A record crowd packed into the Idraetspark Stadium to see this match which was arranged as part of the promotion of the British Exhibition which was in full swing in the Danish capital. Even the King and Queen of Denmark were there to see the stars of the English side. Alas, the game did not live up to the occasion, only bursting into life now and again.

For the first 20 minutes Denmark largely controlled the proceedings. Urged on by an enthusiastic crowd they went at England at the visitors, without several leading players, for varying reasons, struggled to get going. Billy Wright spent the most of this early part of the match covering the mistakes of his nervous colleagues and even he looked nervous at times. As a result the Danes created several openings.

A fine move at the start between Hansen, O.Andersen and Jacobsen ended with Olesen bursting through a gap to fire a shot just over the England crossbar. The lively Lundberg also gave England's defence some problems and he went very close with one effort.

But in the 26th minute, the game dramatically changed its course. Tom Finney gained possession and set off on a mazy dribble. As he beat a defender to dart into the penalty area another defender bundled the Preston winger off the ball for an obvious penalty. Don Revie coolly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot and after that England settled down. Just after the goal Brogger left the field injured to be replaced by Jorgensen and within the space of the next 15 minutes, England killed off the remaining Danish challenge.

First, a clever lob by Jeff Hall into the goalmouth found Henriksen wanting as he was challenged and the ball ran loose. Geoff Bradford's shot was then blocked, but Lofthouse was on hand to latch on to the second rebound to score from close range.

Then shortly before half-time, England scored the best goal of the match. Wright and Bill McGarry sent Bradford off on a long run down the left. When he centred, Finney cleverly dummied the defence to allow Lofthouse the easiest of chances from close in.

So, after a shaky start, England had moved into an unassailable lead by half-time, although in truth it was hardly deserved on their overall display.

The second half was equally unimpressive. England, three up and coasting, and Denmark, struggling to get their part-time players to raise their game a level, failed to lift the match out of its mediocrity. However, one player did stand out in the gloom and that was Revie. His positional play, passing and general all round contribution always caught the eye. The rest of the attack failed to gel, though, and moved in fits and starts.

Finney, when he played on the left, often seemed to over-elaborate and his left foot dribbling style seemed better suited to the right wing. Jackie Milburn never reproduced the speed and dash of his club form, and Bradford, hard though he worked, did not seem international class.

Having said all that, England still created all the chances and added goal number four just after the turn round. This came when Revie fired in a super shot on the run from 20 yards after a clever flick by Milburn.

England missed many more chances as the Danes tired but Lundberg did bring the crowd back to life when he headed past Ron Baynham for a consolation goal. Just before the end Bradford rounded off the scoring when he ran on to a long forward pass by Milburn which split the defence to shoot past the hapless Henriksen.
    

Luton goalkeeper Ron Baynham, Birmingham City right-back Jeff Hall and Bristol Rovers inside-left Geoff Bradford all made debuts. Bradford, a consistent force with Rovers in the Second Division and winning his only cap, scored the fifth and final goal eight minutes from the end after a hat-trick from Don Revie (including a penalty) and the usual goal from Lofthouse had floored the Danes. Hall and Byrne were to partner each other at full-back for seventeen successive matches, with only one defeat. This match was played on a Sunday in front of the King and Queen of Denmark to coincide with a British Trades Fair. So as not to weaken club sides for the previous day's League programme, the Party was chosen on a one club, one man basis. In eight instances the players were paired off from the Saturday games so that their clubs were equally weakened. Don Revie had just started experimenting with his Hidegkuti-style deep-lying centre-forward role with Manchester City, but he played as an orthodox inside-right alongside Nat Lofthouse in this match and the pair of them together were always too much of a handful for the Danish defenders.
       

DURING season 1955-56 the International Selection Committee's policy of developing young players by means of 'B' and 'Under-23' matches began to reveal itself. No fewer than nine English players have already worked their way through the various preliminary teams to reach full international status: Haynes, Clayton, Hall, Edwards, Perry, Byrne, R. Matthews, and Atyeo. It is perhaps relevant to note that similar policies are being adopted to an increasing extent abroad, now that European teams are obliged to make changes as the time comes for the great players of a few years ago to be gradually replaced.
In order to show the English selectors' policy more clearly, it is perhaps best to describe all the international matches - full, 'B', and 'Under-23' in chronological order. Making due allowances for injuries and loss of form, it will be apparent that the selectors have pursued a definite and recognizable policy which, on the whole, has produced satisfactory results.

A record crowd of 53,000 including King Frederik and Queen Ingrid, watched this match at Copenhagen on October 2nd. It was an even game for the first 20 minutes; then Finney was tripped in the penalty-area and Revie scored from the resulting penalty. Lofthouse scored after 33 minutes and again just before half-time, after clever play by Revie. The latter again scored with a fine shot soon after the interval. Lundberg next headed in for Denmark's only goal, but Bradford retaliated to make it 5-1. Wright and Revie were the successes of an England eleven which was superior in all departments, but whose finishing was only moderate.
In view of the special nature of this celebration match the England team was selected on the basis of no more than one player per club.