England went into this vital match knowing that a draw would be enough to see them through as the group winners of the European Nations Championship matches. Of course, it would also win them the Home Championship, so there was much at stake.

As in any England-Scotland clash there was 'no quarter given nor received' and right from the 'off' it was an all-out battle. But, after the initial exchanges, England scored the goal they needed. It came with 20 minutes gone and was a beauty. It began with a bad throw-out by Simpson. Ray Wilson won the ball in the air, beating Johnston, and Mike Summerbee then flicked it sideways to Martin Peters. The England number-11 once again showed his vision by being in the right place at the right time to flash home a superb cross into the top corner of Simpson's net from the edge of the box.

The goal put England well and truly into the 'driving seat' and they had chances to 'sew' the game up in the next ten minutes. Playing open, attacking football and allowing the ball to do the work, their tactics were superior than the Scots' close-dribbling game. Unfortunately, Peters and others let the chances slip by and it gave Scotland the chance to fight back.

The man who did as much as anyone to revitalise Scotland was the midfield player Charlie Cooke. For the quarter of an hour before the interval, he turned on the style and dazzled the crowd with some superb skills. First, he bemused an uncertain Gordon Banks with a wicked corner which left Hughes with the simplest scoring chance which, to the dismay of the crowd, he squandered. Then Cooke combined with Greig to 'tie Keith Newton into knots' before the ball found Lennox. The winger centred and there was Hughes to atone for his earlier miss by heading past the scrambling Banks.

The morning rain on top of the bone-hard pitch certainly made the conditions difficult but Cooke's inspiration almost brought another goal when his superb through-pass found Greig. Fortunately for England, the Scotland skipper shot just wide. England, after their fine start, were relieved to reach the interval without further mishap. The break helped them enormously as in it they discussed the problem of Cooke's promptings and found an answer.

In the second half Cooke was continually boxed in by England players and was gradually forced square. As a result he was far less effective. The Scottish forwards were starved of service and faded, giving England the chance to reassert themselves. This time they held on to the initiative. Bobby Moore dominated at the back, Alan Mullery was aggressive in midfield and Bobby Charlton exciting in his unique and graceful way.

Alan Ball was tireless and Peters ever-dangerous when making openings for himself. Peters was desperately unlucky when one fine shot cannoned back off a post. Overall, England deserved the draw they wanted but doubts about the jittery performance of Banks, Newton and Brian Labone left a few questions for Sir Alf Ramsey to answer.

England now went on to play a two-legged quarter-final against Spain.
  

England needed a draw to qualify for the European Championship quarter-finals, Scotland a win. Martin Peters (described by Sir Alf as "twenty years ahead of his time") produced one of his most impressive performances for England, scoring their goal with a superbly controlled swerving shot and going close on three other occasions. John Hughes headed Scotland's equaliser when Gordon Banks slipped on the treacherous surface that was a mixture of mud and ice. Charlie Cooke had a brilliant twenty-minute spell when he ran the England defence dizzy, but the Scottish strikers could not cash in on his creative work. Mike Summerbee made a quietly impressive debut, and played an important assist role in the Peters goal that stamped the passport for England to play Spain in a two-legged quarter-final.

Source Notes

TheFA.com
UEFA.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