England's Away Uniform 1951

Notes

This was possibly the very first red change uniform worn by England.  Blue had been the change colour worn the previous year and in pre-war years, but when facing Argentina for the first time, England found that both their uniforms clashed with Argentina's blue and white stripes.  It looks as if they only introduced a new shirt for the occasion, as the stockings appear to be blue. T he numbers on the back of the shirt were white.

From this point onwards, with as few changes as possible being the intention, England had obviously decided that red was a better second choice than blue, though ironically, when they next played Argentina, in 1953, they remained in white shirts!

 

Matches in Which England Wore the 1951 Away Red Shirt
No.	Date	Opposition	Venue	Type	F	A	Result	H.T.
263	09-May-1951	Argentina	Empire Stadium, Wembley, London	F	2	1	HW	[0-1]

 

(left) Argentina became the first non-British team to play an official international at Wembley, losing in May 1951 by 2 goals to 1.  Here, Mortensen heads past the Argentine goalkeeper (unseen) Rugilo to score England's first goal.
(right) Billy Wright tries to explain a finer point to an Argentine player.

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