England Team

Netherlands Team

Sir Alf Ramsey made seven changes from England's previous match as he experimented and searched for the right blend for Mexico. On this night's evidence he still had a lot more to do. This was a poor game and the crowd of 75,000 showed their frustration at England's inability to score by several times breaking out into a slow handclap. The artistic Dutchmen showed a lot of skill with some fine touches by Cruyff, Van Dijk and Jansen, but they, too, suffered from a lack of finish.

Goal-chances were rare, but in the 25th minute England did find the net. A free-kick by Bobby Charlton was headed square by Mick Jones and there was Ian Storey-Moore to glance a header past Van Beveren. Alas, the referee had spotted an offside and the goal was ruled out.

Van Beveren made some excellent saves at this stage of the game to 'take the sting out' of England. A few minutes after the disallowed goal, he tipped another Storey-Moore header over the bar after an overhead flick by Bobby Charlton. More good work by Jones gave first Bobby Charlton a shot, and then Storey-Moore again, but both times Van Beveren beat away the shots.

On the wet-holding pitch the Dutch were the better ball-players and a marvellous swinging free-kick by Keizer almost caught Gordon Banks 'napping' and the goalkeeper did exceptionally well to keep the shot out. The Netherlands had certainly made rapid strides in international football over recent years and they were no longer an 'easy touch' for opponents.

For the rest of the game it was frustration all the way. England's passing was poor, they failed to stamp any authority on the midfield and they created few clear scoring-attempts. On the plus side they have now gone 13 games unbeaten at Wembley and Storey-Moore and Jones both had lively matches. When Jones was substituted by Geoff Hurst, the crowd certainly let the England manager know that they disapproved of his decision to take the Leeds man off.

The final irony came right at the final whistle as the game ended in total confusion. Bobby Charlton hit a good shot into the net, only to find that the referee had blown the final whistle a fraction before the ball had gone in. As they left the ground, the crowd were not quite sure if England had won or drawn! The only other fact worth mentioning was that Bobby Charlton was playing his 98th international and the 68th against foreign opposition, thus beating the record of 67 set by Billy Wright.
  

England were slow-handclapped and jeered by their fans who did not appreciate that Holland were an emerging power in world football. The Dutch team included such quality players as Cruyff, Van Hanegem, Krol and Keizer, and England's defenders had to work flat out to hold them. Mick Jones, playing his first international match for four years, was substituted by Geoff Hurst after seventy minutes. Ian Storey-Moore, making his one and only England appearance, had a good-looking, headed goal disallowed. The referee blew the final whistle as Bobby Charlton unleashed one of his specials that flew into the net, but too late to count. It was another milestone match for Bobby, who in his ninety-eighth international overtook the Billy Wright record of sixty-seven matches against overseas opposition.

The Netherlands were appearing at Wembley for the first time, apart from a wartime international with Belgium in 1941. They had lost 8-2 to England at Leeds Road, Huddersfield, in 1946 and had not beaten them in four meetings. England had won 1-0 in Amsterdam just two months earlier. The Netherlands had not qualified for a World Cup since 1938.
The visitors greatly impressed with their possession-football and neat passing, but the world champions incurred the wrath of the home supporters for their failure to overcome the emerging Dutch talent.
The Netherlands were on the fringe of great success. They took Europe 'by storm' in the 1970s with their 'total football'. Their club sides, notably Ajax Amsterdam, dominated the European Cup for four years. The national team qualified for the 1974 World Cup, demolishing all before them, including reigning world champions Brazil to reach the final.
There they met a very professional West German team in Munich and lost 2-1, despite taking a first-minute lead. In hindsight, the Wembley crowd had been a little harsh.
Johan Cruyff appeared at Wembley for the first time. He was European Footballer of the Year in 1971 and by 1974 he had become the first to win it three times.
     

Source Notes

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Voetbalstats.nl
Rothman's Yearbooks
Official Matchday Programme
Since1888.com
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