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218 vs. France
 
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248 vs. France




11-12noon Film 3.0 Close-up
3.20-5.10
England v France
8.30
Geraldo's Concert Orchestra
Saturday, 3 May 1947
End-of-Season International Friendly Match


England 3 France 0 [0-0]
 
Arsenal Stadium, Avenell Road, Highbury, Islington, County of London
Kick-off (DDST): 3.30pm (two hours ahead of standard time)
Attendance: "
54,389". Receipts: "£12,259".





Domestic Football Results
unknown kicked-off
   
[1-0] Tom Finney 51
 right-footed strike from corner of 6-yard box across the face of the goal from a Tommy Lawton lay-off

[2-0] Wilf Mannion overhead kick 64
 from 14 yards "with his back to goal, hooked the ball over his head."
after the defender sliced his clearance
[2-0] Tommy Lawton close-range effort strikes post
[3-0] Raich Carter 77
 right-footed placed shot underneath the keeper from 12 yards from an Eddie Lowe dummy and cross
 
Commentator: Jimmy Jewell
 

"ENGLAND PAY DEARLY FOR SOCCER VICTORY" Sunday Mirror

Officials         England FIFA ruling on substitutes France
Referee (black)
Louis Andre Baert
43 (29 December 1903), Ghent, Belgium.
Linesmen
Mr. G. Clark
London
Monsieur Boes
France
   
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 4th
Colours The 1946 home uniform - White collared jerseys, blue shorts, black socks with white tops.
P 6th of eighteen, W 5 - D 1 - L 0 - F 23 - A 5.

Captain
George Hardwick Manager Walter Winterbottom, 34 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
6th of 13, W 5 - D 1 - L 0 - F 23 - A 5. P 6th of 139, W 5 - D 1 - L 0 - F 23 - A 5.
  Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry following the match on 12 April at Wembley.
England Lineup
  three changes to the previous match (Lowe, Finney & Langton>Johnston, Matthews & Mullen) league position (12 April)  
  Swift, Frank V. 33
128 days
26 December 1913 G Manchester City FC (FL2 TOP) 6 5ᵍᵃ
2 Scott, Lawrence 30
10 days
23 April 1917 RB Arsenal FC (FL 15th) 6 0
3 Hardwick, George F.M., injured 60th min. 27
90 days
2 February 1920 LB Middlesbrough FC (FL 7th) 6 0
4 Wright, William A. 23
86 days
6 February 1924 RHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP) 6 0
5 Franklin, Cornelius 25
99 days
24 January 1922 CHB Stoke City FC (FL 4th) 6 0
666 6
Lowe, Edward 21
296 days
11 July 1925 LHB Aston Villa FC (FL 8th) 1 0
42nd Villa player to represent England
7
Finney, Thomas 25
28 days
5 April 1922 OR Preston North End FC (FL 6th) 5 4
8
Carter, Horatio S. 33
133 days
21 December 1913 IR Derby County FC (FL 14th) 12 7
9
Lawton, Thomas 27
209 days
6 October 1919 CF Chelsea FC (FL 13th) 14 12
10
Mannion, Wilfred J. 28
352 days
16 May 1918 IL Middlesbrough FC (FL 7th) 6 7
11 Langton, Robert 28
237 days
8 September 1918 OL Blackburn Rovers FC (FL 18th) 5 1
unused substitutes: Phil Taylor (Liverpool FC (FL 5th)) and Stan Mortensen (Blackpool FC (FL 3rd)).
team changes: Amateur Peter Kippax (Burnley FC (FL2 2nd)) was the original outside-left, he withdrew from the side on Tuesday, 29 April because of him suffering from influenza. His initial replacement Jimmy Mullen (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC) withdrew on 1 May after his club required his services. Bobby Langton was drafted in as a third replacement.
team notes: "Half an hour from the finish skipper Hardwick sustained an injury to his left knee."
"Lawton was another casualty, He had four stitches in a cut over his eye after a collision with Gregoire, French centre-half, who 'collected' five stitches." - The Sunday Mirror, 4 May 1947
records: England have won their last thirteen home friendly matches, extending the record that began back in 1923
 
2-3-5 Swift  -
Scott, Hardwick -
Wright, Franklin, Lowe -
Finney, Carter, Lawton, Mannion, Langton.
Averages: Age 27 years 253 days Appearances/Goals 6.6 2.5
 
France Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 27th
Colours Light blue jerseys with collars, white shorts, red socks
Captain Oscar Heisserer Selection Selection Committee headed by Gaston Barreau
on Monday 28 April 1947.
France Lineup
  Darui, Julien 31
76 days
16 February 1916
in Luxembourg
G CO Roubaix-Tourcoing 15 26ᵍᵃ
2 Swiatek, Jean 24
143 days
11 December 1921
in Poland
RB FC des Girondins de Bordeaux 4 0
3 Marche, Roger 23
59 days
5 March 1924 LB Stade de Reims 2 0
4 Cuissard, Antoine 22
288 days
19 July 1924 RHB/
CHB
FC de Lorient 6 0
5 Grégoire, Jean, injured 24
280 days
27 July 1922 CHB
/OR
Stade français 1 0
6 Prouff, Jean 27
233 days
12 September 1919 LHB Stade de Rennes 6 1
7 Vaast, Ernest 24
187 days
28 October 1922 OR RC de Paris 9 6
8 Heisserer, Oscar 32
289 days
18 July 1914
in Schirrhein, Germany
IR RC de Strasbourg 21 8
9 Bongiorni, Emile 26
45 days
19 March 1921 CF RC de Paris 3 1
10 Tempowski, Boleslav 25
337 days
31 May 1921
in Poland
IL Lille Olympique SC 1 0
only app 1947
11 Lechantre, Jean 25
79 days
13 February 1922
in Belgium
OL Lille Olympique SC 1 0
unused substitutes: Jacques Favre (Rennes) and Roger Gabet (RC de Paris)
team changes: Original centre-half, Swiatek replaced Strasbourg's Segundo Pascual at right-back. Reserve Jean Grégoire took up the vacant centre-half position. Tempowski also replaced the original choice inside-left, Lille's Baratte.
The French appearance tallies also include matches played during the war, considered by The FA as unofficial war internationals.
 
2-3-5 Darui -
Swiatek, Marche -
Cuissard, Grégoire
(Cuissard), Pouff -
Vaast
(Grégoire), Heisserer, Bongiorni, Tempowski, Lechantre.
notes: Grégoire was injured during the second half and spent his time on the wing.
Averages: Age 26 years 118 days Appearances/Goals 6.3 1.5
youngest post-war opposition so far
 
         Match Report by Mike Payne

FRANCE were totally outclassed by England in an interesting international at Highbury, home of Arsenal FC. The fact that the visitors held out until after half-time was mainly due to Da Rui's acrobatics in the French goal.

England were soon pressing forward and enjoyed virtually all the possession in the first 45 minutes. They tended to spoil their approach play, though, by over elaborating in midfield. This gave the French the time to regroup in defence and the visitors did this well.

Da Rui saved well from Tommy Lawton and Tom Finney from England's best efforts of the half, whilst France's only worthwhile shot flew over Frank Swift's crossbar from Lechantre. It was remarkable that the scoreline was still blank at the break, as England had been so much on top.

After the interval, however, England were much more sensible about their passing. Raich Carter and Wilf Mannion began to release the ball much earlier and holes soon began to appear in the rear French rearguard.

After 51 minutes, the breakthrough arrived. A sparkling move involving high-speed passing between Bobby Langton, Carter, Lawton and Mannion ended with Finney taking the final pass in his stride to shoot home a fine goal. It was significant that not one Frenchman had touched the ball in 50 yards.

France hit back briefly when Tempowski forced Swift into a full-length save, but Mannion soon underlined England's superiority with a second goal. Swiatek made a poor clearance and the England number-ten expertly lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Fifteen minutes from the end, Lowe, on a satisfying debut, capped a fine second half for his team by selling the whole French defence a dummy before putting Carter through with a glorious pass for England's third goal.

By this time France were all at sea and only some desperate tackling prevented further goals. Once again, a European challenge had failed on English soil.

   

         Match Report by Norman Giller

The selectors continued to dither over whether to play Matthews or Finney. The Preston plumber got the nod this time, making his mark with the first goal in a 3-0 canter against a French team whistled and jeered for their shirt-pulling and spoiling tactics. Wilf Mannion scored the second goal with a delightful lob over French goalkeeper Da Rui, who had kept a blank sheet in the first half with a series of spectacular and unconventional saves. Eddie Lowe, making his debut at left-half, sent three defenders the wrong way with an outrageous dummy before passing the ball into the path of Raich Carter, who coolly slotted home England's third goal.
 

      In Other News....
It was on 4 May 1947 that an audacious prison break managed to free 241 men from Acre Prison in the British Mandate of Palestine. 27 of them were members of Zionist paramilitary organisations captured by the British Army, who had hanged three members of the Irgun group, less than three weeks earlier.   Bradford Northern beat Leeds, 8-4, in the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley. The two local rivals from the West Riding of Yorkshire attracted a world-record attendance of 77,605.
  
         Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
FFF.fr
Allezlesbleus.free.fr
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
British Pathé
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