England Football Online
 Home  New Team Matches
Seasons Competition  Opponents Comment
Features Q & A Forum Appendices
Contact Us Page Last Updated 30 January 2008
 
Match No. 302 vs. Scotland Match No. 304 vs. Sweden Match Results


England National Football Team Match No. 303

England 4 Brazil 2 [2-0]

Wednesday, 9 May 1956

Match Summary and Report

Match Summary
Status: International friendly match.
Venue: Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, England, capacity 100,000.
Attendance: 100,000.
Goals: England - Tommy Taylor, 3rd minute;
England - Colin Grainger, 5th minute;
Brazil - Paulinho, 53rd minute;
Brazil - Didi, 55th minute;
England - Tommy Taylor, 65[?]th minute;
England - Colin Grainger, 83rd minute:
Cautions: Not known.
Expulsions: None.
Officials: Referee - Maurice Guigue, France;
Linesmen - R. Sautel (yellow flag) & M. Lequesne (flame flag).
Conditions: Afternoon kickoff; weather not known.
Miscellany: England missed two penalty kicks:  John Atyeo's effort was punched over the bar by Gilmar after 62 mins. and Roger Byrne's weak shot was saved after 67[?] mins.
Statistics:

Type

England

Brazil
Goal Attempts - -
Attempts on Target - -
Hit Bar/Post - -
Corner Kicks Won - -
Offside Calls Against - -
Fouls Conceded - -
Possession - -

England Team
Ranking:

No official ranking system established; placed 7th in the Elo system world ranking both before and after this match.
Colours: White shirts, navy blue shorts, red stockings with broad white band at top. - The 1954 home uniform.
Coach: Walter Winterbottom, 43, appointed national coaching director with responsibility for the England team in 1946 and team manager in 1947.
77th match, W __, D __, L __, F ___, A  ___
Captain: Billy Wright, 59th captaincy.

England Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Matthews, Reginald D. 20-Dec-1932 23 G Coventry City FC 2 3GA 1956-57
2-Hall, Jeffrey J. 07-Sep-1929 26 RFB Birmingham City FC 6 0 1955-57
3-Byrne, Roger W. 08-Feb-1929 27 LFB Manchester United FC 19 0 1954-57
4-Clayton, Ronald 05-Aug-1934 21 RHB Blackburn Rovers FC 3 0 1955-60
5-Wright, William A. 06-Feb-1924 32 CHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 74 3 1946-59
6-Edwards, Duncan 01-Oct-1936 19 LHB Manchester United FC 6 0 1955-57
7-Matthews, Stanley 01-Feb-1915 41 OR Blackpool FC 47 10 1934-57
8-Atyeo, P. John W. 07-Feb-1932 24 IR Bristol City FC 2 1 1955-57
9-Taylor, Thomas 29-Jan-1932 24 CF Manchester United FC 7 4 1953-57
10-Haynes, John N. 17-Oct-1934 21 IL Fulham FC 5 2 1954-62
11-Grainger, Colin 10-Jun-1933 22 OL Sheffield United FC 1 2 1956-57
Formation:

3-4-3

R. Matthews -
Hall, Wright, Byrne -
Clayton, Edwards -
Atyeo, Haynes -
S. Matthews, Taylor, Grainger.
Notes: 3-4-3 in the WM alignment with the centre halfback of the old 2-3-5 formation becoming a centre-back between the fullbacks and with the inside forwards withdrawn [3-2-2-3]:
Reserves
Not Used:		 Unknown reserves; No substitutions were permitted. 

Brazil Team
Ranking:

No official ranking system established; placed 3rd in the Elo system world ranking both before and after this match;
Colours: Yellow shirts with lime green trim, light blue shorts, white stockings with two narrow yellow and lime green stripes at top.
Coach: Flávio Rodrigues da Costa, appointed 1955
Captain: Nilton Santos

Brazil Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Gilmar 22-Aug-1930 25 G SC Corinthians 15 0 1953-69
-Djalma Santos 27-Feb-1929 27 RFB AD Portuguesa 32 - 1952-1968
-Pavão 04-Apr-1930 26 CD CR Flamengo 4 0 1955-56
-Zózimo 19-Jun-1934 21 CD Bangu AC 8 - 1955-62
-Nilton Santos 16-May-1925 30 LFB

Botafogo FR

 31 - 1949-62
-Dequinha 19-Mar-1928 28 M CR Flamengo 7 0 1955-56
-Didi 08-Oct-1929 26 M Botafogo FR 26 - 1952-62
-Paulinho 15-Apr-1932 24 F CR Flamengo 8 1 1955-56
-Álvaro 24-Sep-1931 24 F Santos FC 9 2 1955-56
-Gino 03-Sep-1929 26 F São Paulo FC 6 3 1956
-Canhoteiro 24-Sep-1932 23 F São Paulo FC 9 1 1955-56
Formation:

-

-
Reserves
Not Used:		 Unknown reserves; No substitutions were permitted. 

Match Report

 


No. 8 John Atyeo nods back Stanley Matthews' cross for the waiting Tommy Taylor to head in England's
third and winning goal after Brazil had fought back to level the score  at 2-2.


Colin Grainger, making his debut, heads home his second goal, England's fourth,
from a cross by Stanley Matthews, watching in the background.

Even though the sides were level at 2-2 after ten minutes of the second half, England won this match at Wembley... much more easily than the score would suggest.  England started off in the grand manner.  In the opening seconds Taylor shot hard over the bar.  After three minutes' play Stanley Matthews gave Haynes a perfect pass; a swivel and a push to Taylor and we were one up.  After five minutes hall found Taylor with a long pass; a flick to Haynes, and there was Grainger unmarked to give England the tremendous advantage of an early two-goal lead.  Soon after the interval, however, Brazil scored two rather lucky goals, and it needed a couple of pin-point centres from Matthews for Taylor and Grainger to clinch the issue with two well-headed shots.  Our advantage should have been increased when England was awarded two penalties for deliberate hands but, partly due to the uproar caused by the disputing Brazilians, both these were missed.  In spite of these extraordinary happenings, England coasted home to a comfortable and most encouraging win. - F.A. Yearbook 1956-57 page 30 & 31

Source Notes

Sources

Official matchday programme.

An Old International, "Handsome Victory for England," Manchester Guardian, 18 May 1956 [posted on the Guardian Football Unlimited website 18 June 2002]

Farror, Morley & Douglas Lamming, A Century of English International Football 1872-1972 (Robert Hale & Company, London, 1972)

The Football Association, The F.A. Complete Guide to England Players Since 1945 (Stanley Paul, London, 1993)

The Football Association, The Football Association Year Book 1956-57, pp. 27, 30-31 (Williaam Heinemann Ltd. (1956)

Giller, Norman, Billy Wright:  A Hero for All Seasons, pp. 148-49 (Robson Books, London, 2002)

Giller, Norman, "The Silver Surfer: Norman Giller revisits the glory days," Football FC website [The Sun], 10 May 2000

Green, Geoffrey, "Triumph of Old World Over the New," London Times, 10 May 1956 [posted on London Times website 10 May 2002)

Hockings, Ron, "England at Wembley," Association of Football Statisticians Report No. 110, pp. 35, 40 (Winter, 2000)

Hugman, Barry J., The PFA Premier & Football League Players’ Records 1946-1998 (Queen Anne Press, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, 1998)

Hurley, Jeff, United Kingdom & Eire International Database (Association of Football Statisticians 1998)

Lamming, Douglas, An English Football Internationlists’ Who’s Who (Hutton Press Limited, Beverly, North Humberside, U.K., 1990)

Payne, Mike, England: The Complete Post-War Record, pp. 60-61 (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistical Foundation, Arquivo da Seleção Brasileira [Brazilian National Team Archive] (2002)

Robinson, Michael & Mike Ross, Soccer: The International Line-ups & Statistics Series—England 1872-1960, p. 44 (Soccer Book Publishing Ltd., Cleethorpes, South Humberside, England, 1995)

Rollin, Jack, Rothmans Book of Football Records, p. 288 (Headline Book Publishing, London, 1998)  

Soter, Ivan, Enciclopédia da Seleção: As Seleções Brasileiras de Futebol 1914 - 2002 (Folha Seca, Rio de Janeiro,  2002)

The Boys from Brazil (1989) (videotape containing match highlights).

This Is Wembley website, Match 51, England v. Brazil (downloaded 2 October 2000)

and many thanks to Geoff Mills for his additional information.

 

____________________

PY/CG