The summer tour of 1953 saw England venture to far off lands of South America but in their first match they experienced a monsoon! Torrential rain forced the referee to end proceedings in the 25th minute after the pitch became unplayable.

The England officials tried desperately to rearrange the game, asking if they could replay it in the next three days. Unfortunately, their Argentine counterparts would not agree, stating that the pitch 'would not be ready for at least five days'. So, England moved on to Chile.

For two England debutants, Tommy Taylor and Johnny Berry, it had certainly been a memorable first game but, for all the wrong reasons!
  

The soccer match between England and Argentina was abandoned after 22 minutes here today with the score 0—0. A heavy thunderstorm had flooded the pitch.

Officials are hoping to arrange a replay within two or three days, but I hope they will decide against it. Another match would be loaded with dynamite from the little we saw today.
Some of the Argentinian tackling was desperate in their determination to win, and England's players were indignant. Nat Lofthouse and Ivor Broadis, the England forwards, were punched and penalty-kicks might have been given when Tommy Taylor and Lofthouse were brought down. Our players had as much chance of showing ability as the police had of finding a bomb when they searched my typewriter on entering the ground.

The referee, Mr. Arthur Ellis, of Halifax, started the game before 80,000 people. Then down came the rain, driving president Peron from the presidential box near the touchline to a small enclosure at the back of the stand.
Mr. Ellis called the players off and abandoned the match.
  

The pitch became waterlogged following a cloudburst and British referee Arthur Ellis, up to his ankles in water, had no alternative but to abandon the game. Three days earlier an Argentinean XI had beaten an FA XI 3-1 in an unofficial international watched by a crowd of 120,000 including Juan Peron and his wife, Eva. The selectors had to wait to see if the new left wing partnership of Manchester United team-mates Tommy Taylor and Johnny Berry would work at international level. Referee Arthur Ellis, later to make a name for himself in television's 'It's A Knockout', was quite a joker. As he signalled for the teams to return to the dressing-rooms, he said to Billy Wright, "If we stay out any longer we'll need lifeboats!" The pitch just disappeared under a lake of water, and England's kit was so wet that the players needed help from the training staff to strip off.
   

THE SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR.
For the exacting tour of South America the 11 that drew with Scotland were augmented by Ditchburn, Garrett, Johnston, Barlow, Bentley, Berry and Taylor. Smith later withdrew because of injury and was replaced by Eckersley, and after his brilliant display in the Cup-Final, Matthews was also asked to join the party but had to refuse through unfitness.
  
Unfortunately a heavy thunderstorm broke over the 100,000 spectators 90 minutes before the start of the match. The pitch was waterlogged, and dribbling and accurate passing became impossible. And when referee Arthur Ellis abandoned the match the breeze was noticeably rippling the surface of the water.
Although, as would be expected, the England players had the best of it, the fantastic conditions produced too much tension for a satisfactory football match.