Picture
supplied by tv50.org.uk
The
BBC re-launched its television service in 1946, but outside broadcasts were
still limited to London. England games at Wembley and Highbury were
transmitted live, although viewers missed out on the Sweden game in November
1947, because the cameras were being used for the following day's Royal
Wedding of Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen.
It was the following
season before England appeared on television again. They were scheduled to
appear against Switzerland at Highbury in December 1948, but the game was
postponed for a day because of fog and it is not known whether the cameras
remained to broadcast England's six-goal victory on the Thursday afternoon.
This was also the season
which saw the introduction of a commentator who was to become the voice of football on the BBC for
over twenty years. Kenneth Wolstenholme, a 28-year-old ex-RAF fighter pilot
was installed at the beginning of a boom
period for both English football and British television. He would go on to
achieve immortality by being behind the microphone when England won the World Cup
in 1966.
In the early days,
however, his opportunities were limited to games in and around the London
area. So it was that whilst England were beating Scotland at Hampden Park in
1950, television viewers had to make do with live coverage of Wembley's
first schoolboy international. This was an unexpected ten-goal treat,
though, with a 15-year-old Johnny Haynes inspiring England to an 8-2 victory
against their Scottish counterparts.
The 1950 World Cup in
Brazil just came too early for TV pictures of the tournament to be beamed
around the world, so stories of England's embarrassing demise at the hands
of the United States took a little while before they were believed.
|
Season
1946-47 |
|
231 |
Saturday 12 April 1947 -
England 1
Scotland
1
[0-1]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley, London
- Kick-off 3.00 p.m. BST |
Television (BBC) - 4:05 p.m. - 4:40 p.m.
commentator Peter Dimmock
(closing stages only) |
|
232 |
Saturday 3 May 1947 -
England 3
France 0
[0-0]
Arsenal
Stadium, Highbury, London
- Kick-off 3.30 p.m. DST* |
Television (BBC) - 3:20 p.m. - 5:10 p.m.
commentator Peter Dimmock |
|
Season
1948-49 |
|
245 |
Saturday 9 April 1949 -
England 1
Scotland
3
[0-1]
Empire
Stadium, Wembley, London
- Kick-off 3.00 p.m. BST |
Television (BBC) - 2:45 p.m. - 4:40 p.m.
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme |
|
Season
1949-50 |
|
252 |
Wednesday 30 November 1949 -
England 2
Italy
0
[0-0]
White
Hart Lane, Tottenham, London
- Kick-off 2.15 p.m. GMT |
Television (BBC) - 2:05 p.m. - 3:55 p.m.
commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme |
|
Other England Internationals |
Saturday 15th April 1950
- Schoolboys
Empire
Stadium, Wembley, London
England 8 Scotland 2 - Television (BBC) - 2:45 p.m. - 4:30
p.m.
commentator
Kenneth Wolstenholme |