|
"Keep
Four - Drop The Rest!"
Charles Buchan-Daily News |
Officials |
England |
FIFA ruling on substitutes |
France |
Referee (black)
John Alexander Mowat
44/45 (1906), Rutherglen |
|
flame flag
Linesmen
yellow flag |
A. Murdoch England |
Leon Boes France |
|
|
England
Team |
|
Rank |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 4th |
Colours |
The 1949 home
uniform -
White collared jerseys, blue shorts, black socks with white
tops.
|
P 19th of 43, W 12 - D 2 - L 5 - F
55 - A 30. |
Captain |
Billy Wright
|
Manager |
Walter Winterbottom, 38 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946; |
³ |
21st of 90, W 14 - D 1 - L 6 - F 54 - A 27. |
P 39thof 139, W 27 - D 5 - L 7 - F 123 - A 46. |
|
first draw under a Wright captaincy |
Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry,
on Monday, 22 September. |
England
Lineup |
|
five changes
to the previous match
(Eckersley, Nicholson, Taylor, Pearson & Metcalfe out) |
league position
(22 September) |
|
|
Williams, Bert F. |
31
245 days |
31 January 1920 |
G |
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
(FL 8th) |
17 |
23ᵍᵃ |
2 |
Ramsey, Alfred E. |
31
254 days |
22 January 1920 |
RB |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(FL 4th) |
15 |
0 |
707 |
3 |
Willis,
Arthur |
31
243 days |
2 February 1920 |
LB |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(FL 4th) |
1 |
0 |
the 21st Hotspur player to represent
England |
only app
1951 |
4 |
Wright, William A. |
27
239 days |
6 February 1924 |
RHB |
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC
(FL 8th) |
36 |
3 |
5 |
Chilton, Allenby |
33
17 days |
16 September 1918 |
CHB |
Manchester United FC
(FL 3rd) |
2 |
0 |
final app
1950-51 |
6 |
Cockburn,
Henry |
30
19 days |
14 September 1921 |
LHB |
Manchester
United FC (FL 10th) |
13 |
0 |
final app
1946-51 |
7
|
Finney,
Thomas |
29
181 days |
5 April 1922 |
OR |
Preston
North End FC (FL 7th) |
33 |
20 |
8
|
Mannion,
Wilfred J. |
33
140 days |
16 May 1918 |
IR |
Middlesbrough FC
(FL 13th) |
26 |
11 |
final app
1946-51 |
9 |
Milburn, John E.T. |
27
145 days |
11 May 1924 |
CF |
Newcastle United FC
(FL 10th) |
12 |
10 |
10 |
Hassall, Harold W. |
22
213 days |
4 March 1929 |
IL |
Huddersfield Town AFC
(FL 15th) |
4 |
2 |
11
|
Medley, Leslie D. |
31
30 days |
3 September 1920 |
OL |
Tottenham Hotspur FC
(FL 4th) |
3 |
1 |
unused
substitutes: |
Ted Ditchburn (Tottenham Hotspur FC
(FL 4th)),
Jimmy Dickinson (Portsmouth FC
(FL 9th))
and Doug Lishman (Arsenal FC (FL
5th)). |
|
2-3-5 |
Williams
- Ramsey, Willis - Wright, Chilton, Cockburn - Finney,
Mannion, Milburn, Hassall, Medley. |
Averages: |
Age |
29 years 358
days |
Appearances/Goals |
14.7 |
5.1 |
|
|
France
Team |
|
Rank |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 25th |
Colours |
Blue collared jerseys, white shorts, red socks. |
Captain |
Jean Baratte |
Selection |
Selection Committee on Monday, 22 September 1951. |
Trainer: Pierre Pibarot |
France
Lineup |
|
Vignal, René |
24
52 days |
12 August 1926 |
G |
RC de Paris |
7 |
20ᵍᵃ |
2 |
Grillon, André |
29
336 days |
1 November 1921 |
RB |
Olympique lyonnais |
13 |
0 |
3 |
Salva, Marcel |
26
2 days |
1 October 1922 in Algeria |
LB |
RC de Paris |
10 |
0 |
4 |
Firoud, Abdelkader |
31
12 days |
11 October 1919 in Algeria |
RHB |
Nîmes Olympique |
1 |
0 |
|
the 18th own goal scored for England |
|
|
|
5 |
Jonquet, Robert |
26
153 days |
3 May 1925 |
CHB |
Stade de Reims |
9 |
0 |
6 |
Bonifaci, Antoine |
20
29 days |
4 September 1931 |
LHB |
OGC Nice Côte d'Azur |
4 |
1 |
7
|
Alpsteg, René |
30
304 days |
3 December 1920 |
OR |
AS de Saint-Étienne Loire |
8 |
3 |
8 |
Baratte, Jean |
28
118 days |
7 June 1923 |
IR |
Lille Olympique SC |
25 |
18 |
9 |
Grumellon, Jean |
28
275 days |
1 January 1923 |
CF |
Stade rennais UC |
7 |
2 |
10
|
Flamion, Pierre |
26
294 days |
13 December 1924 |
IL |
Olympique lyonnais |
11 |
6 |
11
|
Doye, André |
27
18 days |
15 September 1924 |
OL |
FC des Girondins de
Bordeaux |
4 |
3 |
unused
substitutes: |
Marcel
Domingo (OGC Nice Côte d'Azur), Guy Huguet (AS de Saint-Étienne Loire) and Roger Boury
(CO Roubaix-Tourcoing). |
team notes: |
Firoud and Bonifaci exchanged wings and Grumellon replaced Andre
Strappe (Lille). |
|
2-3-5 |
Vignal
- Grillon, Salva - Firoud, Jonquet, Bonifaci - Alpsteg,
Baratte, Grumellon, Flamion, Doye. |
Averages: |
Age |
27 years 244
days |
Appearances/Goals |
9.0 |
2.8 |
|
|
Match Report by
Mike Payne |
This
results defied all the odds as France gained a draw that they deserved but
never expected. England gave a very indifferent display and would quickly
want to forget this match. At least they managed to retain their
proud unbeaten record against continental teams but they were lucky to
come away with a draw and could easily have lost.
The success France obtained was built largely
on a defensive display and they won few friends amongst the crowd with
their tactics.
England had an excellent start,
scoring in the fourth minute. A firm cross pass by Tom Finney was
unfortunately diverted beyond his own goalkeeper by Firoud. Then they
should have had a second when Harold Hassall was put clear by Henry
Cockburn's throw-in. Vignal did well to save Hassall's shot but a square
pass to the unmarked Jackie Milburn would probably have brought a more
positive result.
In the next 20 minutes, France hit back hard,
Inspired by Doye, their best player, they hit the crossbar with a cracker
from Baratte. The warning was there for England and shortly afterwards
France turned the game around with two goals in two minutes.
First
Allenby Chilton, who struggled throughout, failed to clear a corner taken
by Alpsteg and Doye was on hand to shoot home from close range. Almost at
once Doye, with some clever footwork and a quick pass, sent Arthur Willis
and Cockburn the wrong way and left Alpsteg with a clear chance. He shot
from an acute angle and the ball flew into the England net with the aid of
a deflection. England were stunned and watched as Grumellon and Alpsteg
tested Bert Williams. But gradually they began to fight back. Billy
Wright's long pass sent Milburn away only for the centre-forward's shot to
go just wide.
Just before half-time England equalised. A fine move
involving Alf Ramsey and Wilf Mannion ended with Les Medley cutting
through at inside-right to score.
That was the end of the scoring
and the second half was one of England battling against a well organised
and uncompromising French defence without any success. There was one
other dramatic moment in the half and it almost brought that record to an
end. Sloppy work by Willis and Cockburn gave Grumellon the chance to gain
possession and speed off towards goal unchallenged. Williams came out and,
although he went to his left, he somehow managed to reach back to his
right and parry his shot.
|
Match Report by
Norman Giller |
Les Medley's first goal for England and an own
goal saved a mediocre England team from a first home defeat by a foreign
side. France were robbed of a deserved victory when Bert Williams made a
desperate late save from French centre-forward Jacques Grumellon, who gave
centre-half Allenby Chilton a nightmare afternoon. Arthur Willis,
partnering his Spurs team-mate Alf Ramsey, was one of four players - along
with Chilton, Henry Cockburn and Wilf Mannion - who never played for
England again. It was a scrappy team performance and England's problems
continued in the middle of the defence. France could count themselves
unlucky not to have won by a convincing margin, and it was Wolves
goalkeeper Bert Williams who saved England from defeat with a succession
of Swift-standard saves.
|
Match Report
as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1952-53, page 24 |
Though England's form in the opening matches was disappointing, there are
many reasons to loo back at the 1951-52 International season with
satisfaction. England came through undefeated in eight matches, many of
which tested her severely, and shared the home Championship with gallant
little Wales. Of many lessons learned, mention should be made of the value
of close liaison with the Football League, the need to fit each selection
to the character of the opposition, and yet at the same time preserve as
much continuity as possible and to give outstanding players a fair chance
to become accustomed to the strain of International engagements.
The International season opened on October 3rd at Highbury with the match
against France. For both teams this was to some extent in the nature of a
trial match. The French, after a run of failures in the previous season,
had made a number of changes, and the England team, with many of her best
players then showing mixed form, took the field with a new cap in Willis
at left-back, Chilton returned to centre-half, and Mannion, recovered from
his facial operation, at inside-right to Finney. The game ended 2-2,
and for the French this was a triumph, England could only conclude that,
although her record of being unbeaten at home remained intact, her side
played decidedly below International form. Nevertheless, many seriously
underrated the French team, particularly as a month later at Paris they
also forced Austria to a 2-2 draw. England was given a lucky lead just
after the opening, when the French half-back, Firoud, unhappily put the
ball past his own goalkeeper. The French were undismayed, and following
some neat manœuvres, Doye, the left-winger, equalised with a fast
shot following a corner. Hardly a minute later Alpsteg, the other winger,
had put the visitors one up. The French forged ahead, but gradually
England recovered from the shock and before half-time had again been drawn
level when Medley completed a brilliant move by Ramsey and Mannion.
During nearly the whole of the second half the French stayed on the
defensive. They only gained 2 corner-kicks to England's 10, but the
English forward line was mostly ragged, uninspired, and unable to break
through. Indeed, during the dying moments France nearly won when a sudden
break-away by Grumellon, the centre-forward, was only just saved in a
desperate effort by Williams.
|
In Other News....
It was on 3 October 1951 that hopes faded for the four men
missing following a gas explosion, two days earlier, at the
Weetslade Colliery, near Newcastle upon Tyne. A fifth body had
already been found, but it would take almost two months to
recover the other bodies. |
|
Source Notes |
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports Allezlesbleus.free.fr FFF.fr |
|
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record
Norman Giller, Football Author Drew
Herbertson, Scottish FA historian
British Pathé |
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cg |