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      Results 1955-1960                             Page Last Updated 6 March 2024

Sverige

 
304 vs. Sweden
 
previous match (11 days)
335 vs. Wales

  
336 
next match (14 days)
'U23' 19 vs. France

next senior match (21 days)
337 vs. Northern Ireland


391 vs. Sweden
 Wednesday, 28 October 1959
International Friendly Match


England 2 Sweden 3
[1-0]
 
Empire Stadium, Empire Way, Wembley Park, Wembley, Middlesex
Kick-off (GMT): 2.30pm
Attendance: '80,000'; Receipts: '£36,600.'
unknown kicked-off
[1-0] John Connelly 8
''Greaves on edge of penalty area flicked to Brian Clough on the right who sent in a low square centre for Connelly to turn into the net from four yards.'
[1-0] Brian Clough strike hits the post 45
<300th goal under Winterbottom/ISC/post-war
<100th goal scored by England in October


[1-0] Tony Allen's backpass hit the post
[1-0] Bengt Berntdsson shot hit left post
2.43 Schools (Endless Adventure) 3.23 Schools (Artist in the Modern World)
3.50 Football: Sweden vs. England
4.45 Children (Small Time) 5 Junior Criss Cross Quiz 5.25 Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin 5.55 News; Weather









[1-2] Brian Clough header hits the crossbar 76


[2-3] Bobby Charlton 81
 'clever through pass from Jimmy Greaves was met by quickly-moving Charlton who stabbed it past the advancing Nyholm.'
[1-1] Agne Simonsson header 52
'Charlton's backpass went to Bengt Berndtsson who from eight yards out sent in a head-high cross. Simonsson's head beat Hopkinson's hands.'
[1-2] Agne Simonsson 57
'A fine move down the right by Bengt Berndtsson ended with a cross to Simonsson who beat two men on the 18yd line before shooting thru' an extremely narrow gap between Hopkinson and the left post
'
[1-3] Bengt Salomonsson 77
'Berndtsson beat Smith and centred; Agne Simonsson pushed it to the unmarked Salomonsson who scored from 12 yards.'
Players lost since last match
Albert Read (26 October 1959) 66




This week's Music Charts

Second half live only (Granada region only) (final twenty minutes on TWW region only) - Commentator: Kent Walton
  
"ENGLAND GIVEN THE HORSE-LAUGH" Daily Mirror
Officials from Scotland England FIFA ruling on substitutes Sweden
Referee (black)
Robert Holley Davidson
31 (19 July 1928), Airdrie
in the event of injury, a substitute goalkeeper will be allowed at any time and one other player up until the 44th minute.

THE FACTS as reported in the Daily News...
Fouls—by England 6, by Sweden 9. Corners—to England 7, to Sweden 8. Off-side—by England 6, by Sweden 9.
Shots—by England 26 (13 each half), by Sweden 17 (six in first half). Only two Swedish shots missed the goal compared with 13 by England.
    flame flag               Linesmen              orange flag
J. Maule
East Kilbride
E.F.K. Webster
Glasgow
     
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 7th to 8th
Colours The 1959 Bukta home uniform - White v-necked short-sleeved continental jerseys, blue shorts, red socks with white calf hoop.
P second of 38, W 1 - D 0 - L 1 - F 3 - A 3.

Captain
Ronnie Clayton Manager Walter Winterbottom, 46 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
2nd of five, W 0 - D 1 - L 1 - F 3 - A 4. Trainer: Harold Shepherdson P 110th of 139, W 62 - D 26 - L 22 - F 301 - A 157, one abandoned.
  The team chosen by Selection Committee, headed by Joe Mears, on Friday afternoon, 23 October in Sheffield.
England Lineup
  unchanged from the previous match league position (23 October)  
  Hopkinson, Edward 23
364 days
29 October 1935 G Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 13th) 14 24ᵍᵃ
final app 1957-59
2 Howe, Donald 24
16 days
12 October 1935 RB West Bromwich Albion FC (FL 15th) 22 0
3 Allen, Anthony 19
335 days
27 November 1939 LB Stoke City FC (FL2 12th) 2 0
4 Clayton, Ronald 25
84 days
5 August 1934 RHB Blackburn Rovers FC (FL 4th) 32 0
5 Smith, Trevor 23
198 days
13 April 1936 CHB Birmingham City FC (FL 18th) 2 0
final app 1959
6 Flowers, Ronald 25
92 days
28 July 1934 LHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL 2nd) 10 2
7
Connelly, John M. 21
102 days
18 July 1938 OR Burnley FC (FL 7th) 2 1
8
Greaves, James P. 19
250 days
20 February 1940 IR Chelsea FC (FL 9th) 5 2
9
Clough, Brian H. 24
221 days
21 March 1935 CF Middlesbrough FC (FL2 4th) 2 0
final app 1959
10
Charlton, Robert 22
17 days
11 October 1937 IL Manchester United FC (FL 12th) 14 12
11 Holliday, Edwin 20
143 days
7 June 1939 OL Middlesbrough FC (FL2 4th) 2 0
reserves: Ron Springett (Sheffield Wednesday FC (FL 11th)), Maurice Setters (West Bromwich Albion FC (FL 15th)), Ray Parry (Bolton Wanderers FC (FL 13th)
pre-match notes: The England party assembled at Highbury on Monday and held a practice match against their hosts in the afternoon. Maurice Setters deputised for Ron Flowers, who was suffering with a leg strain. The 50-minute practice match ended in a 2-2 draw (Charlton and Holliday scoring for England, and two from David Herd for Arsenal FC, who had Springett and Parry in their side). The evening was spent viewing Swedish football matches.
On Tuesday, they trained at Cheshunt, the training ground of Tottenham Hotspur FC and had a 90-minute practice match.
team notes: Jimmy Greaves becomes the 65th player to make five-or-more appearances under Winterbottom/ISC/post-war
records: This is England's fourth loss in 1959, it is only the second time that they have lost four matches in a single calendar year. The first being in 1936.
It is England's 25th home loss since the first in 1877. It is the second defeat at home by a European nation.
 
2-3-5 Hopkinson -
Howe, Allen -
Clayton, Smith, Flowers -
Connelly, Greaves, Clough, Charlton, Charlton, Holliday.
Averages: Age 22 years 266 days Appearances/Goals 9.7 1.4
 
Sweden Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 6th to 4th
Colours Pale blue long sleeved wing-collared jerseys, white shorts, blue socks with yellow tops.
"Sweden normally play in yellow shirts, but for contrasting purposes, particularly in view of television, they will change to blue shirts with white shorts for the match."
Captain Orvar Bergmark Team Manager Einar Jonasson
Selection was still chosen by the Selection Committee, headed by Erik Persson, announced Monday morning, 26 October.
Jonasson replaced Carl-Elis Halldén, who stood down for health reasons.
Trainer: Torsten Lindberg
Sweden Lineup
1 Nyholm, Bengt O. 29
271 days
30 January 1930  G IFK Norrköping 5 5ᵍᵃ
2 Bergmark, E. Orvar 28
346 days
16 November 1930 RB Örebro Sk (also club trainer) 52 0
3 Axbom, Sven E.E. 33
13 days
15 October 1926 LB IFK Norrköping 29 0
4 Parling, Sigvard E. 29
216 days
26 March 1930 RHB Djurgårdens IF 34 0
5 Johansson, Åke B. 31
223 days
19 March 1928 CHB IFK Norrköping  22 1
6 Jonsson, Torbjörn 23
175 days
6 May 1936  LHB IFK Norrköping 14 6
7
Salomonsson, Bengt 24
30 days  
28 September 1935  OR Helsingborgs IF 1
8 Börjesson, Rune 22
187 days 
24 April 1937 IR Örgryte IS  7 6
9
Simonsson, T.K. Agne 24
9 days 
19 October 1935  CF Örgryte IS  17 16
10
Berndtsson, Bengt R. 22
275 days  
26 January 1933 OL IFK Göteborg 17 7
11 Thillberg, Henry G. 29
216 days
17 August 1930 IL Malmö FF 20 9
reserves: Arne Arvidsson (goalkeeper, Djurgårdens IF); Prawitz Öberg (half-back, Malmö FF), and four others.
pre-match notes: Sweden had a selection of seventeen players to choose from for the matches against England and Republic of Ireland, from which Lars Broström withdrew, because of business commitments. His place in the party went to Prawitz Öberg.
The party and officials arrived late at Gatwick Airport on the Monday, 26th.
team notes: The starting XI are on an equivalent £3 10s. match fee. For a victory, they received an extra £7 (100 krona).
George Raynor, former coach of the Swedish national team, now manager of Skegness FC in the Midland League, had reported to the Swedish Committee prior to the match his findings on the England team. He was re-employed as an advisor for the duration of the Swedish tour.
The Chairman of Sweden's Selection Committee, Eric Persson, played for Sweden against England in the May 1937 friendly.
The Swedish party were to have trained and have full use of the facilities at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC, from their arrival. However, their late arrival, because of headwinds during their flight from Stockholm, forced them to abandon that initial plan, and instead, visited Wembley Stadium on Tuesday morning before training at Craven Cottage, Fulham, in the afternoon. Throughout, they stayed at Park Lane Hotel, in London.
 
2-3-5 Nyholm -
Bergmark, Axbom -
Jonsson, Johansson, Parling -
Berndtsson, Thillberg, Simonsson, Börjesson, Salomonsson
Averages: Age 27 years 200 days Appearances/Goals 19.9 3.9
 
              Match Report by Mike Payne

AS in 1953, when Hungary were the never-to-be-forgotten visitors, England were once again taught a football lesson by an emerging power in the game. Whereas the home side employed the traditional game, the Swedes strolled effortlessly through the proceedings with an air of authority not born out by the final scoreline. All through the match there was so much to admire in the deft touches of the talented Swedish team, but for England there must be many question-marks in their attempts to build a side capable of mounting a serious challenge on the 1962 World Cup in Chile.

On a dull, grey afternoon, 72,000 people gathered to see a game that was full of incident. It started well enough for England, who settled quickly. In fact for the opening 20 minutes they controlled the play and during that time they scored an excellent goal. It was on eight minutes that a move involving Don Howe, John Connelly, Jimmy Greaves and Brian Clough, worked its way down the right nicely. When the final pass came in, Connelly met the ball to flick the ball past Nyholm.

However, as the half wore on Sweden began to find their feet and by the half-hour they could easily have been level. Twice Berntdsson met Simonsson passes but succeeded only in rattling each of Eddie Hopkinson's posts. Simonsson, by now, was stamping his undoubted class on the game and he gave Trevor Smith a torrid afternoon at the heart of England's defence. Smith looked slow and ponderous as the balance and skill of Simmonsen weaved patterns around him.

For England, Bobby Charlton was struggling in his role of midfield provider and all the forwards were guilty of holding on to the ball too long.. Clough almost added a second for England before half-time when he intercepted a sloppy backpass by Johansson, but he too was thwarted by a goalpost.

After the break, the Swedes stepped up a gear. Superbly marshalled by Jönsson at right-half, they began to make their extra skills count. The inside trio of Thillberg, Simonsson and Börjesson were constantly in the action.

A fast interchange of passes between Simonsson and Börjesson ended with a rebound falling just right for Simonsson to shoot home from the narrowest of angles with great accuracy. The Swedes were delighted but the crowd began to barrack the England players. Hopkinson bore the brunt of their frustration as he mixed some brave saves with inexplicable errors. Smith, too, was struggling and England were now really up against it. Clough did hit the bar with a header, from a Connelly centre, but that was an isolated raid.

With 15 minutes to go, the result was settled by a third Swedish goal. A clever move down the right drew the whole England defence over and the ever-dangerous Simonsson, spotting Salomonsson unmarked in the middle, flicked the ball inside for the number-ten [nine] to shoot home.

England, to their credit, rallied strongly towards the end and Greaves contributed his best moment by cleverly putting Charlton through to reduce the arrears with a well-taken goal. Alas, the fightback was too late and Sweden, with Jonsson and Simonsson outstanding, ended worthy winners.

     

              Match Report by Norman Giller

An unchanged team was given a second chance, but a defeat by Sweden signalled the end of the international road for Hopkinson, Smith and Cloughie. They carried the can for a pathetic performance that brought rare jeers from England supporters. The Swedes, World Cup runners-up to Brazil when host nation in 1958, played a smooth, walkabout game punctuated with sudden changes of pace that had England's defenders exposed to the perils of panic. It all started promisingly for England when John Connelly put the finishing touch to a swift five-man movement, but this was one of the few memorable moments from England for the 72,000 Wembley spectators.  The Swedes rattled the England woodwork twice in the first-half as warning signs of what was to follow. Within 15 minutes of the second-half Sweden were 2-1 in the lead as they tore the England defence apart, and man-of-the-match Agne Simonsson made it 3-1 in the 75th minute. The skilful Swedish centre-forward made such an impression that the next day he was signed by Real Madrid. Jimmy Greaves cleverly created an opening for Bobby Charlton to make it 3-2, but there were plenty of witnesses to the fact that England had been flattened by the Swedes and flattered by the scoreline. It might easily have been a repeat of the six-goal drubbing received from Hungary six years earlier. The 'dream team' pairing of Greaves and Clough rarely got out of nightmare territory. Both were instinctive predators, and continually found themselves being drawn to the same place. There was room for only one of them, and it was Greaves who survived. Cloughie was thrown on the scrapheap, and it left him embittered that he was never given another chance. At one stage he had the embarrassment of falling and sitting on the ball close to the Swedish goal-line. "It was as if I was trying to hatch the bloody thing," he said later.
 
 

              Match Report by Glen Isherwood

Sweden had reached the World Cup final in their own country the previous year before failing to the mighty Brazilians. They had won the Olympic title at Wembley in 1948 and had won and drawn in their previous two meetings with England.
England started well with a neat passing move ending with Clough crossing for John Connelly to slot home the opener. But just after half-time a defensive error involving Charlton and Flowers enabled Berndtsson to supply Agne Simonsson (who had scored in the World Cup final) with a headed equaliser.

Simonsson struck again after an hour's play, beating Hopkinson from an acute angle after Borjesson's shot was blocked. Later Simonsson's skilful ball control killed off the home side as he sent Bengt Salomonsson away to score the third.
Bobby Charlton scored from a pass by Greaves but England had suffered their second defeat at Wembley by a continental side.
Sweden, surprisingly, failed to qualify for the 1962 World Cup, losing a play-off to Switzerland in Berlin. England gained their revenge with a 2-1 win in Gothenburg in 1965 and Sweden were back at Wembley in 1968.

        

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1960-61 page 34

The visit by Sweden, the last World Cup runners-up, was reckoned to be a vital test. The form shown against Wales ten days earlier encouraged the selectors not to make any changes, an Haynes, who had missed the Welsh match through injury, was again omitted. The game, however, was disappointing and England suffered her second home defeat, though Connelly gave us an early lead by completing a move started by Greaves and Clough. Just on halftime Clough missed from close range, the ball jamming against the post. Sweden's first goal came in the 52nd minute, when a bad back-pass by Charlton went to right-winger Berndtsson, whose centre was neatly headed past Hopkinson by Simonsson. Five minutes later the same two players combined for Simonsson to circle two defenders and score with a fine shot through a narrow gap. At this point Clough again figured in a near miss, heading against the bar, after a pleasing movement with Greaves and Connelly. Sweden then made it three, Salomonsson netting from 12 yds, after a swift cross from the right wing. With nine minutes to go Charlton scored England's second, but that was all. Sweden had won a worth victory, one which left England with many problems.
     

Other Football Results   
Football League Division Three:
 
Wrexham 2 Chesterfield 3
 
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (6,694)
Metcalf (2) ~ Bottom, Rackstraw, Lewis
 
 
 
Following ten consecutive away defeats, Chesterfield managed to complete the double over Wrexham for their first away win since February. Both sides were in the bottom four, but only Wrexham would drop into the fourth division for the first time, Chesterfield following them, a year later.
Football League Division Four:
 
Crystal Palace 1 Millwall 2
 
Selhurst Park, South Norwood (28,929)
Easton ~ Broadfoot, Wilson
 
 
 
Millwall safely negotiated the London derby and remained the only league club still unbeaten, though they had drawn more games than they had won. They ended the season with one more win than their draws total, but missed out on promotion by one place.
Division Four Top Five
Team P Home Away F A
W D L W D L
Walsall 17 7 1 2 6 1 0 42 19 28
Millwall 18 5 4 0 3 6 0 34 17 26
Torquay United 17 6 1 1 6 0 3 35 18 25
Notts County 18 9 0 1 2 2 4 39 20 24
                     
Carlisle United 18 6 2 1 4 2 3 26 22 24
Friendly matches:
Aston Villa 5 Raith Rovers 1
Villa Park, Birmingham (25,000)
McParland, Price (2), Crowe, MacEwan ~ McKinven

Liverpool 0 Everton 2
Anfield, Liverpool (20,408)
Twentyman
OG, J.Harris

York City 2 Newcastle United 8
Bootham Crescent, York
(9,414)
Addison, Paterson
~
Eastham, Allchurch (2), White (3), Mitchell, Gilfillan
  
  
     In Other News....
It was on 28 October 1959 that twenty-year-old Reg Smith announced his engagement to 18-year-old Joyce Baker from singing group, the Vernons Girls. This would disappoint thousands of Smith's female fans, for as Marty Wilde he had recorded three top-ten singles in 1959, including 'A Teenager in Love', transforming him into a big rock-and-roll star. Two years later, their daughter was born and followed in her father's footsteps in 1981, as Kim Wilde, with a string of her own top-ten hits, beginning with 'Kids in America', written by her father, and her younger brother, Ricky. Marty's talents as singer and songwriter have given him the unique distinction of appearing in the United Kingdom Singles or Album Charts in each of the eight decades of the charts' existence.
              Source Notes
TheFA.com
Svenskfotboll.se
Original newspaper reports
Official Matchday Programme
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record
Norman Giller, Football Author
The Complete Book of the British Charts
YouTube (Swedish)
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