England Match No. 231 - Scotland - 12 April 1947 (original) (raw)

"ENGLAND CAN THANK THEIR LUCKY STARS" Sunday Mirror

Officials	England	UK ruling on substitutes	Scotland
Referee Charles Adolphe Delasalle 49 (8 December 1897), France.		Goal Attempts
	Attempts on Target
Linesmen	32	Throw-ins	18
M. Andrew Watt Edinburgh	George Henry Hann 50 (1 January 1897), Yeovil, Somerset	4	Corner Kicks Won	5
15	Bye-kicks	14
Teams presented to the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Clement Richard Attlee PM, and A.Brook-Hirst, FA Chairman. Attlee also presented George Hardwick with the Jubilee Trophy following the match.	25	Free-kicks	12
	Possession	from Sunday Post

England Team

Rank	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 4th	Colours	The 1946 home uniform -White collared jerseys, blue shorts, red socks.
P 5th of eighteen, W 4 - D 1 - L 0 - F 20 - A 5.
Captain	George Hardwick	Manager	Walter Winterbottom, 34 (31 March 1913),appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
5th of 13, W 4 - D 1 - L 0 - F 20 - A 5.	P 5th of 139, W 4 - D 1 - L 0 - F 20 - A 5.
	Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry, on Friday, 28 March, in Harrogate.
England Lineup
	two changes to the previous match (Matthews & Mullen>Finney & Langton)	league position (28 March)
	Swift, Frank V.	33_107 days_	26 December 1913	G	Manchester City FC (FL2 TOP)	5	5ᵍᵃ
2	Scott, Lawrence	29_354 days_	23 April 1917	RB	Arsenal FC (FL 17th)	5	0
3	Hardwick, George F.M.	27_69 days_	2 February 1920	LB	Middlesbrough FC (FL 5th)	5	0
4	Wright, William A.	23_65 days_	6 February 1924	RHB	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP)	5	0
5	Franklin, Cornelius	25 78 days	24 January 1922	CHB	Stoke City FC (FL 7th)	5	0
6	Johnston, Harry	27_198 days_	26 September 1919	LHB	Blackpool FC (FL 2nd)	2	0
7	Matthews, Stanley	32_70 days_	1 February 1915	OR	Stoke City FC (FL 7th)	18	8
7 years 329 days after his last appearance
8****	Carter, Horatio S.	33_112 days_	21 December 1913	IR	Derby County FC (FL 11th)	11	6
9	Lawton, Thomas	27_188 days_	6 October 1919	CF	Chelsea FC (FL 10th)	13	12
10	Mannion, Wilfred J.	28_331 days_	16 May 1918	IL	Middlesbrough FC (FL 5th)	5	6
665	11	Mullen, James	24_96 days_	6 January 1923	OL	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL TOP)	1	0
the 19th Wanderer to represent England
reserves:	originally Phil Taylor (Liverpool FC (FL 3rd)) and Stan Mortensen (Blackpool FC (FL 2nd)).Taylor was replaced by Eddie Lowe (Aston Villa FC) on 9 April.
Prior to this match, the England side were set-up in Brighton, using Brighton & Hove Albion's ground to train on. This is the most experienced and oldest post-war side so far.
2 -3-5	Swift - Scott, Hardwick - Wright, Franklin, Johnston - Matthews, Carter, Lawton, Mannion, Mullen.
Averages:	Age	28 years 154 days	Appearances/Goals	6.8	2.8
oldest post-war team so far	most experienced post-war team so far

Scotland Team

Rank	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 6th	Colours	Dark blue jerseys with white collars, white shorts, blue socks with red tops.
Captain	Jock Shaw	Selection	Scottish Football Association Selection Committee on Wednesday, 2 April 1947
Trainer: Hugh Shaw (Hibernian FC)
Scotland Lineup
	Miller, William	22_143 days_	20 November 1924	G	The Celtic FC	2	4ᵍᵃ
2	Young, George L.	24_167 days_	27 October 1922	RB	Rangers FC	2	0
3	Shaw, John	34_134 days_	29 November 1912	LB	Rangers FC	1	0
634	4	Macaulay, Archibald R.	31_256 days_	30 July 1915	RHB	Brentford FC, England	1	0
635	5	Woodburn, William A.	27_247 days_	8 August 1919	CHB	Rangers FC	1	0
636	6	Forbes, Alexander R.	22_81 days_	21 January 1925	LHB	Sheffield United FC, England	1	0
7	Smith, Gordon	22_322 days_	25 May 1924	OR	Hibernian FC	2	0
637	8	McLaren, Andrew	25_78 days_	24 January 1922	IR	Preston North End FC, England	1	1
9	Delaney, James	32_221 days_	3 September 1914	CF	Manchester United FC, England	10	3
638	10	Steel, William	23_346 days_	1 May 1923	IL	Greenock Morton FC	1	0
639	11	Pearson, Thomas U.	34_27 days_	16 March 1913	OL	Newcastle United FC, England	1	0
travelling reserves:	John Husband (Partick Thistle FC) and William Thornton (Rangers FC).
reserves:	George Brown (Rangers FC); David Shaw (Hibernian FC); Hugh Brown (Partick Thistle FC), John Aird (Hibernian FC), and Husband; Jimmy Delaney (Manchester United FC) and Neil Dougall (Birmingham City FC); Willie McIntosh (Preston North End FC); Thornton and Willie McCall (Aberdeen FC);
team notes:	Tom Pearson played for England against Scotland in the December 1939 war-time international.Andy McClaren's debut goal is the first such goal since Jimmy Dougall did so for Scotland in April 1939. He becomes the third Preston North End player to score on his Scotland debut against England in the last ten years, and the first to do so at the Empire Stadium.
"The Scottish team left for Sonning, near Reading (Berks), where they will stay until the match."
2-3-5	Miller -Young, Shaw -Macauley, Woodburn, Forbes - Smith, McLaren, Delaney, Steel, Pearson.
Averages:	Age	27 years 153 days	Appearances/Goals	2.1	0.2
youngest post-war opposition so far

Match Report by Mike Payne

THE Home International Championship went to England after their draw in this final match of the season against Scotland. It was not a very good display and it was the Scots who gained most of the credit.

Over 98,000 spectators packed into Wembley on a glorious sunny day. The pitch looked superb and it was a very colourful scene especially when decorated by the pipes and drums of the Scots Guards. The teams were presented to the Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, before the kick-off.

The first-half belonged to Scotland. Driven on by marvellous displays from Macauley and Forbes in the midfield, they tore England apart. The rhythm that had been seen in England's previous games was completely upset and the usual inspirational pair, Raich Carter and Wilf Mannion, just could not get going against their Scottish counterparts.

After 15 minutes Scotland took the lead their play deserved. The move typified their native quality. Shaw found Pearson with a good pass. The winger dribbled down the left before laying on a perfect pass for McLaren, bursting through the middle, to shoot home a fine goal past the helpless Frank Swift.

England went from bad to worse. Pearson saw a shot blocked. Swift twice dropped the ball under pressure and there was a vociferous appeal for handball against Laurie Scott. Somehow though, England held on until half-time although at this stage they should have been out of the game completely.

To their eternal credit the half-time break was used to good effect by England and they restarted with a much more determined look about them. Within minutes a sparkling move involving Tommy Lawton, Jimmy Mullen and Cater ended with a shot into the side netting.

Two other similar moves lingered in the memory, on 56 minutes, England equalised. A superb quick passing movement between Lawton, Mannion and Carter ended with the latter shooting an excellent goal. At last England were something like their old selves again. They forced three corners in as many minutes as they searched for a winner but the Scots were not going to let that happen and they gave as good as they got, rising above themselves in a thriller.

There had been some interesting individual battles on the day with Scott doing well against Pearson, Smith worrying George Hardwick and Delaney having Neil Franklin in two minds for much of the game. Mullen, meanwhile, had a quiet but promising debut. In the end, though, the two sides shared the points and, reluctantly, settled for the draw.

Match Report by Norman Giller

A crowd of 98,250 gathered for this first post-war international at Wembley. victory or a draw would give England the Home Championship. Scotland were the superior side in the first half and deserved their 1-0 half-time lead from a goal by Preston inside-right Andy McLaren. England equalised in the 56th minute when Raich Carter finished off a sweeping movement involving Tommy Lawton and Wilf Mannion. With the score deadlocked at 1-1, Carter was racing unchallenged towards the Scottish goal in the dying moments when he heard a whistle and pulled up. The whistle had come from the crowd. Jimmy Mullen made his debut on the left wing, and Stanley Matthews was preferred to Tom Finney on the right wing. It was Stanley's 18th peacetime international appearance and his first since before the war. Wright and Franklin were developing into the Britton and Cullis of peacetime football. There could be no higher praise. This match saw the start of the Matthews-or-Finney controversy that lasted throughout their careers. The selectors never seemed quite sure which to pick. They were both exceptionally gifted players, but it was considered it would be too much of a luxury to play them both. It started long arguments between fans, whipped up by newspapers, as to which of them should wear the number seven shirt.

Match Report by Glen Isherwood

England had beaten both Ireland and Wales and needed only a point to secure the first post-war British Championship. Scotland had lost 3-1 to Wales at the Racecourse Ground and could finish joint runners-up at best. They had lost four out of five wartime internationals at Wembley since winning in 1938.
Scotland dominated the first half and took the lead when a pass from Pearson found Andy McLaren who shot past Swift. England's equaliser came from a very quick and incisive move which split the Scottish defence and Mannion provided the in-rushing Raich Carter with the final pass from which he drove the ball past Miller.
England were to retain the British Championship the following year, their fourth successive peacetime title, while Scotland finished bottom without a point. They returned to Wembley in 1949, however, with a much-improved side.
The 1951 Footballer of the Year, Harry Johnston, made his first Wembley appearance.

Match Report by John Batson, The Weekly Dispatch

MYSTERY WHISTLE COST ENGLAND A VICTORY
It is doubtful if there exists an Englishman so shameless as to moan about that extraordinary Wembley incident yesterday, which resulted in England being deprived of what seemed an odds-on and winning goal against Scotland. Grey-haired Horatio Carter, the man who saved England from complete disgrace by scoring the equaliser earlier in the second half, was concerned in the incident. As the Derby County inside right galloped through on his own, the crowd's roar seemed to die momentarily for some reason, and a whistle sounded. Carter braked and half fell, looking back in astonishment towards the referee, who waved that he was not at fault. Recovering his feet, Carter shot hard—and Miller saved. Without that pause, I am sure that a second goal would have been scored for England—and rank injustice done to the Scots, who were moral victors, anyway, whatever the score."

"Nevertheless, but for that misguided ass in the crowd blowing a whistle, England would have won, for to this day, I still believe Raich Carter would have scored." - Billy Wright

In Other News....

It was on 11 April 1947 that the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, refused to agree to the Saar Protectorate becoming part of France, at a meeting in Moscow. It would be another ten years before the disputed territory became a state in West Germany.

Source Notes

| TheFA.com Original newspaper reportsLondonHearts.comGlen Isherwood's Wembley: The Complete Record | | Rothman's YearbooksMike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record Norman Giller, Football Author British Pathé | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

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