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293 vs. West Germany
 
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307 vs. Northern Ireland


390 vs. West Germany
Saturday, 26 May 1956
End of Season Tour Match


West Germany 1 England 3
[0-1]
 
 

This week's Music Charts

West Germany is the thirtieth nation visited by England
Olympiastadion, Westend, Charlottenburg, Berlin-Ouest
Kick-off (CET & BST): 5.30pm
Attendance: 92,000.
West Germany kicked off  


[0-1] Duncan Edwards 26
'collected a clearance in the fashion of a wing-half, saw an opportunity to surge into attack, with brilliant ball-control and great physical power he diddled three opponents and....'five yards into the area and cracked the ball hard, low and true into the back of the net'
3.0 Catching of Wild Horses 3.30 No Man's Land 5.0 Children's; Whirligig
6.0
Football: West Germany v. England
7.15
News 7.30 In Town Tonight 8.0 Opportunity Murder 8.30 Saturday Night Out 9.15 Ted Ray Show
ITV were showing MCC v. Australia
[1-3] Friedrich Walter 85
 put past Matthews from a Hans Schäfer centre
[0-2] Colin Grainger 63
picks up Johnny Haynes' thru' ball by poking the ball past the keeper from 6 yards as Retter tackles
[0-3] Johnny Haynes 69
perfectly placed right-footed shot from 12 yards after Herkenrath pushed the ball away from Wilshaw

Last hour live - Commentator: Kenneth Wolstenholme
 
"ENGLAND SLAM 'EM" Sunday Mirror
Officials from Hungary West Germany Party FIFA ruling on substitutes England Party
Referee (black)
István Zsolt
34 (28 June 1921), Budapest
 
Linesmen
tbc tbc
   
West Germany Team
 
Current World Champions Colours White jerseys with black rounded collar/cuffs, black shorts, black socks with white band.
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 5th to 7th
Captain Friedrich Walter Manager Joséf Herberger, 59 (28 March 1897), appointed in 1950.
Team chosen on Thursday, 24 May 1956.
West Germany Lineup
  Herkenrath, Friedrich 27
260 days
9 September 1928 G Rot-Weiss Essen 10 20ᵍᵃ
2 Retter, Erich 31
99 days
17 February 1925 RB VfB Stuttgart 1893 14 0
final app 1952-56
3 Juskowiak, Erich 29
262 days
7 September 1926 LB Düsseldorfer TSv Fortuna 1895 7 2
4 Schlienz, Robert 32
113 days
3 February 1924 RHB VfB Stuttgart 1893 3 0
final app 1955-56
5 Wewers, Heinz 28
304 days
27 July 1927 CHB Rot-Weiss Essen 2 0
6 Mai, Karl 27
304 days
27 July 1928 LHB Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth 14 1
7 Waldner, Erwin 23
123 days
24 January 1933 OR VfB Stuttgart 1893 7 1
8 Morlock, Maximilian, injured off 40th min. 31
15 days
11 May 1925 IR 1.FC Nürnberg VfL 18 14
9 Walter, Ottmar 32
81 days
6 March 1924 CF 1.FC Kaiserslautern 16 6
10
Walter, Friedrich 35
208 days
31 October 1920 IL/IR 1.FC Kaiserslautern 46 30
11
Schäfer, Hans 28
220 days
19 October 1927 OL/IL 1.FC Köln 01/07 18 10
West Germany Substitute
scoreline: West Germany 0 England 1
8 Pfaff, Alfred, on 40th min. for Morlock 29
315 days
16 July 1926 OL Eintracht Frankfurt 4 2
result: West Germany 1 England 3
unused substitutes: Heinz Kubsch (FK Pirmasens), Karl Schmidt (FC Köln), Herbert Erhardt (Spvgg Greuther Fürth), Helmut Rahn (Rot-Weiss Essen), Werner Liebrich (FC Kaiserslautern) and Willi Schröder (SV Werder Bremen)
team changes: Alfred Pfaff was the original named outside-left, his place going to Schäfer at the last moment.
team notes: The Walters are brothers in the oldest team to play England since Italy in 1952.
Morlock twisted his ankle in the 30th minute, and struggled until he was replaced ten minutes later.
World Cup Champions notes: West Germany beat Hungary in Bern on 4 July 1954 to become the reigning World Champions, there are five surviving members of that team in this fixture, Mai, Morlock, Schäfer, Fritz Walter and Ottmar Walter.
 
2-3-5 Herkenrath -
Retter, Juskowiak -
Schlienz, Wewers, Mai -
Waldner, Morlock,
O.Walter, F.Walter, Schäfer
for the second half - the forward line was Waldner, F.Walter, O.Walter, Schäfer, Pfaff
Averages: (start)
(finish)
Age 29 years 316 days
29 years 276 days
Appearances/Goals 14.1 5.7
oldest opposing post-war team so far
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 6th to 4th
Colours The 1954 Umbro away uniform - Red v-necked short-sleeved continental jerseys, white shorts, red socks with white tops.
P second of four, W 2 - D 0 - L 0 - F 6- A 2.
"I saw 11 Englishmen—playing in the strange, almost symbolic, Hungarian-like shirts of red with gold numbers." Maurice Smith, The People
Captain Billy Wright Manager Walter Winterbottom, 43 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
62nd W 36 - D 12 - L 14 - F 156 - A 93. Trainer: Jimmy Trotter (Charlton Athletic FC) P eightieth of 139, W 49 - D 16 - L 15 - F 230 - A 114, one abandoned.¹³⁹
  ³   Team chosen by Selection Committee, headed by Joe Mears, on Friday, 25 May.
England Lineup
  one change to the previous match (Matthews>Wood) FINAL league positions (all May - FL 2nd, FL2 3rd, FL3S 4th)
  Matthews, Reginald D. 23
158 days
20 December 1932 G Coventry City FC (FL3S 8th) 4 4ᵍᵃ
2 Hall, Jeffrey J. 26
262 days
7 September 1929 RB Birmingham City FC (FL 6th) 9 0
3 Byrne, Roger W. 26
263 days
8 September 1929 LB Manchester United FC (FL CHAMPIONS) 22 0
4 Clayton, Ronald 21
295 days
5 August 1934 RHB Blackburn Rovers FC (FL2 4th) 6 0
5 Wright, William A. 32
110 days
6 February 1924 CHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL 3rd) 77 3
most apps 1952-56
6
Edwards, Duncan 19
238 days
1 October 1936 LHB Manchester United FC (FL CHAMPIONS) 9 1
7 Astall, Gordon 28
247 days
22 September 1927 OR Birmingham City FC (FL 6th) 2 1
8
Haynes, John N. 21
222 days
17 October 1934 IR Fulham FC (FL2 9th) 8 4
9 Taylor, Thomas 24
118 days
29 January 1932 CF Manchester United FC (FL CHAMPIONS) 10 4
10 Wilshaw, Dennis J. 30
76 days
11 March 1926 IL Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL 3rd) 11 10
11
Grainger, Colin 22
351 days
10 June 1933 OL Sheffield United FC (FL 22nd rel.) 4 3
unused substitutes: Ray Wood and Johnny Berry (both Manchester United FC (FL CHAMPIONS)), Tommy Cummings (Burnley FC (FL 7th)), John Atyeo (Bristol City FC (FL2 6th)), Johnny Wheeler and Nat Lofthouse (both Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 8th)).
team notes: Billy Wright extends his record appearance tally, in his record 42nd consecutive match.
uniform notes: England's record in a red jersey up until this point was 2-1 victory over Argentina in 1951, 3-2 vs. Austria in 1952, 6-3 vs. United States in 1953 and then 3-1 vs. West Germany in 1954.
records: England's eighth fixture against the World Cup Champions, W 5 - D 1 - L 2 - F 20 - A 12.
goalscoring records: Nat Lofthouse is England's top goalscorer for a post-war record fourth time. Scoring four goals in four matches.
 
2-3-5 Matthews -
Hall, Byrne -
Clayton, Wright, Edwards -
Astall, Haynes, Taylor, Wilshaw, Grainger.
Averages: Age 25 years 114 days Appearances/Goals 14.7 2.1
 
              Match Report by Mike Payne

After two lacklustre displays England completed their summer tour with a magnificent victory against the current World Champions West Germany in Berlin. The visitors produced a superb team performance, just when it mattered and now they can start to look forward to the 1958 World Cup with some optimism.

As early as the first 20 seconds it became apparent that England could do well. At that moment Dennis Wilshaw burst through on to a Johnny Haynes pass to shoot inches wide. It was an early warning for the Germans and one that they did not heed. Playing the ball around confidently, England swept forward in search of goals. They won most of the tackles and supported each other superbly.

In the 25th minute the goal their early play deserved duly arrived, and what a cracker it was! Colin Grainger's corner was cleared to be met by Ron Clayton and Morlock together. As the ball ran loose from their challenge Duncan Edwards pounced, and with that characteristic power, he swept past three tackles with consummate ease before crashing an unstoppable shot past Herkenrath's right hand. The youngster, in that one moment, demonstrated to the world what an awesome sight he is when he is full flight.

The England half-backs dominated the German forwards and only a glancing header by Ottmar Walter forced Reg Matthews into the action. The goalkeeper was more than equal to the task, though, and produced a marvellous save to keep England's lead intact.

The visitors could well have added to their lead and some of their football was quite outstanding. Unfortunately they could not finish off their fine approach play, although on the half-hour they came very close. A brilliant six-man attack down the left finally ended when Tommy Taylor's shot was superbly blocked by Herkenrath and Grainger's follow up effort struck the 'keeper again with the England fans already celebrating what they thought would be a certain goal.

But the Germans held on and just before half-time Morlock stretched to send a shot just over. In so doing the inside-right injured himself and had to leave the field to be replaced by Pfaff.

At the half-time whistle, the many British serviceman in the crowd cheered their team off. They knew that if England continued to play as well, they would surely be celebrating a famous victory.

Not unexpectedly West Germany came hard at England after the restart but Billy Wright and his fellow defenders were in immaculate form. Jeff Hall and Roger Byrne stifled the danger from the wingers and when England countered they always looked likely to score.

In the 63rd and 69th minutes, England at last made the game safe with two deadly strikes. Haynes, who started quietly but gradually took control of the play, threaded a superb pass through for Gordon Astall to collect. The winger slipped the ball inside to where Grainger showed pace and skill before shooting home an excellent goal.

Six minutes later came goal number-three. Taylor, who oozed class in all that he did, worked the ball in from the right to find Wilshaw. The hard-working Wolves player glanced it into space and Haynes latched on to it to coolly beat Herkenrath with a well-placed shot. The England fans were delirious and they made their presence felt with some tremendous and much appreciated support.

The West Germans, characteristically, never gave up and although three goals down they pressed forward to put more pressure on England. Reg Matthews made another fine stop to deny the dangerous Pfaff but was powerless, five minutes from time, to prevent Friedrich Walter from finishing off a delightful move featuring himself, Mai and Schaeffer. It was to be the Germans' only consolation and at the final whistle there were jubilant scenes amongst the visiting fans celebrating a memorable triumph.
    

              Match Report by Norman Giller

This match is remembered as the finest ever played on the international stage by Duncan Edwards, who was fresh from helping Manchester United win the League championship. He strode the pitch like a colossus, scoring a scorcher of a goal from twenty yards in the twentieth minute and dominating the entire game both in defence and midfield. Nearly half the 100,000 crowd in the stadium designed by Adolf Hitler were soldiers from the British-occupied zone of Berlin. They staged a delighted pitch invasion when second-half goals from Johnny Haynes and Colin Grainger clinched victory. Friedrich Walter, the outstanding German skipper, scored a fine individual goal for the team he had led to the World Cup two years earlier. The name of Duncan Edwards was on the lips of everybody who saw this match. He was phenomenal. There have been few individual performances to match what he produced in Germany that day. He tackled like a lion, attacked at every opportunity and topped it all off with a cracker of a goal. He was still only twenty, and was already a world-class player. Many of the thousands of British soldiers in the crowd surrounded him at the final whistle and carried him off. England had beaten the world champions in their own back yard.
   

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1956-57 page 32

The last match of the tour was played in the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, on May 26th before 100,000 spectators. From England's point of view it was a fitting climax to a very good season. The holders of the World Cup were well beaten. Our defence was in fine form, our halves were in charge in mid-field, and our forwards, with Grainger outstanding, played with determination and considerable skill. After Edwards had dribbled through to score the first goal in the 25th minute, England always appeared the likely winners: second half goals by Grainger and Haynes were fully deserved. F. Walter scored a consolation goal for Germany four minutes from time, but there was no doubt that England were the better team.
 

        In Other News....
It was on 26 May 1956 that Althea Gibson became the first African American tennis player to win a major title when she beat the defending champion, Britain's Angela Mortimer, 6-0, 12-10 in the final of the French Championship in Paris. Gibson also won the doubles on the same day, with another British player, Angela Buxton. Over the next two years, she went on to win all four of the major championships before turning professional, where racial prejudices continually prevented her from financial success. The Football Association's touring squad beat South Africa's Eastern Province, 8-3 in Port Elizabeth, with Cardiff City's Gerry Hitchens scoring five goals, all in the second half.
              Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
DFB.de
The Complete Book of the British Charts
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
British Pathé
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