The England Party for the Continental Tour   Pre-Finland May 1956
Player	Birthdate	Age	Pos	Club	starts	subs	App	G	Capt
Astall, Gordon	22 September 1927	28	OR	Birmingham City FC	0	0	0	0	0
Atyeo, P. John W.	7 February 1932	24	IR	Bristol City FC	3	0	3	1	0
Berry, R. John	1 June 1926	29	OL	Manchester United FC	4	0	4	0	0
Bryne, Roger W.	8 September 1929	27	LB	Manchester United FC	20	0	20	0	0
Clayton, Ronald	5 August 1934	21	RHB	Blackburn Rovers FC	4	0	4	0	0
Cummings, Thomas S.	12 September 1928	27	CB	Burnley FC	0	0	0	0	0
Dickinson, James W.	24 April 1925	31	RHB	Portsmouth FC	45	0	45	0	0
	Dickinson withdrew from the party on 7 May because of an ankle injury.
Edwards, Duncan	1 October 1936	19	LHB	Manchester United FC	7	0	7	0	0
Grainger, Colin	10 June 1933	22	OL	Sheffield United FC	2	0	2	2	0
Hall, Jeffrey J.	7 September 1929	26	RB	Birmingham City FC	7	0	7	0	0
Haynes, John N.	17 October 1934	21	IL	Fulham FC	6	0	6	2	0
Lofthouse, Nathaniel	27 August 1925	30	CF	Bolton Wanderers FC	30	0	30	27	0
Matthews, Reginald D.	20 December 1932	23	G	Coventry City FC	3	0	3	3ᵍᵃ	0
	Matthews is injured for the match against Finland
Taylor, Thomas	29 January 1932	24	CF	Manchester United FC	8	0	8	4	0
Wheeler, John E.	26 July 1928	27	RHB	Bolton Wanderers FC	1	0	1	0	0
	Wheeler replaced Dickinson in the party on 7 May after his withdrawal.
Wilshaw, Dennis J.	11 March 1926	30	IL	Burnley FC	9	0	9	9	0
Wood, Raymond E.	11 June 1931	24	GK	Manchester United FC	2	0	2	2ᵍᵃ	0
Wright, William A.	6 February 1924	32	CHB	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	75	0	75	3	60

All information is complete to and including England's last match, the seventh of the 1955-56 season, against Sweden on 16 May 1956.

Diary

Friday, 27 April 1956 - The England team that will play Brazil for the first time has been announced, and Stan Matthews has finally earned a deserved recall from the selectors. It comes because Tom Finney is unavailable, Vic Groves is injured, Harry Hooper only has experience as a reserve and Peter Harris was a flop for the Football League match against the Irish counterparts. Matthews was due to fly to Kenya has part of a coaching mission on 9 May. There is a further surprise in the dropping of Bill Perry, replaced with Colin Grainger.
At the same time, the party to tour the continent was also chosen. It excludes Stan Matthews, but does include the the uncapped Tommy Cummings and Gordon Astall. Johnny Berry has been recalled after three years away from the international scene.
At the same time in Lausanne, England and Republic of Ireland were drawn together in Group One of the European Zone of the 1958 World Cup, alongside Denmark.

Monday, 30 April 1956 - Following the news of Grainger's inclusion in the party, Bill Perry was told he will be taking Grainger's place in the FA Tour of South Africa. Fulham's Bobby Robson takes the place of Leyton Orient's Ron Heckman, who drops out because of a fractured jaw.

Thursday, 3 May 1956 - The invited party reported in London today for a practise session at the Bank of England ground in Roehampton. In half an hour's warming up before the practise match, Stan Matthews and Nat Lofthouse, two of the oldest players on view, ran a mile round the ground. Unfortunately, as the team were doing laps, Jimmy Dickinson felt a twinge in his left ankle. He missed out on the practise match, as did Jeff Hall, who will be playing for Birmingham City at the FA Cup Final on Saturday, and was with his club in Twyford, so his place at right-back went to Tommy Cummings. The opposition was drawn from other members of the Continental party and South African tour plus some London club players (Reynolds; Charlton, Evans; Greenwood, Owen, Marchi; Hurst, Ayre, Lofthouse, Bloomfield and Tucker).

Monday, 7 May 1956 - The FA have stated today that Portsmouth's wing-half, Jimmy Dickinson, has withdrawn from the England party because of his ankle injury. His place in the team to face Brazil has gone to Ronnie Clayton. However, the selectors have called up Bolton Wanderers' Johnny Wheeler to replace Dickinson for the Continental tour. Wheeler last played for England in October 1954.
After lunch at Roehampton, the party played a fast 20 minute each-way game against a side composed of the best of the England tour men plus some London club players. The result was a draw, Tottenham's Duquemin scored for the Rest and Taylor brilliantly headed in the equaliser. Despite the heat, Stanley Matthews showed great speed off the mark. FA Cup runner-up Jeff Hall was on hand to help his England teammates.

Wednesday, 9 May 1956 - The morning newspapers are convinced that this will be Stan Matthews last ever appearance in an England shirt.
    "Stanley Matthews will pull the white shirt of England over his slender shoulders for the last time today. The cap he wins against Brazil at Wembley will be his last." - Frank McGhee, Daily Mirror.
    "This afternoon Stan makes what I feel will be his last appearance in an England shirt, and he is the one person the Brazilians fear." - Alan Williams, Birmingham Gazette
England 4 Brazil 2:- The most heartening feature of this creditable victory was the clearly discernible plan to which England played and the fact that at long last they seem to have the young men to weld to it. Devastating and rapier swift through-passing exploited the glaring Brazilian defensive gap down the middle, and in four minutes, Taylor and Grainger had put England two-up. Then in the 53rd minute, Paulinho screwed in a ball from an impossible angle which hit Byrne and snaked past a surprised defence. Three minutes later came the Didi equaliser, but England fought back with verve and pace for Taylor to score his second off Atyeo's headed pass in the 67th minute. Six minutes from the end with the crowd braving the drizzle, Grainger got up to head a beautiful goal off a pin-point Matthews' centre.

Monday, 14 May 1956 - The youngest-ever seventeen-man England party fly out from London Airport. Billy Wright still had three stitches in place above his right eye, but still regards himself as "absolutely fit". The team looks likely to remain largely the same as that which beat Brazil, with the one exception of a needed replacement for Stan Matthews, who is now on a coaching tour of Kenya. The responsibility looks to be a certainty to fall at Johnny Berry's feet, although Gordan Astall seems to be a possibility.
The are four members of the Selection Committee joining the party, Arthur Oakley, Joe Mears, Harry French and Harold Shentall. They are staying at The Aston Hotel in Stockholm. On arrival in the cool wet weather, the players had a light workout at the Råsunda Stadium, where the match will be played. Left-half Duncan Edwards slightly pulled a muscle, but Walter Winterbottom said it would not prevent him from playing.

Tuesday, 15 May 1956 - The England team to meet Sweden shows the one expected change to the side that beat Brazil at Wembley last week. Johnny Berry will be outside right in place of Stanley Matthews.

Wednesday, 16 May 1956 - Sweden 0 England 0: The international match was ruined by a wind of almost gale force. Good football was impossible under such conditions and a draw was perhaps the fairest result. The bustling Swedes adapted themselves the better to the difficult conditions and might have had a penalty for hands in the 16th minute. Duncan Edwards handled the ball, but the Dutch referee ruled that it was unintentional. Stanley Matthews was badly missed.

Thursday, 17 May 1956 - The England party leave Stockholm for Helsinki by air. Reg Matthews is suffering with a badly bruised hip and may miss the match against Finland on Sunday.

Friday, 18 May 1956 - The team to face Finland is announced in Helsinki today. The team shows three new players and one positional change compared with that which drew with Sweden last Wednesday. Out go the injured Matthews, Berry and Atyeo, and in comes Wood, Astall and Wilshaw. Johnny Haynes moves from inside-left to right.
Matthews is being rested because of his hip injury. Astall represents his country for the first time. With the exception of Matthews, all members of the party are fit and well. They had a smooth flight from Stockholm. On arrival in the Finnish capital the England players rested for a time, but a practise match was arranged in the evening at the Olympic Stadium. They pitch is much better than that at the Råsunda, but does not equal the pitch at Wembley Stadium.

England Form: last six games
L W W D W D  f 13:a 6  success: 67%
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
301	30 November 1955 - England 4 Spain 1 [2-0] Empire Stadium, Wembley (95,550)	Atyeo, Perry (2), Finney Arieta	Fr	HW
302	14 April 1956 - Scotland 1 England 1 [0-0] Hampden Park, Glasgow (132,817)	Leggat Haynes	BC	AD
303	9 May 1956 - England 4 Brazil 2 [2-0] Empire Stadium, Wembley (97,000)	Taylor (2), Grainger (2) Byrne OG, Didi	Fr	HW
304	16 May 1956 - Sweden 0 England 0 [0-0] Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Solna (36,500)		tour	AD