The King and Queen of Denmark and our own Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were amongst the spectators to see England surprisingly held by the amateurs of Denmark.

On a rain-soaked ground, a much-changed England side featured in its first goalless draw since the war. There was no doubt that they were the better side but on the day they were woefully weak up front.

Although the sun was shining at the start, the pitch was sodden after heavy rain and water lay on at least one part of the playing area.

England should have scored after only two minutes but Len Shackleton with only the goalkeeper to beat, dallied too long and the defenders were able to clear. Nielson then did well to save a stinging shot from Tommy Lawton six minutes later but had no chance when the same player crashed the ball past him on 20 minutes. Fortunately for Denmark, the goal was disallowed for an earlier infringement by Shackleton. At the time, all the crowd seemed convinced that it was a wrong decision by the referee.

Denmark were defending stubbornly and the occasional break they made was dangerous. Indeed, only a fine save by Frank Swift stopped the embarrassment of I. Jensen scoring. England had the better of the first half, but sadly had left their shooting boots at home.

Denmark twice went close early in the second half when first K. Hansen headed over and then Ploeger's cross-cum-shot hit the top of the England crossbar. However, England continued to have most of the possession but they were badly missing the power of Stan Mortensen and Tom Finney in front of goal.

In the end, Denmark's crowd was absolutely delighted with the result and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of entertaining the mighty England team.
  

English hearts stopped two minutes from the end when Danish right winger Johan Ploeger fired in a shot that went through the legs of Frank Swift and into the net, but the linesman's flag was up for off-side. England's forwards were unable to make an impact against a packed Danish defence on a heavy, rain-saturated pitch. The Danes were amateurs who two months earlier had finished third in the Olympics. This was their first ever match against professional opponents. John Aston, Jimmy Hagan and Len Shackleton made their international debuts in a game that brought crushing criticism for England's shot-shy performance. It marked  the end of Tommy Lawton's England career after 22 games and 23 goals, not counting his 25 goals in wartime internationals. He was convinced he had scored another goal against the Danes, but the referee disallowed it because of a foul by Len Shackleton. For once, the Clown Prince had nothing to laugh about. Shack made his debut wearing a pair of rugby boots. "They're more comfortable," he explained, "and they give better grip in muddy conditions." That certainly seemed the case when in the fifth minute he waltzed round the Danish goalkeeper and side-footed the ball towards goal. Shack turned ready to receive the congratulations of his team-mates, not realising that the ball had stuck in a mound of mud on the goal-line. Of all the players around in the immediate post-war years, Shack was the player with the most footballing tricks in his locker. There were often times when not only his opponents but even his own team-mates, and even perhaps Shack himself, did not know what he was going to do next.
  

The International season opened with a surprise and a disappointment on September 26th 1948 when England were held to a goal-less draw by Denmark at Idroets Park, Copenhagen. In the first quarter of an hour, England did most of the attacking but their finishing was weak. Ten minutes before the interval Denmark all but scored when Swift had to dive full length to turn a terrific shot from Jensen at 40 yards range.
Denmark began the second half with a vigorous attack, but the English defence stood firm. Seven minutes from the end came the best English movement of the match when Matthews received a short pass from Wright, beat two men and passed to Shackleton who headed the ball to Hagan. Unfortunately, Hagan shot over the bar.
   

Domestic Football Results (25 September 1948) All twelve England players on duty were absent from their club's league fixture on the previous day.
The Football League Division One:   Arsenal 3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Arsenal were without Lawrie Scott Wolves were without Billy Wright   Birmingham City 2 Stoke City 1 Stoke were without Neil Franklin   Blackpool 1 Liverpool 0 Blackpool were without Stan Matthews   Everton 4 Preston North End 1 Preston were without Bobby Langton		Huddersfield Town 2 Sunderland 0 Sunderland were without Len Shackleton   Manchester United 3 Aston Villa 1 United were without John Aston & Henry Cockburn   Newcastle United 0 Manchester City 0 United were without Jackie Milburn City were without Frank Swift   Portsmouth 3 Sheffield United 0 United were without Jimmy Hagan
The Football League Division Three South:   Notts County 5 Crystal Palace 1 County were without Tommy Lawton