England Football Online
Results 1946-1950                      Page Last Updated 17 March 2023

Cymru

 
229 vs. Wales
 
 
previous match (27 days)
235 vs. Belgium
236
  next match (18 days)

237 vs. Ireland

243 vs. Wales
 
3.15 Jack Payne (music)
3.30
Harold Smart (organ)
3.50
Wales v. England
4.45 Band Call 5.30 Football Results
5.40 Variety Programme
Saturday, 18 October 1947
Home International Championship 1947-48 (53rd) Match


Wales 0 England 3 [0-3]
 

 
Ninian Park, Sloper Road, Saltmead, Cardiff, Glamorgan
Kick-off (BST): 3.03pm. "The struggle started three minutes late".
Attendance:
"A record crowd of 55,000".


Domestic Football Results
Wales kicked off  
  [0-1] Tom Finney 6
'Lawton, pivoting quickly, drove in a shot which Sidlaw saved, but Finney scored into far corner of the net'
[0-2] Stan Mortensen 11
'Stan Matthews squared the ball for Mortensen to stroll forward and kick in'
[0-3] Tommy Lawton 15
'shot a beautiful goal' from a Wilf Mannion cross
   
second half live on Radio Light Programme - Commentator: tbc
 

"ENGLAND FORCE THREE 'LEEKS' AT NINIAN" Sports Argus

Officials         Wales

UK ruling on substitutes

England
Referee
James
M. Martin
Angus Hotel, Blairgowrie
11 goal-kicks 12
11 corners 5
Linesmen 5 fouls 5
William Thomas Strainge
46 (11 June 1901), Bristol
D.A. Williams
Aberbargoed
17 throw-ins 27
   
Wales Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 16th to 17th
Colours Made by Umbro - Red jerseys with white collars, white shorts with red side strip, red socks with white tops.
Captain Ron Burgess Selection Selection Committee
on Tuesday, 7 October 1947.
Wales Lineup
  Sidlow, Cyril 31
326 days
26 November 1915 G Liverpool FC, England 3 7ᵍᵃ
2 Lambert, Raymond 25
92 days
18 July 1922 RB Liverpool FC, England 2 0
3 Barnes, Wallace 27
275 days
16 January 1920 LB Arsenal FC, England 1 0
4 Powell, Ivor V. 31
105 days
5 July 1916 RHB Queen's Park Rangers FC, England 2 0
5 Jones, Thomas G. 30
6 days
12 October 1917 CHB Everton FC, England 7 0
6 Burgess, W.A. Ronald 30
192 days
9 April 1917 LHB Tottenham Hotspur FC, England 4 0
7 Thomas, D. Sidney 27
340 days
12 November 1919 OR Fulham FC, England 1 0
8 Powell, Aubrey 29
182 days
19 April 1918 IR Leeds United AFC, England 3 0
9 Lowrie, George 27
303 days
19 December 1919 CF Coventry City FC, England 1 0
10 Jones, Brynmor 35
246 days
14 February 1912 IL Arsenal FC, England 16 4
11 Edwards, George 26
320 days
2 December 1920 OL Birmingham City FC, England 4 0
reserves: Alf Sherwood (Cardiff City).
 
2-3-5 Sidlow -
Lambert, Barnes -

I.Powell, TG.Jones, Burgess -
Thomas,
A.Powell, Lowrie, B.Jones, Edwards.
Averages: Age 29 years 186 days Appearances/Goals 4.0 0.4
oldest post-war opposition so far
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 4th to 3rd
Colours The 1946 home uniform - White collared jerseys, blue shorts, black socks with white tops.
P 10th of eighteen, W 8 - D 1 - L 1 - F 41 - A 8.

Captain
George Hardwick Manager Walter Winterbottom, 34 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
10th of 13, W 8 - D 1 - L 1 - F 41 - A 8. P10th of 139, W 8 - D 1 - L 1 - F 41 - A 8.
  Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry, on Monday, 6 October.
England Lineup
  one change to the previous match (Taylor>Ward) league position (6 October)  
  Swift, Frank V. 33
296 days
26 December 1913 G Manchester City FC (FL 4th) 10 8ᵍᵃ
2 Scott, Lawrence, injured second half 30
178 days
23 April 1917 RB Arsenal FC (FL TOP) 10 0
3 Hardwick, George F.M. 27
258 days
2 February 1920 LB Middlesbrough FC (FL 6th) 10 0
669 4 Taylor, Philip H. 30
30 days
18 September 1917 RHB Liverpool FC (FL 15th) 1 0
13th Liverpool player to represent England
5 Franklin, Cornelius 25
267 days
24 January 1922 CHB Stoke City FC (FL 20th) 10 0
6 Wright, William A. 23
254 days
6 February 1924 LHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL 4th) 10 0
7
Matthews, Stanley 32
259 days
1 February 1915 OR Blackpool FC (FL 3rd) 22 9
8
Mortensen, Stanley H., injured second half 26
145 days
26 May 1921 IR Blackpool FC (FL 3rd) 3 6
9
Lawton, Thomas 28
12 days
6 October 1919 CF Chelsea FC (FL 7th) 18 19
10
Mannion, Wilfred J. 29
155 days
16 May 1918 IL Middlesbrough FC (FL 6th) 10 7
11
Finney, Thomas 25
196 days
5 April 1922 OL Preston North End FC (FL 2nd) 8 8
reserve: Tim Ward (Derby County FC (FL 11th))
 
2-3-5 Swift  -
Scott, Hardwick -
Taylor, Franklin, Wright -
Matthews, Mortensen, Lawton, Mannion, Finney.
Averages: Age 28 years 188 days Appearances/Goals 10.2 4.2
oldest post-war team so far most experienced post-war team so far
 
        Match Report by Mike Payne

It was case of 'genius defeating talent' when these two sides met in 1947. The match was decided in the first 15 minutes as the England side put together some superb football to score three times.
 
After only 30 seconds, the Welsh goalkeeper Cyril Sidlow had parried a fierce shot from Stan Mortensen and then saved Tommy Lawton's follow-up header.
 
England were moving brilliantly. Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney were already casting their spells down the wings and after six minutes they took the lead. A fine quick-passing movement sent a ball from Phil Taylor to Matthews, to Wilf Mannion and on to Finney, who scored with his left foot. Finney had failed to score in only one of his internationals so far, a marvellous testament to his finishing skills.

After 11 minutes, Matthews left Barnes in a daze before laying on goal number-two for Mortensen. That was bad enough for Wales, but all too soon their defence was again caught flat-footed. Matthews and Mannion had Jones and Barnes in a right old tangle before Mannion's diagonal pass found Lawton travelling at speed. Sidlow probably no more than heard the centre-forward's shot as it whizzed passed him. There might have been more goals for England before half-time as they had the Welsh defence running in circles.

The second half was much more evenly contested as England, with Mortensen and Scott both suffering from pulled muscles, eased up. Lawton and Mortensen shot wide for England and as Wales fought back, Lowrie missed a good chance close in and Aubrey Powell twice forced Frank Swift into diving saves.

With Taylor having a fine debut and Billy Wright outstanding, Wales could find little change from the English defence. Ronnie Burgess had a good game but Ray Lambert and Walley Barnes had a torrid time. Right until the end, that man Matthews was leaving a trail of red shirts in his wake as England registered their first win on Welsh soil for 13 years.

     

        Match Report by Norman Giller

Stanley Matthews continued where he had left off against Belgium in this first Home Championship match of the 1947-48 season. Wales brought in Arsenal's redoubtable defender Walley Barnes for his debut, and gave him the thankless task of marking Matthews. "Stanley ran me dizzy," admitted Barnes, who later became captain of Wales. England were 3-0 up inside the first fifteen minutes, with Matthews running riot on the right wing. Liverpool right-half Phil Taylor came in for his debut as the England selectors continued to fiddle with the line-up. England might have won more convincingly but for both Laurie Scott and Stan Mortensen pulling muscles. This was in the days before substitutes, and so England had two players hobbling through the second-half and had to close the game down.
    

        Match Report as reported in the F.A. Yearbook 1948-49, page 22

With the exception of Ward, replaced at right-half by Taylor (Liverpool), the same team [that beat Belgium last month] defeated Wales at Cardiff on Oct, 18 in one of the most extraordinary games ever played at Ninian Park. Within the first quarter of an hour England's three goals had all been scored, almost before the crowd could realise it, and there was no further score by either side for the rest of the match. The first of the three came after six minutes, when a movement by Matthews—Mannion—Taylor—Finney allowed the last-named to make a left-footed shot into the net. After five further minutes a brilliant piece of trickery by Matthews put Mortensen in possession for a successful cross-goal shot. A few minutes afterwards Matthews and Mannion together wove a dazzling web round the Welsh halfback line and Lawton, receiving it from Mannion, sent the ball past Sidlow at lightning speed.
After the interval Wales opened a series of attacks which led to four corners in as many minutes, and for a time Swift was comparatively hard-pressed, particularly by A. Powell. A further series of corners for Wales followed later, but nothing came of them. England gave the impression throughout of being invincible; had Mortensen not pulled a muscle in the first half, it is probable that the score would have been higher.
 

        In Other News....
It was on 17 October 1947 that a treaty was signed in Downing Street, granting independence to Burma, following 124 years of British rule. Three months later, the British flag was lowered in Rangoon and the Union of Burma was formed.
  
        Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Statistics come from the 'Sunday Mirror'
Wales' Complete Who's Who since 1946
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
British Pathé
cg