"STAN SETS BRUSSELS TALKING" Nottingham Journal

Most of Belgium's political VIPs were amongst the spectators in the Heysel Stadium to witness a fine performance by an England side inspired by the magic of Stanley Matthews.
 
Rain threatened at the start but it took England only one minute to take the lead. A lovely move, in which all the forwards featured, ended with Tommy Lawton scoring from Matthews' pass.
 
By now the rain was lashing down but more delightful play soon gave England their second goal. Again Matthews was involved. His cross was headed down into some space by Lawton and Stan Mortensen burst through to beat Daenen with a good shot.

That goal had come after 15 minutes and. almost at once, Matthews set up another goal. This time his cross to the far post was met by Tom Finney, who made it 3-0.

Belgium hit back before half-time when Mermans put in a fine header that was well saved by Frank Swift. The inside-right was not to be denied though and shortly afterwards he took a pass from De Cleyn and shot home via a deflection off George Hardwick's legs. The goal ended an eventful first 45 minutes.

After the berak the rain stopped and the sun came out. It spurred Belgium on and ten minutes into the second half, they really opened up the game with a second goal. Swift was drawn badly out of position and Lemberecht was able to head into an empty net.

The Belgians then threw everything at England trying desperately to find an equaliser. But Matthews had other ideas. A superb dribble, in which he beat man after man, ended with him setting up Finney with the easiest of chances for the goal that settled the issue.

Before the end, England underlined their superiority with a fifth goal. The incredible Matthews again made the running before Lawton headed past the goalkeeper.
  

Many observers considered this the finest match Stanley Matthews ever played for England. The "Wizard of Dribble" laid on all five goals and at the final whistle got a standing ovation from the Belgian crowd. Stanley started the slaughter after just 35 seconds when he crossed for Tommy Lawton to score with one of his typical headers.  It was raining cats and dogs and goals as England raced 3-0 clear before the Belgians pulled one back just before half-time. Belgium began to get a grip on the game as the sun came out in the second-half, and they made it 3-2 before Matthews took over again, laying on decisive goals for first Tom Finney and - finishing as he had started - crossing the ball for Lawton to head his second goal and England's fifth. Derby County right-half Tim Ward made his debut, with Billy playing in the number six shirt. The game was played at the Heysel Stadium, the scene of the tragic crowd disaster during the 1985 European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus. The ground had been used as a park for German tanks during the war and the pitch had been re-laid. It started to cut up in the downpour. The Belgian defenders were slipping and sliding all over the place as Stanley ran rings round them. It was an astonishing performance by the Maestro. Five Belgians tried to get the ball off him when he set up the fourth goal. He beat each one of them, then dribbled round another for a second time before passing to Tom Finney, who had the simple task of placing the ball into the net for his second goal that had Matthews written all over it. Even by Stanley's standards, this was something very special.
 

The International season opened with a victory at the Heysel Stadium at Brussels, September 21, 1947, over Belgium by five goals to two. In this match, as in so many others, Stanley Matthews at outside-right proved himself the player of the year; though he scored none of them, he 'made' all England's goals. In pouring rain England started with a perfect forward movement from the kick-off and scored within the first minute of the game. Lawton kicked the goal from a splendid pass from Matthews. A quarter of an hour later Matthews performed one of his famous runs and centred to Lawton who headed to Mortensen for the last-named to score. Very shortly afterwards Matthews placed a free kick in a perfect position for Finney to score again. A quarter of an hour from half-time Mermans, the Belgian inside-right, scored from a pass from is centre-forward, the ball being deflected into the net by Hardwick's legs.
 
In the second half the weather and the Belgian team both improved, and the next goal went to Belgium in ten minutes, being scored with a header by Lemberecht. At 3—2 the game became livelier but, in spite of Belgium's great efforts to level the score, Matthews soon made another of his dribbling runs, beating player after player down the field and giving Finney another easy chance to score the fourth goal. The last goal was scored with Lawton's head, after still another magnificent run by Matthews.

All twelve England players on duty were absent from their club's first-division fixture on the previous day:

Arsenal 3 Stoke City 0 - Arsenal without Lawrie Scott, Stoke without Neil Franklin.

Blackpool 0 Sunderland 1 - Blackpool without Matthews and Mortensen, Sunderland without Willie Watson.

Chelsea 3 Everton 1 - Chelsea without Tommy Lawton.

Derby County 1 Aston Villa 3 - Derby without Tim Ward.

Huddersfield Town 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 - Wolves without Billy Wright.

Manchester City 0 Manchester United 0 - City without Frank Swift.

Middlesbrough 1 Portsmouth 2 - Middlesbrough without Hardwick and Mannion.

Sheffield United 3 Preston North End 1 - Preston without Tom Finney.

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 22 September 1947 that the Post Office issued details of how they would provide relief on tobacco duty for pensioners who were habitual smokers or snuff takers. Tokens would be accepted as part-payments by tobacconists. It was in response to an increase in the tax of 43%. 1.4 million pensioners received the tokens, rising to 2.6 million when it was repealed, ten years later.