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Results 1950-1955                     Page Last Updated 4 February 2024

Portuguesa

 
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319 vs. Portugal
Sunday, 22 May 1955
End of Season Tour Match

Portugal 3 England 1
[1-1]
 

This week's Music Charts

Estádio do Futebol Clube do Porto (das Antas), Avenida Fernão de Magalhães, Oporto
Kick-off (WEST & BST): 5.00pm
Attendance: 55,000.
unknown kicked off

[1-1] José Águas 24
 a 25-yard chance shot after Wright slipped up
[0-1] Roy Bentley 18
20-yard drive following a neat pass from Dennis Wilshaw
5.45 Motor Racing
6.0
Portugal v. England
6.45
Portugal Sings and Dances. 7.0 News and Newsreel
[1-2] Matateu 79
 scored a cracking goal after taking the ball from Byrne's feet
[1-3] José Águas 83
 picked up Wright's mis-header to Williams
 
second-half live on the Radio Light Programme - commentators: tbc
 
"NOW WE ARE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF EUROPE" Clifford Webb, Daily Herald
Officials from Italy Portugal FIFA ruling on substitutes England Party
Referee
Giorgio Francesco Valentino Bernardi
37 (16 May 1912), Bologna, Italy
Linesmen
tbc tbc
   
Portugal Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 34th to 31st
Colours Maroon jerseys, white shorts, black socks
Captain Manuel Passos Manager João Joaquim Tavares da Silva, 51 (29 November 1903)
Portugal Lineup
  Pereira, Alberto da Costa 25
146 days
23 December 1929 G Sport Lisboa e Benfica 1 1ᵍᵃ
2 Caldeira, Manuel António 28
155 days
14 December 1926 RB Sporting Club de Portugal 3 0
final app 1954-55
3 Carvalho, Ângelo Ferreira 29
288 days
3 August 1925 LB FC do Porto 15 0
final app 1950-55
4 Pedroto, José Maria Carvalho 26
209 days
21 October 1928 RHB FC do Porto 3 0
5 Passos Fernandes, Manuel 33
111 days
26 March 1922 CHB Sporting Club de Portugal 9 0
6 Juca 26
125 days
13 January 1929 LHB Sporting Club de Portugal 2 0
Pereira, Júlio Cernadas 
7 Dimas, José Roméo 25
15 days
7 May 1930 OR CF Os Belenenses 1 0
8
Matateu 27
296 days
26 July 1927
in Mozembique
IR CF Os Belenenses 9 2
da Fonseca, Sebastião Lucas 
9
de Carvalho Santos Águas, José Pinto 24
190 days
9 November 1930
in Angola
CF Sport Lisboa e Benfica 6 4
10 Barreto Travassos, José António 29
85 days
22 February 1926 IL Sporting Club de Portugal 28 6
11 Bilãu, José Pedro, injured off 36th min. 23
38 days
10 April 1932 OL Lusitano FC 1 0
Portugal Substitute
scoreline: Portugal 1 England 1
  Martins, João Baptista, on 36th min. for José Pedro 27
257 days
3 September 1927 OL Sporting Club de Portugal 7 0
result: Portugal 3 England 1
unused substitutes: not known
team : "Portugal had won only one of their previous 19 internationals, and that was against the amateurs of South Africa." - Clifford Webb. In fact, Portugal had not won for six years, since they beat Wales in May 1949
 
2-3-5 Pereira -
Caldeira, Carvalho -
Pedroto, Passos, Juca -
Dimas, Matateu, Águas, Travssos, José Pedro
Averages: (start)
(finish)
Age 27 years 80 days
27 years 233 days
Appearances/Goals 7.1 0.8
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 5th
Colours The 1954 Umbro home uniform - White v-necked short-sleeved continental jerseys, blue rayon shorts, black socks with white tops.
P fifth of 43, W 2 - D 1 - L 2 - F 12 - A 9.
Captain Billy Wright Manager Walter Winterbottom, 42 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
record 53rd of 90, W 30 - D 10 - L 13 - F 130 - A 84. P 71st of 139, W 43 - D 14 - L 14 - F 204 - A 105, one abandoned.
  ³ Team chosen by Selection Committee, headed by Harold Shentall, on Saturday, 21 May.
England Lineup
  one change to the previous match (Blunstone>Quixall) FINAL league positions (5 May)  
  Williams, Bert F. 35
111 days
31 January 1920 G Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL RU) 23 32ᵍᵃ
2 Sillett, R. Peter T. 22
110 days
1 February 1933 RB Chelsea FC (FL CHAMPIONS) 3 0
final app 1955 
3 Byrne, Roger W. 25
256 days
8 September 1929 LB Manchester United FC (FL 5th) 13 0
4 Dickinson, James W. 30
28 days
24 April 1925 RHB Portsmouth FC (FL 3rd) 40 0
the fifth player to reach the 40-app milestone
5 Wright, William A. 31
105 days
6 February 1924 CHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL RU) 68 3
most apps 1952-55 
6 Edwards, Duncan 18
233 days
1 October 1936 LHB Manchester United FC (FL 5th) 4 0
7 Matthews, Stanley 40
110 days
1 February 1915 OR Blackpool FC (FL 19th) 45 9
oldest outfield player 
8
Bentley, T.F. Roy 31
5 days
17 May 1924 IR/CF Chelsea FC (FL CHAMPIONS) 12 9
final app 1949-55
9 Lofthouse, Nathaniel, injured off 39th min. 29
268 days
27 August 1925 CF Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 18th) 26 25
10
Wilshaw, Dennis J. 29
72 days
11 March 1926 IL Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL RU) 7 7
11 Blunstone, Frank 20
217 days
17 October 1934 OL Chelsea FC (FL CHAMPIONS) 4 0
England Substitute
scoreline: Portugal 1 England 1
  Quixall, Albert, on 39th min. for Lofthouse 21
286 days
9 August 1933
 
IR
 
Sheffield Wednesday FC (FL 22nd rel.)
 
5 4 0
1
final app 1953-55
result: Portugal 3 England 1
unused substitutes: not named, but certainly Reg Matthews (Coventry City FC (FL3S 9th))
team notes: Billy Wright extends his record appearance tally. He also equals his own consecutive appearance record of 33.
Quixall becomes England's second ever substitute in a full international, he did so after Lofthouse was accidentally kicked in the head, giving him a nasty facial injury.
records: This defeat equals an England record of five away friendly matches without victory, set in 1873-80.
goalscoring records: Roy Bentley ends the season as top goalscorer, scoring six goals in six matches, including one hattrick. The oldest player to top the chart since George Camsell (33) in 1935-36.
 
2-3-5 Williams -
Sillett, Byrne -
Dickinson, Wright, Edwards -
Matthews, Bentley, Lofthouse
(Quixall), Wilshaw, Blunstone.
: for the second half, Bentley swapped positions with Quixall
Averages: (start)
(finish)
Age 28 years 206 days
27 years 297 days
Appearances/Goals 22.3 4.7
 
              Match Report by Mike Payne

England, with a defeat in Paris and a draw in Madrid, tried to end their 1955 summer tour on a higher note against Portugal. But the dismal run continued after Portugal registered their first victory over them.

To be fair, England should never have lost this match. They had most of the possession, but failed miserably in front of goal, showing a distinct, and annoying reluctance to shoot. Coupled with this they then made two terrible blunders in defence in the last ten minutes and consequently lost the game.

Yet it had all started brightly enough. In the 19th minute Roy Bentley gave England the lead with a good shot following a delightful move involving Bentley, Jimmy Dickinson and Dennis Wilshaw. Sadly, that turned out to be their only worthwhile goal attempt of the opening half. After 24 minutes England's defence was caught dreaming and the lapse enabled Portugal to level the scores with a 25-yard screamer by Águas which flew into the top left-hand corner of Bert Williams' goal.

De Fonseca, always dangerous, and Travassos both went close afterwards but on the whole the half continued to favour England. But despite their long periods of possession it could not be turned into goals. Passos was a tower of strength for the home side and the England forwards, although showing their undoubted skill, could find little to encourage them.

There was a distinctly lethargic look about the England players, although the irrepressible Billy Wright was the exception. He was his usual immaculate self, inspiring his colleagues with a fine performance. Wright covered the many errors of his teammates with the minimum of fuss and yet still found time to urge on his forwards. The rest of the team did not respond to their skipper's example as they should have done.

The opening 25 minutes of the second half saw England surging forward and in this spell they should have put the result out of Portugal's reach. First Bentley and Wilshaw combined to create an opening, but Bentley tried one pass too many and the chance was lost. Then Albert Quixall, who had substituted for Nat Lofthouse, missed a sitter from close in when he ought to have scored. Finally, Wilshaw saw a header rebound off the crossbar when, again, he ought to have done better. Stanley Matthews had set up that last chance with a typical piece of skill, but apart from that, the Blackpool wizard was largely subdued by the hard-working Portuguese defence.

With ten minutes to go, England made a fatal error. They were pressing hard for a winner when Portugal made a rare break from defence. When Roger Byrne gathered the ball to clear it seemed the attack had broken down. But the ever alert de Fonseca chased Byrne and challenged for the ball. In a flash the coloured striker robbed the full-back before striding on to shoot past Williams. The crowd went wild with delight as the possibility of a famous victory was sensed.

Four minutes later they were even more ecstatic as that possibility became fact. This time, Wright, making his only mistake of the game, tried a back-header that fell short of Williams. Águas nipped in smartly and once again the goalkeeper was helpless.

At the end of the game the scenes at the stadium were reminiscent of a team winning the World Cup!

  

              Match Report by Norman Giller

England were disjointed from the moment Nat Lofthouse went off injured with the score at 1-1. Albert Quixall came on as substitute in what was his final England appearance. It was also Roy Bentley's last match for England after twelve appearances in three different shirts over a period of six years. His nineteenth minute goal could not save England from their first defeat by Portugal. Defensive errors let the Portuguese in for two late goals and a famous victory. Stanley Matthews and Billy Wright were the only players on the pitch who had featured in the 10-0 slaughter of  Portugal in Lisbon eight years earlier. Billy Wright owned up to being responsible for Portugal's third goal. Trying to find our goalkeeper Bert Williams with a back header, he misdirected the ball and it opened the way for an easy goal. You would have thought Portugal had won the World Cup when the final whistle went. thousands of spectators poured on to the pitch, and mobbed their players. It just went to show that beating England was still counted as the big prize.
   

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1955-56 page 30

The third and final match of the tour was played in Oporto, and England were unfortunately beaten by three goals to one. It had been hoped that this last game would make up for previous disappointments, but the team as a whole again failed to rise to the occasion. The defence made three costly mistakes, while the forwards wasted a number of good chances to take the lead when the score was still one all. Bentley opened the scoring with a fine shot at the 18th minute, but Portugal were level at the interval (Aguas). England frittered away her opportunities in the second half until in the final ten minutes two defensive lapses gave Portugal a clear win (Matateu, Aguas). While the result will undoubtedly do a lot of good to Portuguese football, it was a sad and dismal end to a somewhat discouraging tour.
  

       In Other News....
It was on 21 May 1955 that the Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, presented a Conservative Election Broadcast on BBC Television, five days before the General Election. His confident speaking was felt to be a major factor in his party increasing their majority in the House of Commons from 17 to sixty seats. He had called the election on becoming Prime Minister following Sir Winston Churchill's retirement, seven weeks earlier.
              Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
FPF.pt
ZeroZero.pt
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
The Complete Book of the British Charts
cg