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England National Football Team Match No. 303

Wednesday, 9 May 1956

England 4 Brazil 2 [2-0]

England Pre-Match

Empire Stadium, Wembley, 9th of May, 1956 - Nilton Santos chases Stanley  Matthews.
Tommy Taylor and Colin Grainger each scored twice, but 41-year-old outside right Matthews,
at his dazzling best as he played a role in all four goals, outshone everyone.  While the
Brazilians presented Matthews with a piece of silver as England's greatest  player, they
also pointedly declared during the pre-match buildup that no player in the world could
 get the better of their great left back, Nilton Santos.  As it turned out, he could not touchMatthews
on the day, and at  game's end, he had the grace to say, "Mr. Matthews, you are the king."

England Squad

Player

Birthdate

Club

Pos

App

G

Atyeo, P. John W. 07-Feb-1932 Bristol City FC IR 1 1
Byrne, Roger W. 08-Feb-1929 Manchester United FC LFB 18 0
Clayton, Ronald 05-Aug-1934 Blaackburn Rovers FC RHB 2 0

Edwards, Duncan

01-Oct-1936

Manchester United FC

LHB

5

0

Grainger, Colin 10-Jun-1933 Sheffield United FC OL 0 0

Hall, Jeffrey J.

07-Sep-1929

Birmingham City FC

RFB

5

0

Haynes, John N. 17-Oct-1934 Fulham FC IL 4 2

Matthews, Reginald D.

20-Dec-1932

Coventry City FC

G

1

1 GA

Matthews, Stanley

01-Feb-1915

Blackpool FC

OR

46

10

Taylor, Thomas 29-Jan-1932 Manchester United FC CF 6 2

Wright, William A.

06-Feb-1924

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC

CHB

73

3

Notes

We do not know who the reserves were.  There were four lineup changes from the last match,  the 1-1 draw against Scotland at Hampden Park on 14 April.  On the wings, Stanley Matthews replaced Tom Finney and Colin Grainger, making his deubt, took over from Bill Perry, who had made the last of his three England  appearances.  The promising Tommy Taylor moved from inside right to centre-forward,  replacing Nat Lofthouse, who was soon to fall out of favour altogether, and John Atyeo, earning his second cap, came in as inside right.  At right halfback, Jimmy Dickinson, nearing the end of his England career, gave way to Ronnie Clayton, also making  his second appearance.

Reg Matthews remained in goal for his second cap, as the selectors continued the search for a long-term goalkeeper.   Jeff Hall appeared set to  become Roger Byrne's regular partner at fullback, and Duncan Edwards and Johnny Haynes were on their way to joining Billy Wright as fixtures in the team.

England's first meeting with Brazil.

England Results
No. Date Opposition Venue Type F A Result H.T.
291 02-Oct-1954 Northern Ireland Windsor Park, Belfast BC 2 0 AW [0-0]
292 10-Nov-1954 Wales Empire Stadium, Wembley, London BC 3 2 HW [0-1]
293 01-Dec-1954 West Germany Empire Stadium, Wembley, London F 3 1 HW [1-0]
294 02-Apr-1955 Scotland Empire Stadium, Wembley, London BC 7 2 HW [4-1]
295 15-May-1955 France Stade Olympique, Colombes, Paris F 0 1 AL [0-1]
296 18-May-1955 Spain Estadio Chamartin, Madrid F 1 1 AD [1-0]
297 22-May-1955 Portugal Estádio das Antas, Oporto F 1 3 AL [1-1]
298 02-Oct-1955 Denmark Idraetsparken, Copenhagen F 5 1 AW [3-0]
299 22-Oct-1955 Wales Ninian Park, Cardiff BC 1 2 AL [0-2]
300 02-Nov-1955 Northern Ireland Empire Stadium, Wembley, London BC 3 0 HW [0-0]
301 30-Nov-1955 Spain Empire Stadium, Wembley, London F 4 1 HW [2-0]
302 14-Apr-1956 Scotland Hampden Park, Glasgow BC 1 1 AD [0-0]
303 09-May-1956 Brazil Empire Stadium, Wembley, London F 4 2 HW [2-0]

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