England made three changes for this interesting international at Wembley and, in the end, they reversed the scoreline of the match in Vienna 11 months earlier. It was a competent display from them and included some very encouraging performances from the two new caps in the team. It was a nasty, wet and miserable day which kept the crowd down to around 45,000, but the way the home side played lifted the gloom.

In the first half England put together some good football. Johnny Haynes, outstanding throughout, found the answer to the kind of defensive play typical of continental sides. He released the ball quickly and effectively giving the likes of Roger Hunt and Ray Crawford the chance to break clear of defenders. Bobby Charlton and John Connelly also made several darting runs and always looked dangerous.

In the eighth minute, England took the lead. A magnificent run and shot by Haynes cannoned back off a post, but Crawford reacted quickly to meet the rebound and fired in a shot which beat Fraydl with the help of a deflection off Trubrig.

A period of frustration for the home fans followed the goal. England had plenty of the possession and several good chances to add to their score but along the way the finish was not quite there. Connelly, Hunt, Crawford and Charlton all missed inviting targets and good defensive play by Stotz and Oslanski especially combined to keep the score down to the single goal.

It took a somewhat fortuitous penalty award by the French referee to extend England's lead. Connelly, who had actually lost control of the ball, was then bundled over and the Austrians should kick themselves for giving away such a silly spot-kick. Ron Flowers dispatched the penalty fiercely past Fraydl.

Just before the break Austria made a substitution when the ineffective Fiala was replaced by Flögel. As a result the second half saw an improvement by the visitors and they visibly quickened their pace. Haynes, however continued to run the midfield with his astute play and he was ably assisted by the impressive Stan Anderson. Jimmy Armfield and Flowers were outstanding at the back and it came as no real surprise when England scored a third goal in the 67th minute.

Good play between Armfield and Connelly forced a corner with Connelly taking it short for Haynes. The skipper's pin-point centre was nodded in by Hunt and the Liverpool player was delighted.

After that, Anderson created two super chances for Crawford and Hunt but alas both went begging and the situation cried out for a Jimmy Greaves or a Gerry Hitchens to finish off the Austrians. Near the end, Buzek cut England's lead with a diving header but by that time the game was virtually over with the home side in almost total command.
     

England avenged the defeat in Vienna of the previous year thanks mainly to the midfield domination of Johnny Haynes, who kept picking holes in the massed Austrian defence with low, angled passes. Five goal chances fell to the feet of Liverpool striker Roger Hunt, who was making his debut along with Sunderland's rugged Stan Anderson. Hunt was able to score from only one of the opportunities, and the London press started the Greaves v. Hunt debate that was to last throughout their careers. It is worth pointing out here that Jimmy and Roger have nothing but the highest respect for each other and that the 'bitter rivalry' between them was manufactured by the media.
     

After finishing bottom of England's group in the 1958 World Cup, Austria had decided not to enter the 1962 competition despite reaching the quarter-finals of the first European Championship in 1960. In May 1961 they defeated England 3-1 in Vienna. It was only their second win in ten meetings. Their previous visit to Wembley in 1951 had brought them a draw.
Ray Crawford opened the scoring after Fraydl pushed Haynes' shot onto the post and he knocked in the rebound. Half an hour later, Connelly was tripped by Stotz and Ron Flowers converted the spot kick.
Midway through the second half England wrapped up the victory. Haynes crossed for Roger Hunt to head past Fraydl. Austrian consolation came when Johann Buzek dived to head in Hof's centre.
Austria's misfortune continued as the Republic of Ireland surprisingly beat them in the first round of the 1964 European Championship 18 months later. They came back to Wembley, though, in 1965 and pulled off a surprise victory.
     

Source Notes

"England's training session yesterday in preparation for the match against Austria at Wembley to-morrow was cancelled. Arsenal were to have provided the opposition for a full-scale practice at the White City, but with several knocks in hard matches on Saturday it was decided to give the party a free day." - Tuesday, 3 April 1962, Glasgow Herald.

TheFA.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG