 1-0 DERBY COUNTY
Brunskill 20
23,992 (St Andrew's, Birmingham)

CHARLTON ATHLETIC 1-1 BOLTON WANDERERS
Tadman 15 (Goslin pen. 40)
24,000 (The Valley, London)

CHELSEA 2-1 BRENTFORD
Bambrick 7, Argue 30 (Smith 20)
56,810 (Stamford Bridge, London)

Chelsea were without Mills (who scored a hat-trick on his international debut) and Woodley (in goal), who were playing against Ireland in Belfast, and Mitchell, who was playing for Ireland, whilst Brentford were without Bill Scott, who was a reserve against Ireland.

GRIMSBY TOWN 2-1 EVERTON
Craven 25, Coulter 68 (Gillick 47)
10,308 (Blundell Park, Cleethorpes)

Everton were without Geldard, who was playing against Ireland in Belfast, Cook, who was playing for Ireland, and Stevenson, who scored Ireland's goal.

LEEDS UNITED 1-2 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Buckley 60 (Jones 14, 21)
13,304 (Elland Road, Leeds)

Leeds were without Sproston, who was playing against Ireland in Belfast, and Browne, who was playing for Ireland, whilst Wolves were without Stan Cullis, who was making his international debut, against Ireland.

LIVERPOOL 1-1 LEICESTER CITY
Hanson 25 (Stubbs 9)
18,841 (Anfield, Liverpool)

Leicester were without Sep Smith, who was a reserve against Ireland in Belfast.

MIDDLESBROUGH 4-0 MANCHESTER CITY
Cochrane 19, Higham 22, Fenton 53, 88
18,442 (Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough)

City were without Barkas (the captain) and Brook (who scored the fifth goal), who were playing against Ireland in Belfast, and Doherty, who was playing for Ireland.

PORTSMOUTH 1-2 BLACKPOOL
Beattie 37 (J.Blair 51, Hampson 88)
11,976 (Fratton Park, Portsmouth)

PRESTON NORTH END 1-1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
O'Donnell 37 (Barclay 32)
16,483 (Deepdale, Preston)

Huddersfield were without Bill Hayes, who was making his international debut, for Ireland against England in Belfast.

STOKE CITY 1-1 ARSENAL
Liddle 77 (Davidson 40)
35,684 (Victoria Ground, Stoke)

Arsenal were without Copping and Crayston, who were playing against Ireland in Belfast.

WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1-6 SUNDERLAND
Wood pen. 82 (Carter 17, 49, 65, Gurney 27, Saunders 79, Spuhler 89)
27,705 (The Hawthorns, West Bromwich)

Chelsea took the leadership from their local rivals in the west-London derby, but Brentford were to regain the lead, a week later.

Football League Division Two
23 October 1937

Team P Pts

Coventry City 12 19

Sheffield United 13 18

Aston Villa 12 17

Chesterfield 12 16

West Ham United 12 15

Bradford 12 15

Norwich City 12 14

Burnley 13 14

Blackburn Rovers 12 13

Manchester United 12 12

Tottenham Hotspur 12 12

Swansea Town 12 12

Stockport County 12 12

Nottingham Forest 12 11

Southampton 12 11

Barnsley 12 10

Bury 12 10

Newcastle United 12 8

Luton Town 12 8

Fulham 12 7

Sheffield Wednesday 12 7

Plymouth Argyle 12 5

Division Two matches played on 23 October 1937:

BARNSLEY 0-2 SOUTHAMPTON
(Osman 2)
8,041 (Oakwell, Barnsley)

BURNLEY 0-2 CHESTERFIELD
(Clifton 2)
9,329 (Turf Moor, Burnley)

BURY 0-0 SWANSEA TOWN
5,757 (Gigg Lane, Bury)

COVENTRY CITY 2-0 NORWICH CITY
Jones, Brown
23,584 (Highfield Road, Coventry)

Norwich were without Owen Madden, who was playng for Ireland against England in Belfast.

LUTON TOWN 2-2 WEST HAM UNITED
Vinall, Dawes (Small, King o.g.)
17,757 (Kenilworth Road, Luton)

West Ham were without Len Goulden, who was playing against Ireland in Belfast.

MANCHESTER UNITED 1-0 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Ferrier
16,379 (Old Trafford, Manchester)

United were without Tommy Breen, who was in goal for Ireland against England in Belfast.

NEWCASTLE UNITED 3-0 BRADFORD
Imrie, J.R.Richardson, Mooney
21,280 (St James' Park, Newcastle)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0-2 ASTON VILLA
(Broome, Houghton)
24,254 (City Ground, Nottingham)

Forest were without Davy Martin, who was playing for Ireland against England in Belfast.

SHEFFIELD UNITED 2-1 FULHAM
Dodds 2 (Woodward)
14,918 (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)

STOCKPORT COUNTY 0-1 BLACKBURN ROVERS
(Mortimer)
13,766 (Edgeley Park, Stockport)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3-2 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
Morrison, Jeffrey, Sargent (Morgan, Wright)
22,734 (White Hart Lane, London)

Tottenham were without Willie Hall, who scored the fourth goal against Ireland in Belfast.

Coventry made a tremendous start to the season and did not lose until their 16th game, but agonisingly missed out on promotion by a point.

Division Three on 23 October 1937:

The previous season's runners-up, Lincoln City led the northern section on goal average from Chester and Gateshead, after drawing at Chester, another club that had finished in the top four in each of the previous three seasons. This season was to be a disappointment for them both, as it also was for Gateshead. Notts County led the southern section by a point from Cardiff City and Queen's Park Rangers (each of whom had a game in hand) and Millwall, the eventual champions, who had been the first third-division club to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, six months earlier.

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 23 October 1937 that three men tragically died after they all fell into a well separately at Rushton, near Leek in Staffordshire. 53-year-old William Jackson and his 24-year-old son, Arthur, were sinking the well into a fifty-foot shaft when Arthur fell and died from head injuries. William climbed down the ladder to try to rescue him, but he was suddenly overcome by carbon dioxide fumes and also fell. It was only when the third man, a volunteer rescuer, Jim Cotterill, 21, fell from the ladder to his death that it was realised that there was a poisonous gas in the well.

Source Notes

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
Original Newspaper Reports
TheFA.com
Rothman's Yearbooks
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
Ancestry.com
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CG