P 27 W 16 D 2 L 9 F 83:A 40 63% successful
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At the beginning of the 1935-36 season, the Football Association, at last, decided to provide its national team with a complete uniform for every match. No longer would international players have to make up the rest of the kit by appearing in assorted club shorts and socks. The shorts were navy and the socks were probably black. Uniform socks with two white stripes around the turnover, had been provided previously, and the new pairs were of this design, with the further addition of white strapping around the calf, presumably to keep the shin-pads in place. They had been worn for the first time in the previous season's fixture against Scotland. Another milestone was reached in 1937, when England wore black numbers on the backs of their shirts. It is an oft-repeated myth that this happened for the first time against Scotland, and it may have been suggested to the Scottish Football Association before the game, but their hosts, however, felt that each player's position on the field was sufficient enough to identify them and numbers were not worn in that game by either side. Unperturbed, England headed off on a tour of Scandinavia, the following month, and we believe that they wore squad numbers in each match. For the rest of 1937, England persisted with their numbered shirts, as did their opponents, but in 1938, Scotland, once again, resisted, with England, consequently, removing their numbers at Wembley, and also on their European tour, one made famous because they were obliged to give the Nazi salute before beating Germany, in Berlin. England were back in numbered shirts for every game of the 1938-39 season, the last before the outbreak of war. They even wore them against Scotland (who did not number their shirts until 1944), though England changed at half-time from their saturated shirts into a set of plain white un-numbered shirts borrowed from the host club, Queen's Park. The digits were back for the end-of-season tour (though, this time, probably not squad numbers) and they have been ever-present since; even for the duration of the conflict. They did dispense with the Three Lions emblem on their shirts (as they had during the First World War), but England managed to turn out in the same shorts and socks to maintain a professional image during wartime. The shirt above left was that worn by Jimmy Cunliffe on his only international appearance, against Belgium, in Brussels, in 1936. It is part of the Neville Evans Collection and we are grateful to the England Match Shirts and National Football Shirt Collection curator, Simon Shakeshaft for permission to reproduce it here.

Matches in Which England Wore the 1935 Home White Uniform
1935-36
199	19 October 1935	3-1 vs. Ireland, Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast	BC	AW
201	5 February 1936	1-2 vs. Wales, Molineux, Waterloo Road North, St.Peter's, Wolverhampton		HL
202	4 April 1936	1-1 vs. Scotland, Empire Stadium, Wembley, London		HD
203	6 May 1936	1-2 vs. Austria, Praterstadion, Wien	Fr	AL
204	9 May 1936	2-3 vs. Belgium, Stade du Centenaire, Bruxelles	Fr	AL
1936-37
205	17 October 1936	1-2 vs. Wales, Ninian Park, Sloper Road, Cardiff	BC	AL
206	18 November 1936	3-1 vs. Ireland, Victoria Ground, Boothen, Stoke-on-Trent		HW
207	2 December 1936	6-2 vs. Hungary, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London	Fr	HW
208	17 April 1937	1-3 vs. Scotland, Hampden Park, Mount Florida, Glasgow	BC	AL
Notes		England wore squad numbers for the following three games:
209	14 May 1937	6-0 vs. Norway, Ullevål Stadion, Oslo	Fr	AW
210	17 May 1937	4-0 vs. Sweden, Råsunda Fotbollstadion, Solna kommun, Stockholms län	Fr	AW
211	20 May 1937	8-0 vs. Finland, Töölön pallokenttä, Töölö, Helsinki	Fr	AW
1937-38
Notes		England wore numbers on the back of the shirts for the following three games up to the end of 1937:
212	23 October 1937	5-1 vs. Ireland, Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast	BC	AW
213	17 November 1937	2-1 vs. Wales, Ayresome Park, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough	BC	HW
214	1 December 1937	5-4 vs. Czechoslovakia, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London	Fr	HW
215	9 April 1938	0-1 vs. Scotland, Empire Stadium, Wembley, London	BC	HL
216	14 May 1938	6-3 vs. Germany, Olympiastadion, Westend, Berlin	Fr	AW
217	21 May 1938	1-2 vs. Switzerland, Hardturm Sportplatz, Zürich	Fr	AL
218	26 May 1938	4-2 vs. France, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, Paris	Fr	AW
1938-39		Please note, for this season, England wore numbers on the back of the shirts in every game.
219	22 October 1938	2-4 vs. Wales, Ninian Park, Sloper Road, Cardiff	BC	AL
220	26 October 1938	3-0 vs. Rest of Europe, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London	Fr	HW
221	9 November 1938	4-0 vs. Norway, St. James' Park, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne	Fr	HW
222	16 November 1938	7-0 vs. Ireland, Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester	BC	HW
223	15 April 1939	2-1 vs. Scotland, Hampden Park, Mount Florida, Glasgow	BC	AW
Notes		England did not wear numbers in the second half against Scotland.
224	13 May 1939	2-2 vs. Italy, Stadio Comunale San Siro, Milano	Fr	AD
225	18 May 1939	1-2 vs. Yugoslavia, Stadion Beogradski SK, Beograd	Fr	AL
Notes		Awaiting photographic evidence, but it seems highly likely that England wore this uniform.
226	24 May 1939	2-0 vs. Romania, Stadionul ANEF, Bucureşti	Fr	AW

 

England's Record wearing the 1935 Home Shirt
Type	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	FTS	CS	FAv	AAv	Pts %	W/L
Home	10	7	1	2	32	12	+20	1	3	3.20	1.20	75.0	+5
Away	17	9	1	7	51	28	+23	0	4	3.00	1.647	55.9	+2
Total	27	16	2	9	83	40	+43	1	7	3.074	1.481	63.0	+7

 

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