The England Party for the Match against Wales  November 1954
Player	Birthdate	Age	Pos	Club	starts	subs	App	G	Capt
Allen, Ronald	15 January 1929	25	OR	West Bromwich Albion FC	3	0	3	1	0
Bentley, T.F. Roy	17 May 1924	30	IR	Chelsea FC	8	0	8	3	0
Blunstone, Frank	17 October 1934	20	OL	Chelsea FC	0	0	0	0	0
	Blunstone was called into the team on 8 November as a replacement for Lofthouse
Byrne, Roger W.	8 September 1929	25	LB	Manchester United FC	7	0	7	0	0
Dickinson, James W.	24 April 1925	29	LHB	Portsmouth FC	38	0	38	0	0
Foulkes, William A.	5 January 1932	22	RB	Manchester United FC	1	0	1	0	0
Haynes, John N.	17 October 1934	20	IL	Fulham FC	1	0	1	1	0
Hooper, Harry	14 June 1933	21	OR	West Ham United FC	0	0	0	0	0
Lofthouse, Nathaniel	27 August 1925	29	CF	Bolton Wanderers FC	22	0	22	23	0
	Lofthouse withdrew from the team on 8 November because of a thigh injury
Matthews, Stanley	1 February 1915	39	OR	Blackpool FC	39	0	39	10	0
McGarry, William H.	10 June 1927	27	RHB	Huddersfield Town AFC	2	0	2	0	0
Phillips, Leonard H.	11 September 1922	32	RHB	Portsmouth FC	1	0	1	0	0
Revie, Donald G.	10 July 1927	27	IR	Manchester City FC	1	0	1	1	0
Shackleton, Leonard F.	3 May 1922	32	IL	Sunderland AFC	3	0	3	0	0
Slater, William J.	29 April 1927	27	LHB	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	0	0	0	0	0
Staniforth, Ronald	13 April 1924	30	RB	Huddersfield Town AFC	6	0	6	0	0
Wood, Raymond E.	11 June 1931	23	GK	Manchester United FC	1	0	1	0ᵍᵃ	0
Wright, William A.	6 February 1924	30	RHB	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	62	0	62	3	47

All information is complete to and including England's last match, the first of the 1954-55 season, against Northern Ireland on 2 October 1954.

Diary

Monday, 18 October 1954 - Instead of picking an England team to meet Wales next month, the selectors will announce a party of fifteen or sixteen players for a two week's training spell when they meet on Wednesday week. Private trial matches will be played against clubs in the London area. Players will be released at week-ends for their normal League games, returning to 'International Headquarters' on Mondays. Unless there is a gigantic flop against Wales, the same group of players will undergo similar preparation for the match against Germany on 24 November.

Saturday, 23 October 1954 - Watching at Molineux were England selectors, A.H. Oakley and D.F. Wiseman, and team manager, Walter Winterbottom. Bill Slater, the Wolves, right-half, had a great game and has probably played himself into the number 10 shirt. Bert Williams, who lost the number one shirt to Gil Merrick three years ago, also  did well, and Billy Wright, as well as Slater, did enough to play Ronnie Allen out of the game.

Wednesday, 27 October 1954 - After a meeting lasting ninety minutes, seventeen players have been selected by the Football Association for special training in London next Monday and Tuesday in preparation for the match. The England team will be selected on Sunday, 7 November. The players will practise at Charlton on Monday afternoon and at Chelsea on Tuesday morning, both those clubs will provide opposition teams for practise matches.
Although the selectors have delayed final selection, which will be from one goalkeeper, three full-backs, five half-backs and eight forwards, they have chosen no recognised left-winger. Brian Pilkington has been dropped despite playing in the last match, and Tom Finney, who withdrew from the last team because of injury, has also been dropped at his own request, to give him time to recooperate. The only wingers chosen both ply their trade on the right, Stan Matthews and Harry Hooper. Hooper is one of two uncapped players, the other being Bill Slater. The task of the left wing may be left to Hooper, who was tried their by West Ham, with limited success, or Ronnie Allen/Roy Bentley, both centre-forwards who have a tendency to wander. However, Allen has been selected on the left for an FA Representative side against the Army side next week. Another interesting selection is that of Portsmouth's Len Phillips, who was capped three years ago as an inside-left. This season, his club have moved to right-half, which is where his country has picked him, and he may well play alongside his teammate, Jimmy Dickinson.

Monday, 1 November 1954 - Len Shackleton will not take part in this afternoon's practise session between England and Charlton Athletic. He has returned to Sunderland for treatment for a thigh injury. The other sixteen are reported as being fit.
Ronnie Allen quietly took the first hurdle in his struggle to regain a place in England's team, as a left winger, at The Valley, Charlton, this afternoon. Of the seventeen players in line for places, only fourteen took part in the practise hour-long session. On the whole, the experiment was successful, and although Allen was rarely seen in the first half, he produced some clever football in the second half. Billy Wright was the best player in the team, but the match was by no means a spectacle for the hundreds of schoolboys that were allowed into the ground. Charlton Athletic, who were fielding their regular League side, with the exception of Fenton replacing Firmani, won 2-1, Kiernan and Ayre their scorers, Slater scoring for England. The first-half line up for England was: Wood: Staniforth, Byrne; Phillips, Wright, Slater; Matthews, Bentley, Lofthouse, Haynes and Allen. In the second half, Foulkes, McGarry and Dickinson replaced Staniforth, Phillips and Slater. Revie and Hooper were slightly hurt, so could not turn out, Shackleton will return for tomorrow mornings practise session.

Tuesday, 2 November 1954 - At Stamford Bridge, the selectors kept Nat Lofthouse at centre-forward and Ronnie Allen on the left. Doubts concern the right side and inside-forward positions. Harry Hooper played well and even scored against a fairly strong Chelsea team. Roy Bentley, who came on with Stan Matthews as replacements for Hooper and Haynes, also scored in the 2-0 victory. Len Shackleton, at inside-left to Allen, was more prominent with Matthews than he was with Hooper. Jimmy Dickinson and Don Revie were rested from the match that had a twenty-minute first half and a forty-minute second half. Ron Staniforth is nursing a thigh muscle injury he picked up in yesterdays practise match. Bill McGarry missed the practise match as he was travelling to Sheffield to captain the FA team against the Army tomorrow.
The chosen XI will reassemble in London next Monday, have another practise match at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday, and watch the Arsenal vs. Spartak match on the evening.

Sunday, 7 November 1954 - The selectors have named the team to face Wales on Wednesday. There are no surprises, with Allen occupying the outside-left berth. Bill Slater, the only new cap, replaces Jimmy Dickinson, who has struggled with an early season injury, and has only just returned to form. The selectors also appear to be taking a chance on Staniforth, who took part in only one of last week's practises, but has missed the last two League games for his club, Huddersfield Town. Staniforth himself says he is certain to be fit for Wednesday. Nat Lofthouse, on the other hand, reported to Burnden Park yesterday, with a suspected pulled thigh muscle. He played against Arsenal yesterday on a heavy ground. But after day-long treatment with trainer Bert Sproston and his manager Bill Ridding, he will report fit in London tomorrow. Roger Byrne too, has had treatment, on a swollen ankle.

Monday, 8 November 1954 - Frank Blunstone, the 20-year-old Chelsea outside-left, will play for England. The unexpected announcement came from the Football Association in the evening after they had learned that Nat Lofthouse had withdrawn because of his injury. Earlier today, after another trial at Bolton's ground showed that inflammation had developed in the thigh. Allen, originally chosen for the left-wing, moves to centre-forward. Blunstone was only played two league games this season, as he is at present, with the army.

England Form: last six games
L L D W L W  f 11:a 16  success: 42%
286	16 May 1954 - Yugoslavia 1 England 0 [0-0] Stadion JNA, Beograd (59,000)	Mitić	tour	AL
287	23 May 1954 - Hungary 7 England 1 [3-0] Népstadion, Budapest (92,000)	Lantos, Puskás (2), Kocsis (2), Toth, Hidegkuti Broadis		AL
288	17 June 1954 - Belgium 4 England 4 [1-2]ᴭᵀ Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel (14,000)	Anoul (2), Coppens, Dickinson OG Broadis (2), Lofthouse (2)	WCF	ND
289	20 June 1954 - England 2 Switzerland 0 [1-0] Wankdorfstadion, Bern (43,119)	Mullen, Wilshaw		AW
290	26 June 1954 - Uruguay 4 England 2 [2-1] Sankt Jakob Stadium, Basel (28,000/50,000)	Borges, Varella, Schiaffino, Ambrois Lofthouse, Finney		NL
291	2 October 1954 - Northern Ireland 0 England 2 [0-0] Windsor Park, Belfast (59,000)	Haynes, Revie	BC	AW