"HUNGARIAN SEASON HALTED FOR ENGLAND GAME.
"All league and championship football will be halted temporarily in Hungary from May 9th to give the Hungarian players, who meet England in Budapest on May 23rd, a spell of uninterrupted training. This was announced yesterday by the Hungarian Deputy Minister of Sports, Gustav Sebes, according to Budapest Radio." - Thursday, 22 April 1954, The Lancashire Evening Post.

Six months earlier at Wembley, England were given a football lesson by the magnificent Hungarian side. It was the first time they had been beaten on home soil by a continental team and it was hoped that many lessons would be learned from the experience. Sadly, on this performance against that same Hungarian side, few would believe that they have learned any.
 
England were once again totally outclassed. Hungary simply tore them apart with some devastating football and scored virtually at will. The old fashioned tactics that England employed were shown up to be woefully inadequate by the slick pattern  of the Hungarian formation. Quick, accurate short passing was coupled with lethal long passes which totally bemused overworked defenders. One of the most obvious differences between the two sides was in the teamwork. Whereas England played as a group of individuals doing their own jobs the Hungarians moved as one unit with Puskás, especially, pulling the strings.

The trouble began in the tenth minute when Jimmy Dickinson was somewhat harshly penalised for a foul on Hidegkuti 20 yards from goal. Puskás summoned up the powerful Lantos from the back to take the free-kick and before you could say 'Hidegkuti' the ball crashed into the England net. It was the beginning of the end for the visitors and 12 minutes later they went 2-0 down when Puskás lashed home a rebound from close range after Ron Staniforth had blocked a sharp cross by Kocsis.

The lean and skilful inside-right Kocsis was having a fine game and on the half-hour he scored a brilliant goal volleying home a pass from Puskás. Kocsis had just come back on to the field after having running repairs to an injury. How England had wished he had stayed off!

For the remainder of the half Hungary turned on the full exhibition of their skills and it was a bemused and bedraggled bunch of England players that trooped off at half-time 3-0 down. Only a good shot by Ivor Broadis which brought the best out of Grosics had given them any encouragement.

At the start of the second half England made a brief spirited reply when Peter Harris saw a shot blocked on the Hungarian goal-line but alas it was only a token gesture as within 20 minutes of the restart Hungary had conjured up some more magic to score three more goals. Kocsis, Toth and the incomparable Hidegkuti all added to the goal tally with splendid strikes rounding off marvellous passing movements. Gil Merrick hardly knew what had hit him and he had little chance.

The 92,000 crowd loved every minute of this superb performance and watched in delight as each of the goals were created following some super play.

England battled gamely on. Billy Wright, Dickinson and Staniforth all worked themselves into the ground but Roger Byrne was their best player with a cultured display despite all that went on around him. Jackie Sewell and Tom Finney also worked hard although Finney in fact missed a sitter in one attack. In the end, though, the England players were willing the referee to end their misery. Before the final whistle though they did manage to salvage some pride when Broadis met a Dickinson free-kick to pull a goal back. Hungary were not amused by this and immediately struck again with goal number seven.

This time, appropriately perhaps, it was Puskás who advanced on to a defence splitting pass by Hidegkuti to fire home the last humiliating nail into the England coffin. In the remaining minutes Hungary totally dominated and even a substitution of Grosics in goal had little effect on an England display which is best forgotten. Unfortunately, the fact that this ranks as England's biggest-ever defeat will probably mean that it will never be forgotten.
    

This was the biggest defeat in England's 90-year football history (and continues to be so to this day). Just four of the England team had survived from the 6-3 slaughter at Wembley in November: Merrick, Wright, Dickinson and Finney. Fulham centre-forward Bedford Jezzard made a best-forgotten debut, while the unfortunate Peter Harris was winning his second and last cap after a gap of five years. His first cap came in the 2-0 home defeat by the Republic of Ireland in 1949. Puskas and Kocsis scored two goals each. The Hungarians, leading 3-0 at half-time, were six goals clear and cantering before Ivor Broadis opened the scoring for England. Hungary immediately replied with their seventh goal, scored by Puskas from a pass by Hidegkuti. Hungary's scorers were Puskas (2), Kocsis (2), Lantos, Toth and Hidegkuti. Billy Wright came off with his face as white as his shirt, and looking like a man who had seen a ghost come back to haunt him. As hard as this giant-hearted man tried, he could not get near to suppressing the irrepressible Puskas.
  

Several changes were made before the return match in Budapest, Harris and Jezzard being incorporated into the forward line for the first time. The only change in the Hungarian's Wembley team was that Toth replaced Budai on the right wing. Assessment of a teams ability is always a relative matter and it is not making excuses to say that England might have made a better showing in different company; as it was, they were dwarfed at the side of a team staffed by at least five geniuses and in which the rest were all first class. The Hungarian prowess was if anything greater than that shown at Wembley; they played football of a supreme order.
The first goal which came in the 10th minute, seemed to discourage England from the start: Dickinson was penalised 4 yards outside the area, yet Lantos's free-kick somehow passed through the line-up and beat Merrick. The Hungarians then went after the ball with incredible zest: goals came from Puskas and Kocsis to make the score 3-0 at the interval.
After the change of ends England at first rallied, but then came another spell of Hungarian exuberance: between the 12th and 17th minute Merrick was beaten by shots from Kocsis, Toth, and Hidegkuti, the entire forward line participating in the movements that led to the goals. England's only goal came from Broadis following a free-kick taken by Dickinson, but this was very soon matched by a further goal by Puskas. And so to the sounds of ra-ra-hajra - the Hungarian equivalent of hip-hip-hurrah - the match ended with the score at 7-1.