This was Scotland's day as at last they won a famous victory at Wembley, their first on English soil since 1951. A full house paid record receipts (for any game in Britain) of £76,000 for the privilege and the many Scots in the audience made the afternoon their own with their vociferous support. Wembley, looking spick and span with its new roof, braced itself for the invasion of the marauding army.

The match started tragically for Scotland. After only five, a fierce collision between Bobby Smith and Caldow ended with the Scottish captain being stretchered off to hospital with a fractured leg. But far from giving England the edge, it seemed to inspire the Scots to a very high level of skill and endeavour.

Wilson moved to left-back and the Scotland midfield of Baxter, White and Mackay rolled up their sleeves and knuckled down to take a grip on the game. England seemed bereft of ideas. Bobby Moore and Ron Flowers never used the ball constructively and Jimmy Melia was too predictable in all that he did. Up front Bobby Charlton flitted in and out of the game and Jimmy Greaves had a day he would soon like to forget.

The first goal came after half an hour. Henderson put in a deep cross which Jimmy Armfield collected and seemed to have under control. Unfortunately for him, the England skipper tried to dribble the ball clear of his own penalty area and was caught in possession by Baxter. The elegant Scottish number-six strode forward and gave Gordon Banks no chance with a crisp shot.

The goal was no more than Scotland deserved and was a fitting reward for their enterprise and skill. Baxter was a revelation and had a dream match. Memories of the Hungarian, Bozsik, came flooding back as Baxter's presence dominated the play.

Within two minutes, Scotland were two up. Henderson, who gave Byrne a torrid time throughout, darted through a gap but was brought down, sandwich-style by Flowers and the bewildered Byrne. "Penalty"! screamed the Scots.

The referee agreed and the super confident Baxter duly obliged from the spot-kick. It was the first penalty he had ever taken , but on a day when he could have practically walked on water there was never going to be any other volunteer.

From then on it was a story of Scotland controlling what little England could muster. There was one lively spell midway through the second half when England could have come right back into things. Four times Greaves found himself in excellent positions, only to head wide on each occasion. In another attack, Greaves turned sharply and this time brought the best out of his Spurs clubmate, Brown, in goal. With ten minutes to go, and with Scotland understandably tiring, England finally pulled a goal back. The visitors' centre-half, Ian Ure, a tower of strength at the heart of their defence, made his only mistake when he missed a cross by Smith, allowing Bryan Douglas the chance to shoot past Brown.

The last word went to Scotland though and Mackay made Banks' crossbar shudder after a blistering free-kick. So Scotland deservedly held on and the deafening roar of their supporters at the final whistle almost lifted the new roof off the stand before it had time to settle!

It was a brave performance by Scotland but one consolation for the home side was the splendid form shown by their new goalkeeper Gordon Banks. He looked safe and sure and was full of confidence.
  

Both teams were down to ten men within five minutes following a collision between Bobby Smith and Scottish skipper Eric Caldow, who was carried off with a triple fracture of the leg. By the time Smith limped back on with his bruised knee bandaged 'Slim' Jim Baxter had twice beaten England's new goalkeeper Gordon Banks, first after a misplaced pass by Armfield and then from the penalty spot. Bryan Douglas scored ten minutes from the end, but the Scots deserved a victory that was masterminded by Baxter who memorably walked off with the match ball tucked up inside his jersey. This stunningly skilled showman had owned the pitch, so why not the ball? Liverpool team-mates Gerry Byrne and Jimmy Melia made their debuts. It was the first match played at the 'new' Wembley with a £500,000 roof that ran right round the stadium like a giant lip. A 98,000 crowd paid then record receipts of £76,000. Ramsey had kicked off with two defeats. Could this be the man to lead England to the World Cup?
  

Scotland, the reigning British Champions, had won every game in the competition since losing 9-3 on their last visit. They had beaten England 2-0 at Hampden Park the previous year but had to win to retain the Championship outright. Their last Wembley win had been in 1951. They had decided not to enter the European Championship. England also had to win to regain the title, a draw would mean it was shared.
In the sixth minute Wembley's so-called injury hoodoo struck again as Smith and Caldow were involved in a collision which saw both players stretchered off. Caldow had a broken leg while Smith returned for the second half. Just before the half hour Scotland took the lead. Armfield lost the ball on the edge of the box to Jim Baxter, who ran on and beat Banks with a rising shot. Two minutes later Flowers brought down Henderson and Baxter sent Banks the wrong way from the penalty spot. Even though Smith was not fully fit, England's extra man began to tell in the second half and it was Smith's long ball, missed by Ure, which left Bryan Douglas in the clear to drive a low shot into the corner with 11 minutes left. Scotland held on, though, to retain the British Championship in the new look stadium, now with cover for all spectators.
Scotland completed their first ever hat-trick of victories over England in the British Championship the following year with a 1-0 win at Hampden Park.
     

Source Notes

TheFA.com
LondonHearts.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG