All information is
complete to and including England's last match, the fourth of the 1938-39 season,
against Scotland on 15 April 1939.
Diary
Thursday, 3
November 1938
- England and Italy are to play an international match at Milan.
Arrangements for staging the match have already been agreed upon by the British
and Italian Football Associations, it was unofficially announced.
Monday, 9 January 1939
- Providing satisfactory arrangements can be made, the following
tour in May next will be undertaken by the Football Association:-
against Italy in Milan, Saturday, 13 May. Against Yugoslavia in
Belgrade, Thursday, 18 May, or Saturday, 20 May. And against Rumania
in Bucharest, Wednesday, 24 May. These decisions were arrived at by
the International Selection Committee of the Association at their
meeting in London today.
Friday, 24
March 1939
- On the eve of the FA Cup semi-final, Major Frank Buckley, manager
of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, received notice that four of his team
have been chosen to play Italy during the close season. Right-back
Bill Morris, right-half Tom Galley, centre-half Stan Cullis and
outside-left Teddy Maguire, have all been chosen. Although Maguire has
not been chosen before.
Friday, 28
March 1939
- Vic Woodley, the Chelsea goalkeeper, Eddie Hapgood, the Arsenal left back
and Willie Hall, the Tottenham Hotspur inside-forward, have all been
selected by the Football Association to play for England at the end of
the season, they are added to the list already headed by the four
Wolverhampton players.
Thursday, 6 April 1939
- The Party has been chosen by the Football Association to make the
close season Continental tour next month. The party will leave London
on Tuesday, 9 May. In some respects, the selectors have sprung
surprises for the side already picked to meet Scotland on Saturday
week, Joe Mercer, Len Goulden and Eric Brook are omitted. The case of
Brook is explained by his name appearing among those going to South
Africa, but Goulden and Mercer have both been dropped. Teddy Maguire
is the only new cap. There has been a dearth of class left
wingers this season, but Maguire, who recently moved to that position
from the right has served Wolves well. The Meadowfield-born player has
had only three years in League Football.
Friday, 28
April 1939
- The Football Association announced yesterday that Dr Peco J.
Bauwens will referee the England v. Italy match at Milan. George
Capdeville will be in charge of the match against Yugoslavia at
Belgrade, and John Langenus for the match against Rumania at
Bucharest.
Len Goulden, the West Ham forward who played a big part
in England's recent victory over Scotland has been added to the list
of players to tour the Continent.
Tuesday, 2 May 1939
- Elaborate preparations are being made for the England v. Italy
match, being played in Milan. The San Siro Stadium is now ready to
accommodate 120,000 spectators, after two months work. The Italian
team will be practically the same as that which played for the world
championship in Paris last year. Signor Giuseppe Meazza, the captain,
and fifteen of Italy's best players, have gone into training at Roveta,
near Florence. The best eleven among them will be chosen to play
against England.
Wednesday, 3 May 1939
- The F.A. announce that Teddy Maguire has withdrawn from the Party because of
injury, with no
replacement named.
Friday, 5 May 1939
- As Tom Galley, the Wolverhampton Wanderers' half-back, has not
re-signed for his club, he is compelled to stand down from the England
team. Charlton Athletic's Don Welsh takes his place. Leslie Smith, the
Brentford outside-left, replaces Teddy Maguire.
Monday, 8 May 1939
- The England team of footballers who left London today for their
Continental tour all regard the match against Italy as the most
important. Hapgood, the Arsenal full-back, who is likely to be
appointed captain, said: "We are out to win-but not at all costs. We
know the game will be a good one, and we are naturally hopeful of
success".
Mr. Stanley Rous, the F.A. secretary, who is traveling
with the party said: "We want to show the peoples of both countries
that an international football match can be a friendly game without
any unseemly incidents."
Whether the England footballers win, lose
or draw their three games they will receive £8 per game. They
are allowed 10s. per day out-of-pocket expenses during the trip.
Wednesday, 10 May 1939
- Tom Galley has re-signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, but still
misses out on his place on the tour. In the meantime, Joe Mercer and
George Male have been added to the Party, and Eric Stephenson has
dropped out.
Thursday, 11 May 1939
- The Huddersfield Town goalkeeper, Billy Hesford, has been asked by
the F.A. to stand by ready to make a dash to the Continent should
Woodley, of Chelsea, be injured. Woodley is the only goalkeeper in the
party.
At the request of the English Football Association the
Italian Federation has agreed to waive the continental rule that
goalkeepers must not be charged or tackled. This rule is one of the
chief differences between the game played in Great Britain and on the
Continent.
Tommy Lawton, centre forward in all three matches, later
described the doubts surrounding the tour in his biography, My Twenty Years
of Soccer, p. 61 (1955) :
At that time, of course, the international situation was
extremely precarious, and it was doubtful whether the Foreign Office would
allow us to make the trip because of the possibility of an incident on the
football field lighting the spark that would blow up the whole world.
But the politicians decided that we could go, and we left
for the Continent by way of the short Dover to Calais sea crossing. It
was a long train journey across Europe, but it was a happy journey. It
was a case of flower wherever we went, and the welcome given us by the
Italians (our first port of call was Italy) was of the type usually reserved
for film stars.