A magnificent summer tour came to an end in a real firework display of goals in Basle. This new-look confident England side continued from where they left off in Leipzig, despite several team changes. Alf Ramsey decided to give some of his reserves a chance, bringing in five players including one for the first time, Tony Kay. They responded superbly and England ripped Switzerland apart.

After the two tough fixtures on this tour, this match by comparison must have seemed like a practice match. True, the tricky footwork of Bertschi and Pottier gave England some early difficulties but from the moment England took the lead after 19 minutes, there was only ever going to be one outcome.

A pass through the middle from Jimmy Melia gave Kay possession just inside the Swiss half. The highly promising wing-half then timed the perfect pass inside the full-back for Bobby Charlton to run on to and crack into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

Switzerland came back briefly when a shot by Kuhn struck the England post, but it was only delaying the inevitable as England were already dominating. Charlton was in particularly devastating form and his bursts brought two more goals for England before half-time.

On the half-hour, Johnny Byrne celebrated his call up by converting Charlton's pass, and then 12 minutes later, Bryan Douglas thumped in the third, again after a flowing run by Charlton. An isolated raid and sloppy defensive work gave Switzerland a goal by Bertschi before the break, but in the second half the floodgates really opened up.

Playing relaxed and positive football, England tore into the Swiss. Bobby Moore was immaculate at the heart of their defence, Charlton running like the wind, Jimmy Greaves darting here, there and everywhere and Byrne giving a display that augurs well for the future. The whole team played their part and soon the goals began to flow.

Byrne and Charlton added numbers four and five and then a lovely move between Charlton, Melia and Greaves set up Kay for the best goal of the match. Melia then scored following a pass by Douglas and then Charlton ended the scoring with his third of the game.

Despite the humiliating scoreline, the Swiss crowd loved every minute and screamed for more as they appreciated what a fine display England had put on for them. They gave England a standing ovation at the end.
  

A hat-trick from Bobby Charlton and two goals from Johnny Byrne helped England bury the Swiss under an avalanche of goals. Everton midfield dynamo Tony Kay scored in his only international appearance before the careers of both he and his former Sheffield Wednesday team-mate Peter Swan were wrecked  by a bribery scandal. The sporting Swiss fans gave England a standing ovation at the end, and even poker-faced Alf Ramsey struggled to keep a smile off his face as he said, 'That was much more like it. We played with the urgency and purpose that was missing from the performance in Leipzig. All in all, this has been a most satisfactory summer tour. But there is much work still to be done.' The only surprises was that goal thief Greaves - at the peak of his powers, and six times the leading First Division marksman - failed to get on the scoresheet. But he played an assist role in four of the goals.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.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
____________________

CG