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Results 1946-1950                      Page Last Updated 19 April 2023

Cymru

 
243 vs. Wales
 
previous match (24 days)
249 vs. Republic of Ireland

250 
next match (32 days)

251 vs. Ireland

260 vs. Wales

 
Saturday, 15 October 1949
Home International Championship 1949-50 (55th) Match

& IV Campeonato Mundial de Futebol Taça Jules Rimet Group One Qualification Match
 
Wales 1 England 4
[0-3]
 
Ninian Park, Sloper Road, Cardiff, Glamorgan
Kick-off (BST): 3.00pm.

Attendance: 61,079.


Players lost since last match
Bernard Middleditch
 (3 October 1949) 77

Domestic Football Results
Wales kicked off Billy Wright won the toss
2.0 New Books and Old Books 2.30 Southern Serenade 3.0 Band of the Coldstream Guards 3.30 Charles Smart (organ)
3.50
Wales v. England
4.45 Strict Tempo, Eddie Palmer and his Players 5.30 Sports Report 6.0 Andrew Fenner (organ) 6.15 Jazz Club 6.45 Can I Help You?








[0-1] Stan Mortensen header 20
headed in after Finney's corner was headed back in by Jackie Milburn
[0-2] Jackie Milburn header 26
headed in from a Tom Finney lob
[0-3] Jackie Milburn 35
a low hard drive following a fifty-yard Len Shackleton dribble

[1-4] Mal Griffiths 74
 cut in with the perfect angled shot
[0-4] Jackie Milburn header 74 HAT-TRICK
beat Sidlow in the air to head in a Tom Finney cross
second half live on the Radio Light Programme - Commentator: tbc
 
"FORGET ENGLAND'S BIG WIN: ATTACK STILL WILL NOT DO" The People
Officials Wales UK ruling on substitutes England
Referee
John Alexander Mowat
42/43 (1906), Rutherglen
 
Linesmen
T.L. Davies
Ynyshir
N.C. Taylor
Westbury
 
Wales Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 19th to 21st
Colours Made by Umbro - Red jerseys with white collars, white shorts with red side strip, red socks with white tops.
Captain Wally Barnes Manager Charles Leyfield, 37 (30 October 1911), appointed 4 October 1949.
Team chosen on Monday, 3 October 1949.
Trainer: Walter Robbins (Cardiff City FC)
Wales Lineup
  Sidlow, Cyril 31
323 days
26 November 1915 G Liverpool FC, England 7 15ᵍᵃ
final app 1946-49
2 Barnes, Wallace 29
272 days
16 January 1920 RB Arsenal FC, England 7 0
3 Sherwood, Alfred T. 25
336 days
13 November 1923 LB Cardiff City FC 10 0
4 Paul, Roy 29
180days
18 April 1920 RHB Swansea Town FC 6 0
5 Jones, Thomas G. 32
3 days
12 October 1917 CHB Everton FC, England 15 0
6 Burgess, W.A. Ronald 32
189 days
9 April 1917 LHB Tottenham Hotspur FC, England 12 0
7
Griffiths, W. Malwyn 30
221 days
8 March 1919 OR Leicester City FC, England 4 1
8 Lucas, William H. 31
273 days
15 January 1918 IR Swansea Town FC 6 0
9 Ford, Trevor 26
14 days
1 October 1923 CF Aston Villa FC, England 11 8
10 Scrine, Francis H. 24
279 days
9 January 1925 IL Swansea Town FC 1 0
11 Edwards, George 28
317 days
2 December 1920 OL Cardiff City FC, England 11 2
reserve: Billy Baker (Cardiff City FC).
2-3-5 Sidlow -
Barnes, Sherwood -
Paul, Jones, Burgess -
Griffiths, Lucas, Ford, Scrine, Edwards.
Averages: Age 29 years 221 days Appearances/Goals 8.2 0.9
oldest opposing postwar team so far
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 5th to 4th
Colours The 1949 home uniform - White collared jerseys, blue shorts, black socks with white tops.
P 6th of 43, W 3 - D 0 - L 3 - F 13 - A 11.

Captain
Billy Wright Manager Walter Winterbottom, 36 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
9th of 90, W 6 - D 0 - L 3 - F 26 - A 13. P 24th of 139, W 17 - D 3 - L 4 - F 79 - A 25.
¹ Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry on Saturday, 8 October.
England Lineup
  four changes to the previous match (Harris, Morris, Pye & Mannion out) league position (8 October)  
  Williams, Bert F. 29
257 days
31 January 1920 G Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP) 3 4ᵍᵃ
2 Mozley, Bert 26
24 days
21 September 1923 RB Derby County FC (FL 14th) 2 0
3 Aston, John 28
42 days
3 September 1921 LB Manchester United FC (FL 3rd) 9 0
4 Wright, William A., injured off 37th min. Returned 46th min. 25
251 days
6 February 1924 RHB
/OL
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP) 24 1
5 Franklin, Cornelius, also injured 27
264 days
24 January 1922 CHB Stoke City FC (FL 19th) 24 0
6 Dickinson, James W. 24
174 days
24 April 1925 LHB Portsmouth FC (FL 6th) 4 0
7
Finney, Thomas 27
193 days
5 April 1922 OR/IL Preston North End FC (FL2 2nd) 20 14
the 21st player to reach the 20-app milestone
8
Mortensen, Stanley H. 28
142 days
26 May 1921 IR/
RHB
Blackpool FC (FL 7th) 13 15
9
Milburn, John E.T. 25
157 days
11 May 1924 CF Newcastle United FC (FL 9th) 5 6
the 148th (15th post-war) brace, the 44th (7th post-war) hattrick scored
10
Shackleton, Leonard F. 27
165 days
3 May 1922 IL/IR Sunderland AFC (FL 13th) 3 0
11 Hancocks, John 30
167 days
30 April 1919 OL/OR Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP) 2 2
reserve: Phil Taylor (Liverpool FC (FL 2nd))
team notes: Shortly before half-time, Billy Wright had been injured, he tore a thigh muscle.
Milburn's hat-trick is England's first in World Cup qualifying, and the 25th in the British Championships.
 
2-3-5 Williams -
Mozley, Aston -
Wright
(Mortensen), Franklin, Dickinson -
Finney
(Hancocks), Mortensen (Shackleton), Milburn, Shackleton (Finney), Hancocks (Wright).
notes: "The withdrawal of Wright from right-half necessitated a series of changes, with Hancocks in his normal position on the right-wing partnered by Shackleton, and Finney, at inside-left, while Mortensen dropped back to right-half." - Monday, 17 October 1949, Western Daily Press.
Averages: Age 27 years 69 days Appearances/Goals 9.9 3.1
 
              Match Report by Mike Payne

Anxious to get back to winning ways after their humiliating defeat by the Republic of Ireland the previous month, England went to Cardiff to face Wales in front of 61,000 passionate home supporters packed into Ninian Park.

A rousing version of Men of Harlech greeted the two teams and for the first 20 minutes Wales put the England defence under extreme pressure. Bert Mozley and John Aston both made slight errors but quickly recovered before any damage was done.

Neil Franklin and Bert Williams both had treatment after severe buffetings from the powerful Ford, and when Griffiths cut inside Aston to shoot just over, Wales scented victory. However, within the space of 12 hectic minutes, a breathtaking burst by England saw them take a 3-0 lead.

After 22 minutes Jackie Milburn, taking a pass from Billy Wright, brought Sidlow to a full-length save. From the resultant corner, taken by Tom Finney, the ball was brilliantly headed back by Milburn for Stan Mortensen to head into the net.

Seconds later, England were celebrating another goal. This time a clever move between Mortensen and Johnny Hancocks ended with Sidlow clawing away the winger's centre untidily. Finney quickly lobbed the ball back into the middle, where Milburn glided it into the net.

Almost at once it was 3-0. Milburn, who was looking better than any England number-nine since Tommy Lawton, strode through the hesitant Welsh defence to score after a well-timed pass from Len Shackleton. The crowd were well and truly silenced, and although territorially the scoreline was unrepresentative of the play, there was no disputing England's finishing power.

An early second-half injury to Wright upset England's rhythm and the skipper spent much of this half hobbling out on the left wing. This meant several positional changes for the visitors and, as a result, Wales had most of the play. They attacked for long spells. Burgess almost scored with a 30-yard blockbuster and Mozley cleared off the line from Ford.

Yet, amazingly, and ironically it was England who scored again.

Good work by Shackleton and Finney, (who cut out the over-elaboration to produce one of his best games), set up Milburn to once again beat Sidlow with a header. With Williams also now hobbling and only able to throw the ball, it seemed odds-on that Wales would score. But it was not until ten minutes from the end that they did. This time it was Griffiths who finally beat Williams after the goalkeeper had saved brilliantly from Ford.

It was unfortunate that Wright's injury has disrupted the England forward line as their first-half performance had shown considerable promise.
   

              Match Report by Norman Giller

The four home countries had agreed to take part in the World Cup for the first time, and FIFA dictated that the Home Championship should be the qualifying stage for the finals in Brazil in the summer of 1950. The first two teams were to qualify, but Scotland announced that they would only go if they won the Home Championship.
This was the first ever World Cup qualifying match in which England or Wales had taken part. Jackie Milburn scored a spectacular hat-trick, and England won comfortably despite having Billy Wright struggling on the wing for most of the second-half with a torn thigh muscle. The game was virtually settled during an England blitz midway through the first-half when they scored three goals in twelve minutes. Milburn made it 4-0 when he completed his hat-trick to puncture an attempted revival by Wales, who had to be content with a late goal by Mal Griffiths after goalkeeper Bert Williams had saved brilliantly from Trevor Ford.  Even though he was a virtual passenger for much of the second half, Wright continued to have an influence on the match with his quiet words of encouragement.
 

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1950-51, page 23

For the match against Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on October 15th, only Finney was retained in the forward-line. The newcomers were Mortensen (Blackpool), Milburn (Newcastle), Shackleton (Sunderland) and Hancocks (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
The new forward-line worked together well, Mortensen scored from a centre by Milburn in the 20th minute; five minutes later Milburn scored again. England's third goal, perhaps the best of the match, began with a swift exchange of passes between Wright and Dickinson, followed by a fifty-yard dribble by Shackleton, and ended with a low drive by Milburn into the net.
In the second-half the forward-line did not function as well as in the first half, and the defence was under great pressure. Williams made one of his best saves of the day when he turned a thirty-yard drive from Burgess over the bar. Soon afterwards Milburn completed his hat-trick by heading England's fourth goal. Griffiths replied for Wales two minutes later.

 

       In Other News....
It was on 16 October 1949 that the Greek Civil War came to an end after three years of fighting when the communist rebels surrendered, with many fleeing the country into Albania.
  
              Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Official Matchday Programme
Wales' Complete Who's Who since 1946
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
Clive Leatherdale's England's Quest For The World Cup
British Pathé
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