THE magnificent Billy Wright led England out against the Auld Enemy in what was an appropriate fixture to gain his 100th international cap. The packed Wembley fans stood as one to give the England captain a tumultuous welcome on what was a very special day for him. The Wolverhampton Wanderers player had been a tremendous ambassador for both club and country, and there was rarely been a more deserving honour in the history of the game.

The match was always going to play second fiddle to Wright's achievement, but as it happened it turned out to be a close and well-contested affair. Scotland, with Evans and Brown in sparkling form, held on for an hour, withstanding some fierce England pressure. The first half saw Peter Broadbent and Bobby Charlton showing some lovely skills with Charlton's power shooting once more to the fore.

On 20 minutes, a fine move involving Johnny Haynes and Charlton saw the Manchester United man hit a tremendous long pass out to the impressive Doug Holden on the left wing. It split the Scottish defence wide open but when Holden's cross found Broadbent on the six yard line, Brown charged from his line to brilliantly smother the danger.

During the first half it became apparent that England manager Walter Winterbottom was using a new plan. Instead of a big bustling centre-forward of old, he was now putting Charlton in the middle, instructing him to take on a roving role alternating with the other two inside-men, Haynes and Broadbent. It worked well and failed only in the respect of goals. Meanwhile, in defence, Wright and Ronnie Clayton snuffed out the Scottish threat by giving Collins and Dick no room to manoeuvre.

After the interval Charlton was again the main thorn in Scotland's side and on the hour, England finally gained the breakthrough they richly deserved, scoring a goal which was fit to win any match.

Clayton found Broadbent down the right and he, in turn, cleverly sent Bryan Douglas away. The winger sent over a long, tantalising cross and Charlton, roaring in, met it with an unstoppable downward header. His momentum carried him into a forward roll and Brown, this time, had no chance to save.

Brown saved his side shortly afterwards following another Charlton special. Holden, showing some lovely touches on the left wing, put the number-nine through. Charlton ghosted past two blue shirts as though they weren't there, before hitting a tremendous right-footer, knee-high. At the last second, Brown leapt across the goal brilliantly to turn the ball aside. It was a super save and Brown, alone at times, denied England their deserved bigger victory margin.

Wright, Clayton and the other defender kept Herd and Dick totally in check and Scotland had only one real chance to score. That came 12 minutes from the end and exposed Eddie Hopkinson's lack of inches. The goalkeeper failed to gather Docherty's deep cross and when the ball ran loose. Herd was left with a free shot at an empty goal. Unfortunately for him and for Scotland the ball struck Leggatt and was eventually cleared.

It would have been unfair on England had Scotland equalised but, having said that, if a team does not emphasise in superiority with goals, then they leave themselves wide open to that sort of thing happening.

To be fair, had Brown not been in such splendid form the victory would have been far more clear cut, but if Brown was Scotland's hero, then Charlton was undoubtedly England's. Superbly backed up by Broadbent and Haynes, this trio made sure that Wright had a double celebration at the end of the day.
  

An historic day for Billy Wright when he became the first footballer in the world to win one hundred international caps. A closely fought game was won for England by an acrobatic header from Bobby Charlton after Bryan Douglas had sent over a precise centre in the sixty-second minute. At the final whistle, the England skipper was carried shoulder high to the Wembley dressing-room by his team-mates Don Howe and Ronnie Clayton. Johnny Haynes collected a painful memento of Billy's historic match when a fierce tackle by Dave Mackay left him with a broken little finger on his left hand, and Bryan Douglas limped through much of the game with damaged knee ligaments. Bolton winger Doug Holden won the first of his five caps, and played with pace and fire against a Scottish defence in no mood to concede an inch. Dundee goalkeeper Bill Brown was the man of the match, denying Bobby Charlton a hat-trick of goals with magnificent saves. It was a performance that convinced Tottenham manager Bill Nicholson that he should sign Brown for Spurs, and he became a key man in their double year of 1960-61. Carried in triumph the length of the Wembley pitch at the final whistle, Billy Wright was given the sort of ovation reserved only for true sporting gods.  His wife Joy, of Beverley Sisters fame, had given birth to their first daughter, Victoria, just six days earlier and had been allowed out of hospital to watch the game. The Scots did their best to spoil the party by playing their hearts out, but Bobby Charlton scored yet another crackerjack goal to underline that he was a young genius at the game.
  

Victory for Scotland would have given them their first outright British Championship since 1951 when they had last beaten England. The home side had drawn their previous two games and had to win to secure a record eighth successive title. Like England, Scotland had been knocked out of the previous year's World Cup in the first round but the Scots had finished bottom of their group.
The only goal came after almost an hour's play. A high cross from Douglas was met by Bobby Charlton who directed a superb header past Brown. Apart from this it was a poor match to celebrate Billy Wright's 100th cap.
Northern Ireland's 4-1 win over Wales at Windsor Park gave them a share of the Championship for the third time in four years. After gaining a share themselves the following year, Scotland were back at Wembley in 1961 for a game that they would never forget.
  

Though the score makes the match look close, England were in fact superior to their opponents in all matters except shooting. The England selectors returned to the inside trio of Broadbent-Charlton-Haynes, and were rewarded by a fine display accurate passing and inter-changing of positions which completely baffled the Scottish defence. Douglas and Holden, making his début on the left wing, were also impressive, and it appeared that goals would come at any moment. Fine play by Evans and Brown, allied to the poor finishing, kept the margin to the one goal scored after an hour's play; the opening was made by Clayton and Broadbent, carried on by Douglas, whose cross was headed acrobatically home by Charlton. He was again the star closely followed by Haynes, Clayton, and Wright, who was playing in his hundredth International. The Scottish forwards disappointed and, except for Evans, their defence was also unimpressive.
  

The greatest day of my England career. Everything went to perfection, and it was particularly special to be able to pick out Joy and her twin sisters Teddie and Babs in the crowd as I led the team n the pitch. Joy had given birth to our first daughter, Victoria, just six days earlier and 'Mum' had been allowed out of hospital to watch the game. The Scots did their best to spoil my party by playing their hearts out, as they always do at Wembley. But my team-mates were determined to mark the occasion with a victory. Bobby Charlton scored yet another crackerjack goal to underline that he was a young genius at the game. I was snowed under with thousands of telegrams and congratulatory messages, and the celebrations went on for days. Legendary German team manager Sepp Herberger came over to London specially to present me with a giant silver candlestick on behalf of the West German FA, and at a civic reception in Wolverhampton I was given a silver rose bowl by the Mayor and another one by the Wolves supporters, From the Football Association I received a magnificent silver salver emblazoned with flags of all the countries I had played in, and the Irish FA presented me with a beautiful collection of Waterford crystal. The National Sporting Club threw a dinner for me, and gave me a huge cocktail cabine, and then - the greatest honour of them all - I was invited to Buckingham Palace for a private lunch with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. As I looked around the Palace dining room I could not quite believe that all this was happening to a lad from Ironbridge. And I owed it all to the great game of football.