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Wednesday, 16 October 1957
International Friendly Intermediate Match


England 3 Romania 2
[2-2]

 
 
Empire Stadium, Empire Way, Wembley Park, Wembley, Middlesex
Kick-off (BST):
7.30pm
Attendance: '34,381' (floodlit)
unknown kicked-off
[1-0] Jimmy Greaves 1 0:50
 'A'Court' left wing cross was nodded down by Peter Brabrook for Greaves pounced to crack in a right-footed low drive'
[2-0] Jimmy Greaves 23
 'A'Court neatly drew the ball back for Stan Crowther to swig over a first time centre'





[2-1] Gheorghe Ene 26
'Hodgkinson failed to hold a centre from the left and Ene darted in to cut England's lead.'

[2-2] Nicolae Georgescu 37
'slipped in to crack the ball home from 12yds'
[3-2] Bill Curry 60
 'a furious goalmouth battle for possession, Curry had a split-second chance and he took it with a rasping shot which crashed down over the line from the crossbar'.
 
second half live on Sportsview: commentator - Kenneth Wolstenholme and Walley Barnes
 
"CHAMPAGNE ENGLAND BUBBLE OVER" Daily Mirror
Officials from France England FIFA ruling on substitutes Romania
Referee
Jacques Devillers
46 (23 August 1911), Cambrai
The IFAB introduced the linesman's flag of 'vivid colours' into the Laws of the Game.
flame flag             Linesmen          orange flag
Édouard Eugène Harzic
51 (25 September 1906), Amiens
Louis Fauquembergue
     
England Intermediate Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established; Colours The 1954 Umbro away uniform - Red v-necked short-sleeved continental jerseys, white shorts, red socks with white tops.

Captain
Trevor Smith Manager Walter Winterbottom, 44 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
first of two, W 1 - D 0 - L 0 - F 6 - A 2. tenth of sixteen intermediate matches, W 7 - D 2 - L 1 - F 32 - A 11.
Team chosen by the Intermediate Selection Committee, headed by Frank Adams, on Sunday, 6 October, finalised on Thursday, 11 October.
England Lineup
  four changes to the previous U23 match league position (11 October)  
  Hodgkinson, Alan 21
61 days
16 August 1936 G Sheffield United FC (FL2 13th) 4 3ᵍᵃ
2 Armfield, James 22
25 days
21 September 1935 RB Blackpool FC (FL 14th) 2 0
3 Harris, Gerald W. 22
8 days
8 October 1935 LB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP) 2 0
4 Setters, Maurice E. 20
304 days
16 December 1936 RHB West Bromwich Albion FC (FL 2nd) 2 0
5 Smith, Trevor 21
186 days
13 April 1936 CHB Birmingham City FC (FL2 11th) 9 0
most U23 apps 55-57
6
Crowther, Stanley 22
43 days
3 September 1935 LHB Aston Villa FC (FL 18th) 2 0
7
Brabrook, Peter 19
342 days
8 November 1937 OR Chelsea FC (FL 11th) 2 1
8
Greaves, James P. 17
238 days
20 February 1940 IR Chelsea FC (FL 11th) 2 4
51 9
Curry, William Morton 22
4 days
12 October 1935 CF Newcastle United FC (FL 12th) 1 1
only U23 app 1957
52 10 Parry, Raymond A. 21
270 days
19 January 1936 IL Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 9th) 1 0
11 A'Court, Alan 23
16 days
30 September 1934 OL Liverpool FC (FL2 4th) 3 1
reserves: Jimmy Armfield, Stan Crowther and Ray Parry were the original named reserves.
When the side was formalised on 11 October, new reserves were chosen:- Peter Wakeham (Torquay United FC (FL3S 24th BOTTOM)), Larry Carberry (Ipswich Town FC (FL2 14th)) and Bobby Charlton (Manchester United FC (FL 4th)), who was also celebrating his twentieth birthday.
team changes: The original team was announced with the inclusion of Don Howe, Duncan Edwards and Johnny Haynes in the side, and the acknowledgement that those three players will probably be named in the senior side.
pre-match notes: The under-23 team practised at the Empire Stadium, along with the senior side, on Tuesday 14th. And at Finchley on the day of the match.
 
2-3-5 Hodgkinson -
Armfield, Harris -
Setters, Smith, Crowther -
Brabrook, Greaves, Curry, Parry, A'Court.
Averages: Age 21 years 103 days Appearances/Goals 2.7 0.4
 
Romania Intermediate Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established; Colours yellow shirts, dark blue shorts
Captain Gheorge Pahonţu Manager
Romania Lineup
1 Utu, Iuliu 21
42 days
4 September 1936 G FC Dinamo Bucareşti  
2 Pahonţu, Gheorge 24
91 days
17 July 1933 RB FC Petrolul Ploieşti    
oldest opp. U23 player so far
3 Szakács, Iosif 23
264 days
25 January 1934 LB FC Dinamo Cluj
4 Vasile, T. nk not known LHB FC Dinamo Bucareşti    
5 Stanch nk not known CHB Ştiinţa Timişoara    
6 Nunweiler, Ion 21
280 days
9 January 1936 RHB FC Dinamo Bucareşti    
7 Anghel, Vasile 19
328 days
22 November 1937 OR FC Dinamo Bucareşti    
8 Seredai, Vasile 23
298 days
22 December 1933 IL FC Lokomotiva Bucareşti    
9
Ene, Gheorghe 20
262 days
27 January 1937 CF FC Lokomotiva Bucareşti    
10
Georgescu, Nicolae 21
288 days
1 January 1936 IR FC Lokomotiva Bucareşti    
11 Semenescu, C nk not known OL FC Lokomotiva Bucareşti    
unused substitutes: not known
team changes: Georgescu appears to have replaced Alexandru Meszaros (CS Târgu Mureş) and Semenescu seems to have replaced S. Buekkoesi (CCA Bucareşti), who was the original centre-forward, meaning their was positional changes too. Anghel swapping wings from left to right and Ene, the outside-right, going into the middle.
team notes: The Romanian under-23 team flew into England on Sunday, 13 October as part of the 45-man party. 'The largest foreign party ever to tour Britain. In addition to the under-23, there will be a Youth international between the two countries.'. The under-23's then trained under the floodlights of Brentford FC's Griffin Park ground.
 
2-3-5 Utu -
Pahonţu, Szakács -
Vasile, Stanch, Nunweiler -
Anghel, Seredai, Ene, Georgescu, Semenescu
Averages: Age tbc Appearances/Goals    
 
              Match Report by Bill Holden, Daily Mirror, Thursday, 17 October 1957

AFTER a champagne start with a goal in the first minute, Young England gained a close victory over Rumania at Wembley Stadium.
But the game, which had promised greatness, became tawdry through petty fouling. Quick-fire Young England flashed into a one-minute lead. Jimmy Greaves, 17, cracked it in and proceeded to make life a misery for the Rumanians. He and Villa's blond bomber Stan Crowther inspired fourteen minutes of sheer supremacy from the kick off.
   It was Crowther who began the thrust for the first goal.
He broke up a threatened Rumanian attack before it could reach the half-way line and set up a left-wing raid himself. Inside-left Ray Parry flicked the ball to Alan A'Court and as the left winger's cross was nodded down Greaves pounced to crack in a low drive.
   Crowther and then A'Court had long, dangerous shots held by Utu, the Rumanian goalkeeper, and then he made a brilliant save from Greaves.
Then for a spell England faded. The first time the Rumanians got within shooting distance they came as near to equalising as anyone ever could. Outside right Anghel dallied plumb in front of goal and by the time he had decided to shoot goalkeeper Alan Hodgkinson had rushed out to parry his shot. Anghel got to the ball again, but by then three England players had dashed back on to the goal line and left back Gerry Harris turned the shot round the post for a corner. The Rumanians appealed for a penalty. The crowd fell into a hushed murmur of uncertainty, but the French referee, J. Devillers, gave a corner. Centre forward Ene missed another chance when he beat Hodgkinson in a race for the ball and pushed it wide of the post as the 'keeper lay helpless.
   England breathed once more . . . THANKS TO GREAVES again.
He catapulted forward in the twenty-third minute to head in a cross from A'Court and finished his plunge by somersaulting into the net after the ball. The joy lasted just three minutes. Hodgkinson failed to hold a centre from the left and Ene darted in to cut England's lead.
   Eleven minutes later it was lost entirely.
This time England's defence was slow to anticipate a cross from the right and before they could move to cut it off inside left Georgescu had slipped in to crack the ball home. In the fifty-fifth minute centre forward Bill Curry rose to nod down a Lawton-like bullet but Utu held it on the line. And that Curry header really turned the English tap full on. Utu clutched and clawed at a long shot from Stan Crowther, grabbing it at last as if life itself depended on him holding it.
   He did it again with a header from Greaves . . . he dashed out to intercept . . . he held another header from Curry.
But a goal had to come. In the sixtieth minute in a furious goalmouth battle for possession, Curry had a split-second chance and he took it with a rasping shot which crashed down over the line from the crossbar. Parry and Groves juggled their way through again, holding off a succession of tough challenges—one of which, a 'tackle' on Greaves, could easily have been a penalty. Near the end England twice had the Rumanians struggling desperately and from a free-kick A'Court whizzed a header just wide of a post. But the Rumanians almost snatched success from England in the dying minutes when unhappy Hodgkinson again failed to hold a cross shot and the ball skidded from him to nip outside the far upright.
  

              Match Report by Glen Isherwood

England, in red shirts, won the only international at this level to be played at Wembley despite losing the two-goal lead given them by Jimmy Greaves on his first appearance at the stadium. Greaves went on to score 44 goals in 57 full internationals after scoring a record 13 goals in 12 under-23 internationals.
  

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1958-59 page 30

After their comfortable win over Bulgaria the England Under-23 team, was given a rather rude awakening when they were only able to beat Rumania by the odd goal in five. The match opened sensationally with a superbly taken goal by Greaves within fifty seconds of the kick-off, and twenty minutes later the same player put England two up with a fine diving header. The came an amazing turn in the game's fortunes, for within further fifteen minutes Rumania were level through goals scored by Ene and Georgescu.  For a while it appeared that England might well completely lose their grasp on the game, but a partial revival was rewarded with a goal by Curry which restored their lead. During the remaining thirty minutes there was no further score. Once again Crowther had a fine game, and young Greaves will also retain pleasant memories of his first game at Wembley.
  

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              Source Notes
Official matchday programme
FA Yearbook 1958-59
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Original newspaper reports
Glen Isherwood's Complete Record of Wembley
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