"Football history was made at Wembley yesterday, not because England beat Spain with fair comfort but because the last 15 minutes were played by floodlight. This is the first occasion either in international or League football on which lights have been used to complete an afternoon game which otherwise would have been abandoned. It emphasises the difference in views between the Football Association and the Football League on the question of floodlighting, for the Football League have set their faces against games either being played wholly or completely under artificial light." - Eric Stanger, Thursday, 1 December 1955, Yorkshire Post & Leeds Mercury.
     

On a cold, morky November day, Wembley seems a million miles from the Spanish summer sunshine. Thus these two sides were meeting each other in far different circumstances to the match played in the sweltering heat of Madrid the previous May.

The scoreline does not reflect the pattern of play but it does emphasise that the team which takes its chances will win the day. Both sides produced some good football with Spain having a great deal of the possession. Unfortunately for them they lacked the ability to finish off the fine approach play.

England began at a brisk pace and after only seven minutes were awarded a penalty. A lovely through-ball by Johnny Haynes sent Tom Finney clear, but as the winger entered the penalty area he was fouled by a Spanish defender for an obvious spot-kick. The Preston player took the penalty himself but his kick was far too timid and Carmelo saved with ease. Luckily for England they did not have to wait too long for a goal to wipe out the memory of that penalty miss.

On 12 minutes, a splendid move involving Ronnie Clayton, Haynes, Nat Lofthouse and Finney ended with John Atyeo taking Bill Perry's touched pass to shoot home. Sixty seconds later, England scored again. This time the goal owed much to the long pass which was to dominate their style on the day. Haynes was the architect again, sending Atyeo away. Atyeo moved the ball on to Lofthouse who then found Bill Perry who scored with a good shot following a 30-yard run. Before half-time Perry hit the Spanish post with another good effort and England were well worth their 2-0 interval lead.

Spain saw plenty of the ball and in Magureghi they had a superb player urging them on. But always the tendency of the visitors to overdo the ball skills gave England and especially Billy Wright the chance to clear. The England captain was magnificent and must surely rank as one of the world's truly great players. His anticipation, tackling and heading were an inspiration to his colleagues. With Jeff Hall and Roger Byrne also having splendid matches, the home defence looked very secure.

The pattern continued throughout the second half with Spain having plenty of possession and England countering with the searching long pass and some lethal finishing. Before the hour was up. England had made the game safe. A slight slip by Garay gave Finney the chance to make ground before cutting inside and planting a lovely diagonal shot just inside the far post. As Finney went to shoot, a crunching Gonzalez tackle stopped him.

Shortly afterwards, and with half an hour to go England hit their fourth goal. Once again the Preston Plumber was the instigator of the attack as his pass found Clayton who centred from the right for Perry to head home perfectly.

Despite several shortcomings in their overall play, one could certainly not criticise the England finishing and all four goals had been expertly taken.

Spain continued to their great credit, to dominate the midfield with their short passing game and they deserved better when Arieta's shot hit a post. Then, only a desperate Jimmy Dickinson block prevented Miguel netting the rebound. The visitors did gain some consolation when in the 80th minute Arieta headed home a Miguel cross.
     

The Wembley floodlights were switched on for the first time in an international match fifteen minutes from the end of a game in which Spain were always in the dark. Finney missed from the penalty spot in the fifth minute, but then made amends by laying on one goal and scoring another. John Atyeo, the schoolteacher from Bristol City, put the finishing touch to a magnificent seven-man passing movement in the fifteenth minute, and sixty seconds later South African-born Bill Perry scored the first of his two goals. Finney and Perry made it 4-0 in the second-half before the Spaniards snatched a consolation goal ten minutes from the end.
   

In 1929 in Madrid Spain had been the first foreign team to beat England. In fact England had beaten them only once but that was by 7-1 at Highbury two years later. Their last meeting had been a 1-1 draw in Madrid just six months earlier. Spain had failed to qualify for the previous year's World Cup having been eliminated on the drawing of lots after surprisingly failing to beat Turkey.
England missed a penalty in the seventh minute. Finney was brought down by Campanal but his spot kick was weakly hit and comfortably saved by Carmelo. They had to wait only another five minutes, however, for a goal. A neat passing move ended with Clayton touching the ball on for John Atyeo to score. England scored again within a minute and again a fine passing move split open the Spanish defence. This time Lofthouse supplied the final pass for the in-rushing Bill Perry to drive the ball home.
England's third came in the second half. Tom Finney atoned for his penalty miss by speeding away down the wing, cutting in and shooting past the 'keeper as Campanal desperately tried to stop him. Perry headed his second shortly afterwards from a cross by Clayton and then Spain scored in the 81st minute when Arieta headed in from a Gonzalez centre.
Spain also failed to qualify for the 1958 World Cup, finishing runners-up to Scotland in their group, but they did record an emphatic 3-0 win over England in Madrid in 1960 before returning to Wembley later that year.
    

This took place at Wembley on November 30th, one of the dampest, foggiest days of the year. The thrilling start, however, soon made one forget the weather: in the first 12 minutes Finney had missed a penalty for a foul on himself, and Atyeo and Perry had scored good goals. Atyeo shot on the half-volley after cleverly pulling down Clayton's lobbed pass, while Perry ran on to a through-pass from Lofthouse. Spain then became he masters in midfield, but weak finishing spoilt all their fine inter-passing. Soon after the interval Finney scored an individualistic goal after beating two defenders: then Perry made it 4-0 with a header. Seventeen minutes from the end, the referee had to whistle for the floodlights to be switched on - this was a precedent for a full international match in their country. With the coming of the lights Arieta scored a consolation goal for Spain, but England thoroughly deserved their victory.