An incident-packed match at Wembley saw England emerge the heroes after a spirited rearguard action following injury to two of their players. Scotland must have been kicking themselves for not taking advantage of the situation as they had a golden chance to win the game.

At the start there was a torrential downpour, the like of which Wembley has rarely seen. Some parts of the pitch were awash but gradually the sun came through and the ground began to dry out. Henderson was showing some clever pace in the first 20 minutes but Scotland's inside-trio of Law, St John and Collins were very disappointing, so there was little punch up-front.

England, meanwhile, played confidently and after almost half an hour they took the lead. The goal came from a typical surge by Bobby Charlton, who moved forward before hitting a swerving shot into the corner of Brown's net. The goalkeeper might have done better but nobody could deny Charlton his goal.

Soon afterwards England went 2-0 up with a fine goal by Jimmy Greaves. Again Charlton was heavily involved and his superb defence-splitting pass sent Greaves in for a fine piece of opportunism so typical of the player. It was odds-on an England victory at this stage. However, fate always has a habit of raising its head, especially at Wembley, and especially involving goalkeepers.

Brown had already received criticism over England's first goal and this time it was Gordon Banks's turn to incur the wrath of the crowd. Scotland, seemingly out of it, launched an attack just before the interval. Banks got himself into a terrible tangle trying to save a low Law shot. Whether he was deceived by the speed or whatever, one could not judge, but in trying to save with his feet he succeeded only in helping the ball into his own net.

The goal had a dramatic effect on the game as Scotland, who had been down and almost out before, were suddenly given the lifeline to get back into the match. Coupled with the fact that England lost Ray Wilson with strained muscles in his side just before half-time, it gave Scotland even more of an edge. If that wasn't enough, just after the break Johnny Byrne was reduced to a hobbling passenger by suspected ligament trouble.

It seemed that Scotland must now surely go on to win with England in such dire straights. But when a determined defensive action was called for then, there was no better team than England to do it. And that is just what happened. Bobby Charlton moved into the role of emergency left-back and gave a magnificent performance. His brother Jack, playing for the first time, also performed heroically, and Bobby Moore set a captain's example with an inpeccable display. George Cohen and Nobby Stiles also revelled in the extra pressure and both were very cool. Banks, too, mad eup for his earlier error by saving brilliantly on two or three occasions.

Scotland did manage to draw level when St John headed home in the 60th minute but after that the visitors failed to find the necessary imagination to beat a determined and sturdy defence. Crerand was Scotland's best player but the front men never gelled at all.

For England a special mention for Bobby Charlton's brilliant display and praise must go to Greaves, Peter Thompson and Barry Bridges, who ran themselves into the ground to support their defence trying to relieve some pressure during that second half. So England once again won the Home Championship. Each of their three games had been close but they remained unbeaten, a positive sign for Alf Ramsey.
  

England did well to salvage a draw from a game in which they were reduced to only nine fit players. Ray Wilson went off at half-time with torn rib-muscles, and Johnny Byrne – dropping back to replace Wilson in defence – became a limping passenger with a knee injury that virtually finished his international career. Ramsey blooded Barry Bridges, Nobby Stiles and Jack Charlton (with brother Bobby on the left wing). This was the first time that England's 1966 World Cup defence paraded together. Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves gave England a commanding 2-0 lead inside the first thirty-five minutes. Denis Law scored for Scotland five minutes before half-time with a viciously-swerving shot, and Ian St John equalized midway through the second half after Cohen had cleared a Davie Wilson shot off the line.  England had won the Home Championship but most neutral observers thought Alf Ramsey was being uncharacteristically over-confident when he started forecasting that England would – not might – would win the World Cup.
  

Scotland were aiming for a fourth successive British Championship but needed to beat England for the fourth year in succession to gain a share. England needed only a point to win the title outright for the first time since 1961 when they had last beaten Scotland.
Bobby Charlton's sweetly-struck shot gave England the lead and it was only another ten minutes before he created a second for Jimmy Greaves.
Scotland were back in the game, though, before the interval as Banks failed to stop Denis Law's snap shot. With Wilson carried off injured at half-time and Byrne hobbling throughout the second half, England effectively played the last 45 minutes with only nine fit men. Inevitably, Scotland drew level. With half an hour to go, from a Law corner, Cohen stopped Wilson's header only for Ian St John to head past Banks. England survived, however, to win the Championship.
England were to beat Scotland the following year at Hampden Park to retain the British Championship. Scotland finished runners-up to Italy in their World Cup qualifying group and so failed to return the following year for the finals in England.
Jack Charlton, elder brother of Sir Bobby, and Footballer of the Year two years later, was making his first Wembley appearance.
     

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