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Results 1946-1950                       Page Last Updated 21 April 2023

Éireann

    
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259 vs. Ireland

 
Wednesday, 16 November 1949
Home International Championship 1949-50 (55th) Match

&
IV Campeonato Mundial de Futebol Taça Jules Rimet Group One Qualification Match

England
 9 Ireland 2
[4-0]
 
Maine Road, Brantingham Road, Moss Side, Manchester, Lancashire
Kick-off (GMT): 2.30pm.

Attendance: '69,762'.
Receipt: '£10,738'.


Players lost since last match
Leslie Gay  (1 November 1949) 78
Jackie Vernon won the toss and Ireland kicked-off
1.0 BBC Midland Light Orchestra 2.0 Woman's Hour 3.0 Joseph Seal (organ)
3.20
England v. Ireland
4.15 Mrs Dale's Diary 4.30 BBC Northern Orchestra 5.30 Band of the H.M. Royal Marines Strict Tempo, Eddie Palmer and his Players 6.0 On Our Way 6.45 Dick Barton
[1-0] Jack Rowley 5
 'Jack Froggatt beating Feeney and then centring across the goalmouth. Rowley tapped the ball calmy past Kelly'
[1-0] Jack Rowley's shot ran across the crossbar
[2-0] Jack Froggatt header 25
 'Tom Finney cut in, dashed round McMichael and sent the ball low to Froggatt who dived low to head into the net.'

[3-0] Stan Pearson 31
 'hooked in after a scramble in the goalmouth.'
[4-0] Stan Mortensen header 35
 'made a torpedo dive to score from a cross by Jack Rowley.'
 
[5-0] Jack Rowley header 46
 'Jack Froggatt slipped the ball to Rowley, who jumped clear of the defenders to head in."
[6-0] Stan Mortensen 50
 'shot rocketed into the top of the net' from a Jack Rowley header
 

[7-1] Jack Rowley 57 HAT-TRICK

 'Stan Mortensen immediately flashed through to give Rowley another goal' straight from the kick-off
[8-1] Jack Rowley 59
 'Stan Mortensen, with only the keeper to beat, unselfishly passed to Rowley, who walked the ball in.'
[9-1] Stan Pearson 68
 'Tom Finney's shot needed only a touch from Pearson to beat Kelly'





[6-1] Sammy Smyth 56
'shot past Streten from a difficult angle' from John McKenna





[9-2] Bobby Brennan 75
'benefited from a fumble by Franklin to run through and shoot.'
second half live on the Radio Light Programme - Commentator: tbc  
 
"ENGLAND LINE RUN RIOT ON ROUTE TO RIO" Daily Mirror
Officials England UK ruling on substitutes Ireland
Referee (black blazer with pinstripes)
Benjamin Mervyn Griffiths
Abertillery, Monmouthshire
 
Linesmen
Edward Plinston
(1906) Warrington, Cheshire
J.A.A. Murphy
Ireland
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 4th to 3rd
Colours The 1949 home uniform - White collared jerseys, blue shorts, red socks.
P 7th of 43, W 4 - D 0 - L 3 - F 22 - A 13.

Captain
Billy Wright
Manager Walter Winterbottom, 36 (31 March 1913), appointed as FA national director of coaching/team manager on 8 July 1946;
10th of 90, W 7 - D 0 - L 3 - F 30 - A 14. P 25th of 139, W 18 - D 3 - L 4 - F 88 - A 27.
¹ Team chosen by Selection Committee headed by Arthur Drewry on Monday, 7 November.
England Lineup
  five changes to the previous match (Williams, Dickinson, Milburn, Shackleton & Hancocks out) league position (7 November)  
72   Streten, Bernard R. 28
306 days
14 January 1921 G Luton Town FC (FL2 13th) 1 2ᵍᵃ
690 the fourth Town player to represent England only app 1949
2 Mozley, Bert 26
56 days
21 September 1923 RB Derby County FC (FL 10th) 3 0
final app 1949
3 Aston, John 28
74 days
3 September 1921 LB Manchester United FC (FL 3rd) 10 0
691 4 Watson, Willie 29
254 days
7 March 1920 RHB Sunderland AFC (FL 9th) 1 0
the 16th Sunderland player to represent England
5 Franklin, Cornelius 27
296 days
24 January 1922 CHB Stoke City FC (FL 18th) 25 0
6 Wright, William A. 25
283 days
6 February 1924 LHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (FL 2nd) 25 1
7
Finney, Thomas 27
225 days
5 April 1922 OR Preston North End FC (FL2 8th) 21 14
8
Mortensen, Stanley H. 28
174 days
26 May 1921 IR Blackpool FC (FL 6th) 14 17
the 150th (17th post-war) brace
9

Rowley, John F. 31
40 days
7 October 1918 CF Manchester United FC (FL 3rd) 4 5
oldest to score three & four
the 149th (16th post-war) brace, the 41st (4th post-war) hattrick, 14th four-goals scored
10
Pearson, Stanley C. 30
309 days
11 January 1919 IL Manchester United FC (FL 3rd) 4 3
the 151st (18th post-war) brace scored
692 11
Froggatt, Jack 26
364 days
17 November 1922 OL Portsmouth FC (FL 5th) 1 1
ninth Portsmouth player to represent England
         
reserve: Laurie Hughes (Liverpool FC (FL TOP))
team notes: Streten is the smallest goalkeeper since Teddy Davison in 1922.
Far from the fact that five players were dropped from that match against Wales, those omitted players, Bert Williams, Jimmy Dickinson, Jackie Milburn, Len Shackleton and Johnny Hancocks, were invited to Maine Road to maintain the 'international atmosphere".
goalkeeper notes: Walter Winterbottom used twelve goalkeepers in his tenure as England manager, Streten was the only keeper he used just the once.
records: For the fourth time, England have played a record eight matches in a single calendar year.
This is the first time England have scored nine goals since May 1947, but the first time in a competitive match since 1899.
England were set-up in Southport prior to this match, using the Haig Avenue ground to train on.
 
2-3-5 Streten -
Mozley, Aston -
Watson, Franklin, Wright -
Finney, Mortensen, Rowley, Pearson, Froggatt.
Averages: Age 28 years 119 days Appearances/Goals 9.9 2.9
 
Ireland Team
 

Rank

No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 40th to 42nd
Colours Green jerseys, white shorts, blue socks.
Captain Jackie Vernon Selection Selection Committee
on Monday, 7 November 1949.
Ireland Lineup
  Kelly, Hugh R. 30
91 days
17 August 1919 G Fulham FC, England 1 9ᵍᵃ
2 Feeney, James M. 28
146 days
23 June 1921 RB Swansea Town FC, England 2 0
final app 1946-49
3 McMichael, Alfred 22
46 days
1 October 1927 LB Newcastle United FC, England 2 0
4 Bowler, Gerald C. 30
161 days
8 June 1919 RHB Hull City AFC, England 2 0
5 Vernon, John J.  31
51 days
26 September 1918 CHB West Bromwich Albion FC, England 11 0
also has two appearances for Éire
6 McCabe, James J. 31
62 days
17 September 1918 LHB Leeds United AFC, England 3 0
7 Cochrane, David A. 29
94 days
14 August 1920 OR Leeds United AFC, England 12 0
final app 1938-49
8
Smyth, Samuel 24
264 days
25 February 1925 IR Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, England 7 5
9
Brennan, Robert A. 24
247 days
14 March 1925 CF Birmingham City FC, England 3 1
10 Tully, Charles P. 25
128 days
11 July 1924 IL The Celtic FC, Scotland 2 0
11
McKenna, John 23
163 days
6 June 1926 OL Huddersfield Town AFC, England 2 0
reserve: H. Walsh (Linfield FC).
 
2-3-5 Kelly -
Feeney, McMichael -
Bowler, Vernon, McCabe -
Cochrane, Smyth, Brennan, Tully, McKenna.
Averages: Age 27 years 134 days Appearances/Goals 4.3 0.3
 
              Match Report by Mike Payne

Grey sky and persistent drizzle could not dampen the Manchester crowd's enthusiasm for one of England's most impressive and fluent performances. They completely overwhelmed the Northern Ireland side with a display of football that was pure delight.

The Irish offered plenty of pluck and never gave up but really there was only one team in it. The goals simply rained into the Irish net and poor Kelly in goal did not know what him.

After five minutes Jack Rowley sent Jack Froggatt away and then followed up to meet the centre smoothly to shoot home. Although Smyth and Tully set the England defence a few problems, when Tom Finney took a hold of the match in the 25th minute, the landslide began.

Playing one of his best-ever games he conjured up some sheer magic as he teased the whole Irish defence with the balance, poise, speed and footwork. Poor McMichael did not know which way to turn next. In that 25th minute, perfect footwork and controlled speed took Finney past three defenders on the right and Froggatt headed in the cross as clean as a whistle.

Within minutes the ball was off again, moving swiftly between Willie Watson, Finney, Billy Wright and Stan Mortensen before Stan Pearson joined in to add the finishing touch.

Hardly had the crowd had time to enjoy that little gem before they looked up to see Mortensen flying through the air to meet Finney's centre with a glorious header to make it 4-0 at half-time.

Rowley made it five a minute into the second half and shortly afterwards Kelly could only hear Mortensen's shot whizz past him. Smyth did pull one goal back for the Irish, but England were at full steam now, doing exactly what they liked, when they liked. Rowley scored two more goals, both of which had all the forwards helping in the build-up. The first 13 minutes of the second half had seen five goals.

A Finney headed pass to Pearson gave the England number nine the chance to score, appropriately, their ninth goal. Finally, a goal by Brennan, after a mistake by Neil Franklin, ended the scoring and an altogether extraordinary afternoon.

  

              Match Report by Norman Giller

Jack Rowley, deputising for injured Jackie Milburn, hammered four goals against an Irish team that had gone down 8-2 against Scotland in their previous match. Pompey's Jack Froggatt scored on his debut. England Test cricketer Willie Watson won the first of four caps at right-half, and former amateur international Bernard Streten got his only full England call while playing in the Second Division with Luton. Fulham's Irish goalkeeper Hugh Kelly had to pick the ball out of his net 28 times in five successive international matches.
 

              Match Report as appears in the F.A. Yearbook 1950-51, page 23

The match against Northern Ireland took place at Manchester on November 16th. The score of 9 goals to 2 in England's favour gives some idea of their complete superiority in all phases of the game. There were several changes in the English team from the one which beat Wales, Streten (Luton Town) replacing Williams in goal, Watson replacing Dickinson, and Rowley, Pearson and Froggatt entering the forward-line.
Five minutes from the start England had already established their ascendency when Rowley sent Froggatt away on the left and came up to sweep the winger's centre unerringly into the net. The Irish landslide, however, did not really begin till the 25th minute, when Finney placed a centre for Froggatt to head home. Ten minutes later a swift movement between Watson, Finney, Wright and Mortensen ended in a goal from Pearson, and very soon Mortensen added another.
Within five minutes of the resumption, England were six up with two more goals from Rowley and Mortensen. Ireland gallantly replied twice, but Rowley added two more goals and Pearson one to bring England's total to nine. It was the biggest international victory since 1899 - a brilliant display of a fast-moving scoring machine, though it must be added that the Irish defence was badly off form.

 

       In Other News....
It was on 16 November 1949 that a United States Superfortress bomber ran out of fuel on a flight from California to Bermuda and crashed into the North Atlantic Ocean. Two people were killed, but the other 18 on board managed to scramble into rubber life rafts and then drifted for over three days before they were found by a Canadian destroyer some 385 miles north-east of Bermuda.
  
              Source Notes
TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Northern Ireland's Football Greats
Clive Leatherdale's England's Quest For The World Cup
  Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record

Norman Giller, Football Author
British Pathé
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