"WHAT
A FLOP, ENGLAND!" Sunday Mirror |
Officials
from Scotland |
Northern Ireland |
UK ruling on substitutes |
England |
Referee
Hugh Phillips
35 (4 April 1921), Wishaw, Lanarkshire |
|
Linesmen |
Alexander P. Davidson
Castle Douglas |
Alexander F. Murray
Glasgow |
|
|
Northern
Ireland Team |
|
Rank |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 46th to 43rd |
Colours |
Green continental jerseys with white v-neck collar/cuffs,
white shorts, blue socks with white tops. |
Captain |
Danny Blanchflower |
Manager |
Peter Dermot Doherty, 43 (5 June 1913),
appointed October 1951, also manager at Doncaster Rovers FC since June 1949.
Team chosen on Wednesday, 26 September 1956 |
Attendant/Trainer:
G. Morgan (Linfield FAC) |
seventeenth match, W 2 - D - 5 - L 10 - F 18 - A 40. |
Northern
Ireland
Lineup |
|
Gregg, Henry |
23 345 days |
27 October 1932 |
G |
Doncaster Rovers FC, England |
2 |
2ᵍᵃ |
2 |
Cunningham, William E. |
26 229 days |
20 February 1930 |
RB |
Leicester City FC, England |
8 |
0 |
3 |
McMichael, Alfred |
29 5 days |
1 October 1927 |
LB |
Newcastle United FC, England |
19 |
0 |
4 |
Blanchflower, R.
Dennis |
30 239 days |
10 February 1926 |
RHB |
Tottenham Hotspur FC, England |
20 |
0 |
5 |
Blanchflower, John |
23 213 days |
7 March 1933 |
CHB |
Manchester United FC, England |
6 |
1 |
6 |
Casey, Thomas |
26 209 days |
11 March 1930 |
LHB |
Newcastle United FC, England |
3 |
0 |
7 |
Bingham, William L. |
25 62 days |
5 August 1931 |
OR |
Sunderland AFC, England |
18 |
2 |
8
|
McIlroy, James |
24 347 days |
25 October 1931 |
IR |
Burnley FC, England |
16 |
1 |
9 |
Jones, James |
28 73 days |
25 July 1928 |
CF |
Glenavon FC |
2 |
1 |
10 |
McAdams, William J. |
22 260 days |
20 January 1934 |
IL |
Manchester City FC, England |
3 |
1 |
11 |
McParland, Peter J. |
22 248 days |
25 April 1934 |
OL |
Aston Villa FC, England |
6 |
2 |
reserve: |
Tommy Dickson (Linfield FAC) |
team notes: |
Danny
and Jackie Blanchflower are brothers. |
Manager Peter Doherty played for Ireland against England on seven
separate occasions from 1935 until 1947, scoring one in 1947. |
|
2-3-5 |
Gregg - Cunningham, McMichael - D.Blanchflower,
J.Blanchflower, Casey - Bingham, McIlroy, Jones,
McAdams, McParland. |
Averages: |
Age |
25 years 296
days |
Appearances/Goals |
9.4 |
0.6 |
|
|
England
Team |
|
Rank |
No official ranking system established; ELO rating 4th |
Colours |
The 1954 Umbro
home uniform -
White v-necked short-sleeved continental jerseys, blue shorts, red
socks with white tops. |
P 14th of 43, W 7 - D 4 - L 3 - F 36 - A 18. |
Captain |
Billy Wright |
Manager |
Walter Winterbottom, 43 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946; |
63rd W 36 - D 13 - L 14 - F 157 - A 94. |
Attendant/Trainer: Jack Marshall (Sheff Wed.) |
P 81st of 139, W 49 - D 17 - L 15 - F 231 - A 115,
one abandoned.ยน |
|
³ |
Team chosen by Selection Committee, headed by Joe Mears, on Monday, 24 September, announced 30 September. |
England
Lineup |
|
two changes
to the previous match
(S.Matthews & Revie>Astall & Haynes) |
league position
(24 September) |
|
|
Matthews, Reginald D. |
23 291 days |
20 December 1932 |
G |
Coventry City FC (FL3S
8th) |
5 |
5ᵍᵃ |
final app
1956 |
2 |
Hall, Jeffrey J. |
27 29
days |
7 September 1929 |
RB |
Birmingham
City FC (FL 4th) |
10 |
0 |
3 |
Byrne, Roger W. |
27
28 days |
8 September 1929 |
LB |
Manchester United FC (FL
TOP) |
23 |
0 |
4 |
Clayton, Ronald |
22
62 days |
5 August 1934 |
RHB |
Blackburn Rovers FC (FL2
16th) |
7 |
0 |
5 |
Wright, William A. |
32 243
days |
6 February 1924 |
CHB |
Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC (FL 12th) |
78 |
3 |
most apps
1952-56 |
6 |
Edwards, Duncan |
20
5 days |
1 October 1936 |
LHB |
Manchester United FC (FL
TOP) |
10 |
1 |
7
|
Matthews, Stanley |
41 248 days |
1 February 1915 |
OR |
Blackpool FC (FL
6th) |
48 |
10 |
oldest ever goalscorer |
oldest outfield player |
8
|
Revie, Donald G. |
29
88 days |
10 July 1927 |
IR |
Manchester City FC (FL
19th) |
6 |
4 |
final app
1956 |
9 |
Taylor, Thomas |
24
69 days |
29 January 1932 |
CF |
Manchester United FC (FL
TOP) |
11 |
4 |
10 |
Wilshaw, Dennis J. |
30
209 days |
11 March 1926 |
IL |
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL
12th) |
12 |
10 |
final app
1956 |
11 |
Grainger,
Colin |
23
118 days |
10 June 1933 |
OL |
Sheffield
United FC (FL2 3rd) |
5 |
3 |
reserve: |
Jim Langley
(Brighton & Hove Albion FC (FL3S
12th)) |
team notes: |
Billy Wright extends his record appearance tally, in his record 43rd
consecutive match. |
pre-match notes: |
The team gathered together on Monday, 1 October, at St.
Andrews, Birmingham City FC, for training and a rain-soaked practice
match that finished 3-0 to England (30 min. period followed by a 15
min. period), before traveling to the Central Council of Physical
Recreation in Lilleshall, where they also played against Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC on Tuesday, losing 3-2. On Wednesday, the team flew to
Dublin to watch the match between Republic of Ireland and Denmark,
before training at Bangor on Thursday and Friday. |
records: |
The fourth time England have recorded three draws in a single calendar
year (1923, 1951 & 1953 being the previous years). |
|
2-3-5 |
R.Matthews
- Hall, Byrne - Clayton, Wright, Edwards - S.Matthews,
Revie, Taylor, Wilshaw, Grainger. |
Averages: |
Age |
27 years 178
days |
Appearances/Goals |
19.5 |
3.1 |
|
|
Match Report
by
Mike Payne |
England
had nearly always been assured of victory in Northern Ireland but on this
occasion they came so very close to losing. Despite an inspired opening
burst, they ended the match hanging on for dear life to the draw.
The visitors began with a devastating first
nine minutes. With the magnificent win in Germany still fresh in their
memory. England played some superb football. They pushed the ball around
with arrogance and confidence and twice in the opening seconds, Ronnie
Clayton and Don Revie set up Stan Matthews to provide tantalising centres
to fully test the Irish rearguard.
This was followed up in the third minute with
a glorious goal. Fine interpassing between Duncan Edwards, Revie and Tommy
Taylor ended with the centre-forward putting a square pass inside to
Revie. Revie flicked it to his right and Stan Matthews came in to shoot a
lovely, low left-foot shot into the far corner. It was his first
international goal for eight years and, coincidentally, his last one was
also against the Irish at Windsor Park. |
Match Report by Norman Giller |
A rare goal from
Stanley Matthews (his eleventh and last in international football) after
just two minutes gave England a dream start, but they were hustled out of
their stride by a Northern Ireland team motivated by a dazzling
performance from skipper Danny Blanchflower. Jimmy McIlroy equalised
after ten minutes when goalkeeper Reg Matthews palmed a long throw from
Peter McParland into his path.
McIlroy was faced with an
open goal five minutes from the end but hit a post. If he had found the net,
it would have given Northern Ireland their first home win over England since
1927.
There was a lot of
good-natured ribbing of Stanley Matthews over his goal. His last goal for
England had been eight years earlier, also against Northern Ireland and also
at Windsor Park. Jackie Blanchflower, Danny's brother and always a quick
wit, asked: "Why does he always pick on us?" Danny himself came into the
dressing-room after the match and told Stanley that he had been a schoolboy
spectator in short trousers when he scored his last goal. "You'll have a
long beard by the time I score the next one," said Stanley, with that
poker-faced humour of his. Danny had a magnificent match, and it was clear the
Irish were getting a powerful team together for their World Cup challenge.
|
Match Report
as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1957-58 page 32 |
Before a crowd of 58,000 excited
enthusiasts, Ireland came very close to beating England for the first time
in many years in a hard-fought game at Belfast. In the early stages
England played some delightful football, with halves and forwards making
quick first-time precision passes. The result was an early goal in which
Edwards, Taylor, and Revie all played a part, but this setback merely
encouraged the Irishmen to play harder. Close marking and strong tackling
gradually upset the English forwards and a typical long throw into the
goalmouth by McParland resulted in McIlroy volleying the equaliser. For
the remainder of the game Ireland attacked strongly and were rather
unlucky not to win.
|
In
Other News....
It was on 7 October 1956 that the Prime Minister, Sir
Anthony Eden was admitted to hospital with a severe fever.
He was susceptible to multiple infections following damage
to a bile duct during an operation, three years earlier, and
he had become increasingly dependent on drugs. He resigned,
three months later, on medical advice, though his conspiring
with France and Israel to retake the Suez Canal by force had
been widely condemned and he had lost the support of his own party. |
|
In the Scottish League Cup semi-finals, Celtic beat Clyde,
2-0 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, whilst Dundee and Partick
Thistle contested a goalless draw, after extra time at Ibrox
Stadium, Glasgow. Partick won the replay, but it was Celtic
who won the trophy for the first time, also after a replay. |
|
Source Notes |
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
The Complete Book of the British Charts
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats |
|
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record
Norman Giller, Football Author
Drew Herbertson, Scottish F.A. Historian
British Pathé |
|
cg |