The England Party for the match against Spain  November 1955
Player	Birthdate	Age	Pos	Club	starts	subs	App	G	Capt
Atyeo, P. John W.	7 February 1932	23	IR	Bristol City FC	0	0	0	0	0
Baynham, Ronald L.	10 June 1929	26	GK	Luton Town FC	2	0	2	1ᵍᵃ	0
Byrne, Roger W.	8 September 1929	26	LB	Manchester United FC	16	0	16	0	0
Clayton, Ronald	5 August 1934	21	RHB	Blackburn Rovers FC	1	0	1	0	0
Dickinson, James W.	24 April 1925	30	LHB	Portsmouth FC	43	0	43	0	0
Edwards, Duncan	1 October 1936	19	LHB	Manchester United FC	4	0	4	0	0
Finney, Thomas	5 April 1922	33	OR	Preston North End FC	58	0	58	25	0
Hall, Jeffrey J.	7 September 1929	26	RB	Birmingham City FC	3	0	3	0	0
Haynes, John N.	17 October 1934	21	IL	Fulham FC	2	0	2	1	0
Jezzard, Bedford A.G.	19 October 1927	28	CF	Fulham FC	2	0	2	0	0
Kennedy, Joseph P.	15 November 1925	29	CHB	West Bromwich Albion FC	0	0	0	0	0
	Kennedy was dropped from the second party named on 21 November
Langley, E. James	7 February 1929	26	LB	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	0	0	0	0	0
	Langley was dropped from the second party named on 21 November
Lofthouse, Nathaniel	27 August 1925	30	CF	Bolton Wanderers FC	28	0	28	27	0
	Lofthouse was called into the party on 21 November
Matthews, Reginald D.	20 December 1932	22	GK	Coventry City FC	0	0	0	0ᵍᵃ	0
Perry, William A.	10 November 1930	24	OR	Blackpool FC	1	0	1	0	0
Revie, Donald G.	10 July 1927	28	IR	Manchester City FC	5	0	5	4	0
	Revie was drafted in as training cover for Taylor and Haynes in the first week of training
Sillett, R. Peter T.	1 February 1933	22	RB	Chelsea FC	3	0	3	0	0
	Sillett was called into the party on 21 November
Taylor, Thomas	29 January 1932	23	IL	Manchester United FC	5	0	5	2	0
	Taylor was not named in the second party named on 21 November, but was named on the teamsheet.
Wilshaw, Dennis J.	11 March 1926	29	IL	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	9	0	9	9	0
Wright, William A.	6 February 1924	31	RHB	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	71	0	71	3	56

All information is complete to and including England's last match, the third of the 1955-56 season, against Northern Ireland on 2 November 1955.

Diary

Friday, 29 October 1955 - The England team which meets Spain at the end of next month in the most important home international match of the year, will have three weeks' training before the match. And a party, not a team will be chosen in the first instance. The FA selectors will meet next Thursday, the day after England meet Ireland, to 'consider the result' and name a paty of 15 or 16 players to prepare for the Spanish match. The England men will link up with an FA XI which meets the Army at Newcastle on 9 November for training sessions. They will train and practise together on both subsequent Mondays and Tuesdays—November 14, 15, 21, 22—and meet in London on November 28 for their final match practise.

Thursday, 3 November 1955 - England have chosen seventeen players for the intensive training programme which is to be undertaken before the match with Spain. All the eleven who were involved in beating Northern Ireland yesterday are included, but the six brought in do not include Stan Matthews, controversially dropped for the match yesterday. The six added are Coventry City's goalkeeper Reg Matthews, Brighton's Jim Langley, the young Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor from Manchester United, West Brom's Joe Kennedy and Bristol City's John Atyeo. The selectors, having dropped players such as Williams, McGarry, Revie, Lofthouse and Stan Matthews, are appearing to reduce the age of the side.
The party will have a match practise against Birmingham City on Monday afternoon, 14 November, and against Aston Villa the following day. They will be back in Birmingham a week later, against opposition yet to be named.

Monday, 14 November 1955 - Manchester City's centre-forward, Don Revie, was told yesterday to report for training with the England party at Birmingham today. Manchester United's Tommy Taylor will be missing today as he strained a neck muscle on Saturday. Fulham's Johnny Haynes will also be missing as he has a minor operation on an ear abscess.
Aston Villa then held England to a 2-2 draw at Villa Park. Both sides scored in the first half-hour - Hickson for Villa and Finney for England. After the break, Martin headed through his own goal before McParland equalised. England, apart from losing Haynes and Taylor, were also without Billy Wright, who was nursing a slight leg injury. England lined up as: Baynham; Hall, Langley; Clayton, Kennedy, Dickinson; Finney, Atyeo, Jezzard, Revie and Perry. In a game of half-hour each way, there was little impressive about the work of the England players, being accused of being too leisurely. Changes were made for the second period, Matthews replacing Baynham, Byrne for Langley. Edwards for Dickinson and Wilshaw for Atyeo.

Tuesday, 15 November 1955 - England moved on to St. Andrews to train, and the 35 minute each-way practise match ended in a 2-1 victory for England. They lined up as: Baynham; Hall, Byrne; Clayton, Kennedy, Dickinson; Finney, Revie, Jezzard, Wilshaw and Perry. Without exerting themselves, they looked more impressive in the second half when Revie moved to inside-left and Atyeo came in as inside-right, as well as Langley appearing as left-back. The side look far more competent. Emphasis was placed on long balls down the wing, so little was seen of Jezzard. Reg Matthews played in goal for Birmingham City, instead of the injured Gil Merrick, who has a swollen hand. Gordon Astall scored for City from a penalty following a Clayton handball. Jezzard and Finney scoring goals for England.
The only player in the party of fifteen who did not feature was Duncan Edwards, who is in the British Army side to meet Aston Villa in Aldershot tonight.

Wednesday, 16 November 1955 - The England team will be chosen next Monday. They will then train at Molineux with Wolverhampton Wanderers, and they day after, face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.

Monday, 21 November 1955 - A new list of sixteen players have been selected to train in The Midlands this week with the team now being announced next Sunday. Nat Lofthouse has been included, as has Chelsea's Peter Sillett. Although the uncapped Joe Kennedy and Jim Langley miss out, as does the injured Tommy Taylor. The omission of the players does not mean they have no chance of selection for the match, although their prospects are considerably reduced. An FA official said that places in the team would not necessarily be confined to the 16 players on the list. That fact may provide comfort for the admirers of Stan Matthews, who has again, been passed over.

Tuesday, 22 November 1955 - Wolverhampton Wanderers, without Bill Slater, Bert Williams and Billy Wright, fought hard to draw 2-2 with the England side. The England side began with: Baynham; Hall, Byrne; Clayton, Wright, Dickinson; Finney, Atyeo, Jezzard, Haynes and Perry. In the Wolves side, however, was Dennis Wilshaw. For the second half, Reg Matthews, Peter Sillett and Duncan Edwards replaced, Baynham, Hall and DIckinson, and the team showed greater speed and understanding.  Atyeo and Haynes scored for England, Murray and WIlshaw for Wolves. Between the two sessions, the England party spent some time on corner kick practise.

Wednesday, 23 November 1955 - The England party are held to a draw for the second successive day by a club side, as they were held to a 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion. Winterbottom called on this side for the first period: Matthews; Sillett, Byrne; Clayton, Wright, Edwards; Finney, Wilshaw, Jezzard, Haynes and Perry. After twenty minutes, Baynham replaced Matthews in goal, and Lofthouse, Hall, Dickinson and Atyeo came in for Jezzard, Sillett, Edwards and Wilshaw. Ronnie Allen scored for West Brom after 25 minutes, but it was Joe Kennedy who was Albion's best player. Tom Finney equalised for England just before the end.

Sunday, 27 November 1955 - The England team to meet Spain shows two changes from that which defeated Northern Ireland, with the possibility of a third. Bristol City's John Atyeo comes in at inside right, allowing Johnny Haynes to move to inside left in place of Dennis Wilshaw, and if Nat Lofthouse is fit, he is struggling with a thigh injury, and he will replace Beddy Jezzard. Four reserves are named, including Tommy Taylor, the only member who was not in the second named party.
Walter Winterbottom and Billy Wright are in Dublin watching Spain draw 2-2 with Republic of Ireland.

Monday, 28 November 1955 - The England team return to Stamford Bridge to train, as the Spaniards, recently returned from Dublin, loosen up just a few miles away at Craven Cottage, Fulham. Both Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney pass fitness tests. Both Finney and Roger Byrne were practicing penalties against emergency goalkeeper John Atyeo. Whilst the goalkeepers, Matthews and Baynham, dealt with a barrage of shots from Billy Wright and his colleagues. Afterwards, the team watched a full-length film of the Spanish draw with the Republic of Ireland that was played yesterday, provided to them by the ITA.

England Form: last six games
L D L W L W  f 11:a 8  success: 42%
295	15 May 1955 - France 1 England 0 [1-0] Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris (54,696)	Kopa (pen)	tour	AL
296	18 May 1955 - Spain 1 England 1 [0-1] Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid (125,000)	Rial Bentley		AD
297	22 May 1955 - Portugal 3 England 1 [1-1] Estádio do FC Porto, Oporto (55,000)	Águas (2), Matateu Bentley		AL
298	2 October 1955 - Denmark 1 England 5 [0-3] Idrætsparken, København (>50,000)	Lundberg Revie (2 (1 pen)), Lofthouse (2), Bradford	Fr	AW
299	22 October 1955 - Wales 2 England 1 [2-0] Ninian Park, Cardiff (60,000)	Tapscott, Jones J.Charles OG	BC	AL
300	2 November 1955 - England 3 Northern Ireland 0 [0-0] Empire Stadium, Wembley (58,000)	Wilshaw (2), Finney		HW