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Football: England v. France
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Wednesday, 27 November 1957
International Friendly Match

England 4 France 0 [3-0]
 
 
Empire Stadium, Empire Way, Wembley Park, Wembley, Middlesex
Kick-off (GMT):
2.30pm
Attendance: 64,349; Receipts: '£22,500'; Floodlights after 70 minutes.
France kicked-off
[1-0] Tommy Taylor header 3
 a right-side cross from Bryan Douglas is met by Taylor and his leaping, looping header from the six-yard line, sails over the keeper in off the far post.
[2-0] Bobby Robson 24
 right-footed placed strike from 8yds into an empty goal after Bryan Douglas dribbled into the box, drawing in the keeper
[3-0] Tommy Taylor 33
 right-footed strike from 12yds that sailed high into the top left corner, looping over the keeper, from a Johnny Haynes through ball.
 
[3-0] Tom Finney's header hits the crossbar
[4-0] Bobby Robson 84
 right-footed placed strike from 7yds into an empty goal after Finney set up a Bryan Douglas cross from the right
[3-0] Wisniewksi strike hits the post 
This week's Music Charts

second half live - commentator: Kenneth Wolstenholme
 
"ENGLAND—THE QUIET KILLERS" Daily Mirror
Officials from Europe England FIFA ruling on substitutes France
Referee (black)
Nikolay Gavrilovich Latyshev
42 (22 November 1913), Moskva, Soviet Union
Linesmen
orange flag       from Netherlands      red flag
Johannes Heinrich Martens
43 (1914), Zeist
Pieter Paulus Roomer
37 (6 April 1920), Rotterdam
"A thief got into the dressing rooms at Wembley Stadium during the match and robbed the referee and linesmen. A return air ticket to Russia and about £10 in cash was taken from Mr. Latychev's coat" According to the Daily News:-
First half shots...England 15, France 3; second half...23 & 10 (Total 38 & 13).
Corners....5 each; and Fouls 13 each.
     
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, white socks.
P 24th of 43, W 15 - D 5 - L 4 - F 69 - A 28.
Captain Billy Wright Manager Walter Winterbottom, 44 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
rec. 73rd of 90, W 44 - D 14 - L 15 - F 190 - A 104. Trainer: Harold Shepherdson P 91st of 139, W 57 - D 18 - L 16 - F 264 - A 125, one abandoned.
  ³ Team chosen by Selection Committee, headed by Joe Mears, on Monday, 18 November.
England Lineup
  two changes to the previous match (Finney & Robson>Kevan & A'Court) league position (18 November)    
  Hopkinson, Edward 22
29 days
29 October 1935 G Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 10th) 3 3ᵍᵃ
2 Howe, Donald 22
46 days
12 October 1935 RB West Bromwich Albion FC (FL 2nd) 3 0
3 Byrne, Roger W. 28
80 days
8 September 1929 LB Manchester United FC (FL 4th) 33 0
final app 1954-57
4 Clayton, Ronald 23
114 days
5 August 1934 RHB Blackburn Rovers FC (FL2 TOP) 17 0
5 Wright, William A. 33
294 days
6 February 1924 CHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP) 88 3
most apps 1946-57
6 Edwards, Duncan 21
57 days
1 October 1936 LHB Manchester United FC (FL 4th) 18 5
final app 1955-57
7
Douglas, Bryan 23
184 days
27 May 1934 OR Blackburn Rovers FC (FL2 TOP) 3 0
765 8 Robson, Robert W. 24
282 days
18 February 1933 IR West Bromwich Albion FC (FL 2nd) 1 2
the 191st (58th post-war) brace the 33rd Albion player to represent England
9
Taylor, Thomas 25
302 days
29 January 1932 CF Manchester United FC (FL 4th) 19 16
the 190th (57th post-war) brace scored final app 1953-57
10
Haynes, John N. 23
41 days
17 October 1934 IL Fulham FC (FL2 3rd) 16 8
11 Finney, Thomas 35
236 days
5 April 1922 OL Preston North End FC (FL 3rd) 69 28
       
reserves: Reg Matthews (Chelsea FC (FL 14th)), Maurice Setters (West Bromwich Albion FC (FL 2nd)), Jimmy Murray (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP))
team notes: Billy Wright extends his record appearance tally, in his record 53rd consecutive match.
Don Howe was told before the match that his 53-year-old mother had just died.
goalscoring records: Tommy Taylor, for the second successive season, ends the year as top goalscorer, scoring seven goals across six matches, including one hattrick.
"Meet the new COOL England . . . slickly efficient but strictly emotionless. The F.A.'s "Cut out the caressing" decree was obeyed to the letter by England's rampaging players at Wembley. Hugging and dancing was OUT. Curt nods, fleeting grins. These—plus surreptitious backslaps to mark Bobby Robson's first international goal—were the only on-field celebrations." - Ian Wooldridge, Daily News, Thursday, 28 November 1957
 
2-3-5 Hopkinson -
Howe, Byrne -
Clayton, Wright, Edwards -
Douglas, Robson, Taylor, Haynes, Finney.
Averages: Age 25 years 284 days Appearances/Goals 24.5 5.3
 
France Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 11th to 12th
Colours Blue collared jerseys, white shorts, red socks.
Captain Roger Piantoni Selection International Selection Committee.
Team chosen on Tuesday night, 19 November.
coach: Albert Boiteux
France Lineup
  Abbes, Claude 30
187 days
24 May 1927 G AS de Saint-Étienne Loire 2 4ᵍᵃ
2 Zitouni, Mustapha 29
39 days
19 October 1928
in Algiers, Algeria
RB/
CHB
AS de Monaco FC 3 0
3 Kaelbel, Raymond 25
300 days
31 January 1932 LB AS de Monaco FC 14 0
4 Domingo, René 28
334 days
28 December 1928 RHB
/RB
AS de Saint-Étienne Loire 1 0
only app 1957
5 Tylinski, Richard, injured 54th minute. 20
70 days
18 September 1937 CHB
/OL
AS de Saint-Étienne Loire 1 0
6 Bollini, Bruno 24
74 days
14 September 1933 LHB RC de Paris 1 0
7 Wisniewksi, Maryan 20
299 days
1 February 1937 OR RC de Lens 6 1
8 Ujlaki, Joseph 28
48 days
10 October 1929
in Budapest, Hungary
IR OGC Nice Côte d'Azur 15 9
9 Douis, Yvon 22
195 days
16 May 1935 CF Lille Olympique SC 1 0
10 Piantoni, Roger 25
336 days
26 December 1931 IL/
CHB
Stade de Reims 23 12
11 Vincent, Jean 26
363 days
29 November 1930 OL Lille Olympique SC 19 11
reserves: Dominique Colonna (Stade de Reims), Marcel Nowak (AS de Monaco FC) and Stephane Bruey (SCO Angers).
team notes: In the 54th minute, Tylinksi hurt his ankle and took 'a commission as roving forward'.
Goalkeeper Claude Abbes "had been bleeding internally from a blow in the kidneys when colliding with Johnny Haynes—and spent last night in hospital under observation."
 
2-3-5 Abbes -
Zitouni
(Domingo), Kaelbel -
Domingo (Zitouni), Tylinski (Piantoni), Bollini -
Wisnieksi, Ujlaki, Douis, Piantoni, Vincent (Tylinksi).
notes: reformed after 54 minutes following the injury to Tylinski.
Averages: Age 25 years 271 days Appearances/Goals 7.8 3.0
 
              Match Report by Mike Payne

ENGLAND came back from their home defeat against the Irish with a superb victory over France which sowed the seeds of promise for the following year's World Cup finals in Sweden. Everyone felt that this England team must surely provide the nucleus of the Party for that tournament unless there was a major lapse in fitness or form.

The big success in this game was the outstanding play of Bryan Douglas. Since the great Stanley Matthews left the international arena there had been a void which nobody had yet been able to fill. But the great man himself would have been proud of Douglas' performance against the French. He teased and and tormented the visiting defenders from the start and in the first half England were able to build up an impregnable 3-0 lead, thanks mainly to the wing wizardry of the Blackburn star.

It was worth recording that for the first time Douglas had a proper inside-forward alongside him and Bobby Robson's performance was almost as impressive. The partnership certainly promised a great deal.

The rout began as early as the third minute. Robson fed Douglas and the winger cleverly went round Kaelbel to centre. Tommy Taylor, under pressure from Tylinksi, timed his jump perfectly at the near post to beat Abbes superbly with a looping header to the far corner.

In the 24th minute England notched a second. Again it was Douglas the provider as he received a good pass from Don Howe and then jinked his way past several challenges before only Abbes blocked his path to goal. The 'keeper dived one way and Douglas went the other before pulling the ball square, giving Robson the easiest of chances to score.

Johnny Haynes was also in top form and he sprayed passes all over the lush Wembley turf. On the half-hour he sent a glorious through-ball for Taylor to run on to and the game was virtually all over at 3-0 to England.

The French tried bravely to rally themselves early in the second half and Wisnieski was unlucky with one effort which struck the base of Eddie Hopkinson's post. This attempt at a revival was short-lived, though, and England soon regained control to dominate the rest of the game.

They missed many glorious chances and Abbes leapt across his goal like a demented frog, getting in the way of several close-range attempts. Taylor, Haynes, Tom Finney, Robson and Douglas all missed straight forward chances and Abbes was by far the busiest player on the field. In the last 23 minutes, no less than 18 shots rained in on the French goal but miraculously for them only one more counted.

That came with five minutes to go and was the icing on the cake. A superb seven-man move began with Duncan Edwards. Eventually, and inevitably, Douglas made the final pass, once again setting up Robson for goal number four. A damp and grey November dy had definitely been brightened up by a splendid England performance that augured well for the future and excited the crowd.

  

              Match Report by Norman Giller

Bryan Douglas had a storming game, and three of the four England goals came from his crosses. Bobby Robson, winning his first cap, scored two goals as did Tommy Taylor. Tragically, they were to be his last for England. The game was so one sided that it was almost reduced to French farce, with England hammering in twenty shots to none from France in the last twenty minutes. Only one of them produced a goal, Bobby Robson hitting the back of the net at the end of a seven-man movement to underline his arrival as a force in international football. Three months later England lost three of their major players, Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor, to the Munich air crash that devastated the Manchester United team.
   

              Match Report by Glen Isherwood

Like England, France had qualified for the following year's World Cup. In 1954 they had failed to progress beyond the first round. They did, however, have two victories over England and had drawn 2-2 at Wembley in a victory international. The two more recent meetings had ended in a 2-2 draw at Highbury in 1951 and a 1-0 French victory in Paris in 1955. England had not beaten them since 1949 in Paris.
They began redressing the balance very early when Tommy Taylor beat Tylinski to a Bryan Douglas cross to head England in front. Douglas also created the second. Going round Abbes, he pulled the ball back for Bobby Robson to score the second. Nine minutes later an inch-perfect pass across the field from Haynes let Taylor in to score his second (and sadly his last for England). There was no further scoring until a neat passing move ended with Douglas supplying Robson with his second and England's fourth.
France finished third in the 1958 World Cup and did not return to Wembley until the 1966 competition. Byrne, Edwards and Taylor died at Munich less than three months later.

  

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1958-59 page 31

Three week after the shock defeat by Ireland, England put on a match improved performance in their victory over France. Two changes were made - Robson was included for the first time at inside-right and Finney returned to the left wing. Outstanding in a good England team was Douglas, whose dribbling, passing and shooting proved to be too much for the French defenders. Only a great game by the French goalkeeper Abbes prevented the Blackburn winger from scoring himself, but three of England's goals were scored direct from his passes. The first came after only five minutes, when Taylor headed in a Douglas centre. Twenty minutes later Robson scored after Douglas beat the entire defence before pulling the ball back; then, ten minutes from half-time, Taylor crashed in a third from Hayne's pass. The second half was more even; France nearly scored on one or two occasions, but England's superiority was confirmed when Robson made it 4-0 from Douglas's centre.
     

Other Football Results  
Football League Division Two:
 
Liverpool 2 Rotherham United 0
 
Anfield, Liverpool (37,518)
Wheeler, Liddell

   
Liverpool had gone top by beating Blackburn, four days earlier, and forged ahead with their eighth successive home win without conceding a goal, but they were to fall short of promotion, finishing fourth.
Division Two Top Six:
Team P Home Away F A
W D L W D L
Liverpool 19 8 1 0 3 3 4 41 21 26
Blackburn Rovers 18 5 3 1 4 3 2 29 18 24
                     
Charlton Athletic 18 6 2 1 3 2 4 39 28 22
West Ham United 18 5 3 1 4 1 4 37 27 22
Stoke City 20 7 2 3 3 0 5 41 30 22
Middlesbrough 18 6 3 0 3 1 5 38 30 22
Friendly matches:
Middlesbrough 0 Hibernian 5
Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough (28,000)
Harrower (2), Preston (2), Ormond
 
Newcastle United 2 Heart of MIdlothian 0
St James' Park, Newcastle (10,260)
Eastham, White
  
        In Other News....
It was on 27 November 1957 that further evidence was heard for the corruption charges against three Brighton police officers, including the chief constable, Charles Ridge, plus a pub licensee and a bookmaker. The case revealed a number of offences committed over an eight-year period, including businessmen paying for police to turn a 'blind eye' to illegal betting, after-hours drinking and the receiving of stolen goods. Two detectives and the bookmaker were found guilty, with the police officers being sentenced to five years in prison. The chief constable and the licensee were acquitted. Ridge was dismissed from the police force, though he successfully appealed and had his pension reinstated by the House of Lords, six years later. After leading at half-time, Rangers went down 4-1 at home to AC Milan in the first round first leg of the European Cup.

Bolton Wanderers beat Feyenoord, 3-0 in a friendly in Rotterdam. Scorers were Stevens and Lofthouse (2).
The Last Word......
a compilation of 'final paragraphs' written about Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne

               
 
"Joseph Uljaki and Roger Piantoni, two of Europe's finest inside-forwards, were shut out of this match completely by Duncan Edwards and Ron Clayton, the two foundation stones of English victory." - Ian Woodridge

  
"Just ten minutes later it was all over. Taylor scored again after a bout of short passing between outside left Tom Finney, Haynes and right half Ronnie Clayton." - Bill Holden

  
"The momentum slackened, but even then further successes must have greeted the forwards had they taken just a little more care. Taylor was the chief culprit. Despite his two goals, I would say, without hesitation, that England now has a forward line into which the Manchester United centre-forward does not fit. Great player as he is in the Manchester shirt. Taylor is not the tactician England requires, and the time has come for one of his competitors to get an opportunity." - CyrillChapmanChapman
"Yet Haynes and Taylor, like all their colleagues, played a full part in wiping out the memory—and the criticism—of the defeat against Ireland here three weeks ago" - Ian Woodridge

  
"THE PLAYERS - ENGLAND
Byrne...8 Edwards...9  Taylor...8"
- Ian Woodridge

  
"Duncan Edwards played as though Manchester United's fate in the European Cup hung in the balance." - Cyril Chapman

  
"Taylor was happy in everything except his finishing, He had the chances to hit his critics for six." - George Follows

  
"Tommy Taylor - Red Devil or White Elephant?." - George Follows

  
"That's what makes Tommy Taylor such a good centre-forward. He is never an Idle Tom. He is always looking for the ball; coming back challenging . . . and in the air he has few equals." - Tom Finney
 
  
               Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
The Complete Book of the British Charts
Allezlesbleus.free.fr
FFF.fr
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record
Norman Giller, Football Author
Glen Isherwood's Wembley: The Complete Record
British Pathé
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