Picture
supplied by tv50.org.uk
Just
as the BBC began to extend its football coverage, the
Football League began to raise concerns about the effect that live
television had on attendances at other games being played at the same time.
Negotiations thus began over which games were allowed to be broadcast. The
England v. Scotland international of 1951 became the first high-profile
casualty of this new battle, due to a full league programme being
played on the same day. The following year's FA Cup Final also fell foul of
the negotiations, eventually leading to all subsequent finals being moved to
the end of the season so as not to clash with any other games.
Jimmy Jewell
acquired a new co-commentator during this period. This was a 30-year-old ex-RAF
fighter pilot, who was to become the voice of football on the BBC for
over twenty years. Kenneth Wolstenholme
was introduced at the beginning of a boom
period for both English football and British television. He would go on to
achieve immortality by being behind the microphone when England won the World Cup.
Initially, he was Jewell's understudy and appears to have replaced Peter
Lloyd, who eventually moved to ITV to become their first main commentator.
The policy at the time was usually for one of them to commentate for the
first twenty or 25 minutes, before handing over to his colleague for the
remainder of the half, not for them to hold conversations between
each other, as happens nowadays.
Jewell's untimely death in 1952 left Wolstenholme in a
daunting position, but he rose to the challenge admirably and soon found
himself describing two of the biggest games in football history as a solo
commentator, just as Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation had generated huge
sales of television sets.
The 1953 FA Cup Final was
probably the most famous of all and lives long in the memory. Internationals were
restricted to second-half coverage only, however, with Newsreel providing
some recorded action, a day or two later. Wembley's schools
internationals continued to be broadcast live, as did one or two amateur internationals
(including the first match outside of London, at Leicester) but after a season
without any live full internationals on TV (1952-53), the FA's 90th anniversary
celebrations brought the outside-broadcast cameras back to Wembley, just in time to witness
the Hungarians' historic demolition of the national team and because the BBC
were now recording these broadcasts on film, they were able to show them again in the
evening. Initially, just the second half was repeated. At this stage there
were no editing facilities to be able to create a highlights package within
a few hours. The Hungary game was shown again in its entirety, however, and
would never be forgotten.
The 1954 World Cup finally
brought live football from abroad to the nation, and it was from
Switzerland that the pictures were beamed, thanks to the new Eurovision
network. Only one game at a time could be
broadcast and fortunately, England's dramatic eight-goal extra-time
thriller in their opening match against Belgium was chosen. English viewers were not so lucky for their next
game, with an incredible 8-3 victory by hot favourites, Hungary, against
West Germany in Basel being the pick (the Germans turned the tables on
Hungary by surprisingly beating them in the final). England, meanwhile, were
beating their Swiss hosts in Bern and viewers in Switzerland had their own
live coverage of the game. Three days later, the BBC brought us up
to date with a ten-minute film report of England's victory.
Fortunately, England's
quarter-final was chosen for broadcast across Europe. Strangely, for such an important
game, with
England pitted against the defending World Champions, Uruguay, the BBC opted
to show only the second half live. Was it, perhaps, the closing stages of
the Wimbledon tennis championships that had taken priority, with Maureen
Connolly poised to win her third successive title at the age of 19? No, it
was the children's television programme, Whirligig!
In the following season,
the visit of the new World Champions to Wembley ensured live coverage of the
whole game against West Germany. England's new 'Colts' team (the Under-23s)
were also thrust into the limelight, appearing live from Glasgow in a 6-0
victory, whilst the problem of not being able to provide live coverage of
the full international with Scotland was solved with the compromise of a recording of the
second half being broadcast on the Saturday night. The reinstatement of the
Scotland fixture onto TV screens coincided with England's biggest ever
victory (at that time) against the old enemy, so it was an undoubted
success.
Thanks
to Robert Pedley for discovering that the World Cup game with Switzerland
was broadcast live by the host nation, to Paul Hayes for the
co-commentator in the 1952 schoolboy game and to 'The Heavy Roller' for
uploading archived Newsreel footage on youtube.com.
1950-51 |
261 |
Wednesday,
22 November 1950 -
England 2
Yugoslavia
2
[2-1]
Arsenal
Stadium, Highbury
- Kick-off 2.15pm GMT |
Television (BBC) - 2:45pm - 3:55pm
commentators Jimmy Jewell and Kenneth Wolstenholme
(last hour only) |
Other England Internationals |
Saturday 20th January 1951 -
Amateur
Filbert
Street,
Leicester (second half only)
England 4 Wales 1 - BBC - 3:20pm - 4:10pm
commentators Jimmy Jewell and Vincent Jones
|
Saturday 7th April 1951 -
Schoolboys
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
England 3 Wales 0 - BBC - 2:45pm - 5:00pm
commentators Jimmy Jewell and Bill Roberts |
|
262 |
Saturday, 14 April 1951 - England
1 Scotland 3 [0-1]
Empire Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 3.00pm BST
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Monday 16th April - 8:00pm - 8:15pm
reporter Alexander Moyes
(recorded highlights) |
263 |
Wednesday,
9 May 1951 -
England 2
Argentina 1
[0-1]
Empire Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 3.00pm BST |
Television (BBC) - 4:10pm - 5:00pm
commentator Jimmy Jewell
(last half-hour only)
Newsreel (BBC) - Thursday 10th May - 11:00pm - 11:15pm
reporter Alexander Moyes
(recorded highlights) |
1951-52 |
265 |
Wednesday,
3 October 1951 -
England 2
France
2
[2-2]
Arsenal
Stadium, Highbury
- Kick-off 3.00pm BST |
Television (BBC) - 3:45pm - 5:00pm
commentators Jimmy Jewell and Kenneth Wolstenholme
(second half only) |
266 |
Saturday, 20 October 1951 - Wales 1 England
1 [1-1]
Ninian Park, Cardiff
- Kick-off 3.00pm BST |
Television (BBC) - 3:00pm
commentator Jimmy Jewell
(second half only)
Newsreel (BBC) - Monday 22nd October - 8:00pm - 8:15pm
reporter Geoffrey Payne
(recorded highlights) |
267 |
Wednesday, 14 November 1951 - England
2 Ireland 0 [1-0]
Villa Park,
Birmingham
- Kick-off 2.30pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Thursday 15th November - 10:30pm - 10:45pm
reporter Alexander Moyes
(recorded highlights) |
268 |
Wednesday,
28 November 1951 -
England 2
Austria
2
[0-0]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.15pm GMT |
Television (BBC) - 3:00pm
commentator Jimmy Jewell
(second half only)
Newsreel (BBC) - Thursday 29th November - 10:00pm - 10:15pm
reporter Alexander Moyes
(recorded highlights) |
269 |
Saturday, 5 April 1952 - Scotland 1
England 2 [0-2]
Hampden Park, Glasgow
- Kick-off 3.00pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Monday 7th April - 7:30pm - 7:45pm
reporter Alexander Moyes
(recorded highlights) |
Other England Internationals |
Saturday 5th April 1952 - Schoolboys
Empire
Stadium, Wembley (second half only)
England 1 Scotland 0 - Television (BBC) - 3:55pm - 5:00pm
commentators
Jimmy Jewell and Bill Stevenson |
1952-53 |
274 |
Wednesday, 12 November 1952 - England
5 Wales 2 [3-1]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.15pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Thursday 13th November - 9:20pm - 9:35pm
(recorded highlights) |
275 |
Wednesday, 26 November 1952 - England
5 Belgium 0 [2-0]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.15pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Thursday 27th November - 9:05pm - 9:20pm
(recorded highlights) |
Other England Internationals |
Saturday 28th March 1953
- Schoolboys
Empire
Stadium, Wembley (second half only)
England 3 Wales 3 - Television (BBC) - 3:50pm - 5:00pm
commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme |
276 |
Saturday, 18 April 1953 - England
2 Scotland 2 [1-0]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 3.00pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Monday 20th April - 8:00pm - 8:15pm
(recorded highlights) |
279 |
Sunday, 31 May 1953 - Uruguay 2
England 1 [1-0]
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
- Kick-off 3.00pm
(7.00pm BST)
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Wednesday 3rd June - 8:00pm - 8:30pm
(recorded highlights) |
1953-54 |
282 |
Wednesday,
21 October 1953 -
England 4
Rest of the World
4
[2-3]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.30pm GMT |
Television (BBC) - 2:20pm - 4:10pm
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
10:05pm - 10:50pm
(second half recording) |
283 |
Wednesday, 11 November 1953 - England
3 Ireland 1 [1-0]
Goodison
Park, Liverpool
- Kick-off 2.30pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Thursday 12th November - 8:55pm - 9:10pm
(recorded highlights) |
284 |
Wednesday,
25 November 1953 -
England 3
Hungary
6
[2-4]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.15pm GMT |
Television (BBC) - 3:00pm - 4:00pm
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
(second half only)
9:15pm - 10:45pm
(full game recording) - see transcripts below. |
Other England Internationals |
Saturday 27th March 1954
- British Amateur Championship
Empire
Stadium, Wembley (second half only)
England 1 Scotland 4 - Television (BBC) - 3:45pm - 5:00pm
commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme |
|
Saturday 3rd April 1954 -
Schoolboys
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
England 1 Scotland 0 - Television (BBC) - 2:50pm - 4:30pm
commentators Kenneth Wolstenholme and Barney Mulrenan |
285 |
Saturday, 3 April 1954 - Scotland 2 England
4 [1-1]
Hampden Park, Glasgow
- Kick-off 3.00pm GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Monday 5th April - 7:30pm - 7:45pm
(recorded highlights) |
World Cup Finals 1954 |
Switzerland |
288 |
Thursday,
17 June 1954 -
Belgium 4 England 4
[1-2]
AET
[3-3]
Sankt Jakob
Stadium, Basel
- Kick-off 6:10pm BST |
Television (BBC) - 6:05pm - 7:55pm (overran to
approximately 8:30pm)
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme |
289 |
Sunday,
20 June 1954 -
England 2
Switzerland 0
[1-0]
Wankdorfstadion, Bern
- Kick-off 5:10pm BST
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Television (BBC) - Wednesday 23rd June
8:20pm - 8:30pm
(recorded highlights) |
Notes |
The World Cup
tie between Hungary and West Germany in Basel was shown
live by the BBC at 4:45pm, whilst England were playing in Bern. |
290 |
Saturday,
26 June 1954 -
Uruguay 4 England 2
[2-1]
Sankt Jakob
Stadium, Basel
- Kick-off 5:00pm BST |
Television (BBC) - 5:45pm - 6:45pm
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
(second half only) |
1954-55 |
292 |
Wednesday,
10 November 1954 -
England 3
Wales
2
[0-1]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.15pm GMT |
Television (BBC) - 3:00pm - 4:00pm
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
(second half only)
9:45pm - 10:30pm
(second half recording) |
293 |
Wednesday,
1 December 1954 -
England 3
West Germany 1
[1-0]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 2.00pm GMT |
Television (BBC) - 1:55pm - 3:40pm
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
9:30pm - 11:00pm
(full game recording) |
Other England Internationals |
Wednesday 19th January 1955 - Under-23
Stamford Bridge, Chelsea, London
England 5 Italy 1 - Television (BBC) - 9:45pm - 10:30pm
commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme
(second half recording) |
|
Tuesday
8th February 1955 - Under-23
Shawfield Park, Glasgow
(second half only)
Scotland 0 England 6 - Television (BBC) - 8:15pm - 9:00pm
commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme
Wednesday 23rd March 1955
Hillsborough, Sheffield
(second half only)
England B 1 West Germany B 1 - Television (BBC) - 8:45pm -
9:30pm
commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme |
294 |
Saturday,
2 April 1955 -
England 7
Scotland 2
[4-1]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 3.00pm
GMT
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Television (BBC) - 10:35pm - 11:20pm
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme
(second half recording) |
Other England Internationals |
Saturday 9th April 1955 -
Amateur
Hampden Park, Glasgow Scotland
3 England 3 - Newsreel (BBC) - 7:30pm - 7:45pm - Monday, 11th April
(recorded highlights)
Saturday 23rd April 1955
- Schoolboys
Empire
Stadium, Wembley
England 6 Wales 0 - Television (BBC) - 2:50pm - 5:00pm
commentator
Peter Lloyd |
295 |
Sunday, 15 May 1955 - France 1
England 0 [1-0]
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris
- KIck-off 3.00pm BST
HIGHLIGHTS ONLY |
Newsreel (BBC) - Saturday 21st May - 7:30pm - 7:45pm
(recorded highlights) |
Wednesday, 25 November 1953
England 3
Hungary
6
(BBC commentary transcript - Kenneth
Wolstenholme)
Just as they were about to
kick-off, Puskas began juggling with the ball in the centre circle...
England, then,
defending the goal to our right, and now there's an exhibition of ball control.
Just look at that from the inside left, Puskas. Well, (if) we see a great deal
of that, I think we're gonna have an awful lot of trouble holding these unbeaten
Hungarians.
After Hidegkuti had shot
Hungary in front in the first minute...
Well,
everybody has always said, these continentals can't shoot, but if that's a
sample of what we're going to have this afternoon, then England are going to be
in dire trouble. 1-0 after 45 seconds, then, for Hungary.
After Puskas had left
England captain, Billy Wright, on the seat of his pants, before firing Hungary's
third.
...and that
was Puskas, the inside left and captain, who scored that one, and my goodness,
if he can turn on tricks like this, we ought to have him on the music hall! I've
never seen such tremendous ball control as that exhibition of that back-heel and
the quick shot. 3-1, then, for Hungary.
After Puskas had scored
again...
Well, before
the game, everybody was telling me that it was a lot of ballyhoo about these
Hungarians, England would win. Well, here we are, 27 minutes gone, 4-1 down.
With the score at 5-2...
They seem to
play football as the Harlem Globetrotters play basketball, this Hungarian side.
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