Prior to 1946, The Football Association had boycotted FIFA due to a dispute that arose regarding payments to amateur players, but that year they rejoined, and the national team was assigned its first dedicated team manager, Walter Winterbottom. To celebrate the victory of the allied powers in the war, England played several games that were known as “Victory Internationals” in 1945 and 1946, and also participated in a cup called the British Victory Home Championship as well as friendlies against France, Switzerland and Belgium. All of these games were not considered official international matches, and the status of these matches remains under debate.

 

The early England international teams are considered the forefathers of world football, and there are many who believe that England’s teams were so strong, that they could have been the best team in Europe, if not the world, from 1870 up until the 1950’s. However, due to England’s refusal to participate in many international tournaments up until this point, it’s impossible to substantiate this. How England would have gone travelling to Uruguay for the 1930 World Cup or overcoming Mussolini’s grip on the referees in 1934 can only be left to the imagination, but if a World Cup was held in Europe during the 1940’s, surely England would have won it. This claim to greatness can be backed up by England’s 4-0 win over world champions Italy in Turin and their 10-0 crushing of an undefeated Portugal in Lisbon, which earned them the nickname “The Lions of Lisbon” decades before Celtic were given the moniker. 

​

This era truly represented the heyday of English football. Playing in a WM formation, this team was based on the tough defending of players like Neil Franklin and Billy Wright, who possessed an excellent work rate, and the brave, physical style of forwards Tommy Lawton and Stan Mortensen. The teams goalkeeper, Frank Swift, was regarded as the best in the world. On the wings, the team had the tricky Tom Finney and the legendary Stanley Matthews, and in the middle of the park was Wilf Mannion. Together, these players thrived on red-blooded and honest values, and had a pattern of play that defined English football culture for a very long time, and to a large extent, this continues today.

 

However, the England national team had an air of arrogance about them, as exhibited by their FIFA boycott. They knew they were the best, and considered themselves above all opposition. Ironically, this sounded the death-knell of further success. England brought their isolationism to a proper end by entering their first ever World Cup in 1950, with a post-war record of 23 wins, 4 losses, and 3 draws. England were full of stars and went into the cup with supreme confidence. Their first opponents were Chile, whose forwards gave England plenty to worry about,  but were very poor finishers. Mortensen scored England’s first World Cup goal before Mannion added another early in the second half, England walking away 2-0 victors. But then it all came crashing down. 

​

On the 29th of June 1950, England played the United States. The Americans were just a bunch of amateur players and the ultimate underdogs. Englands only home loss, a 1949 defeat by Ireland, had created a climate of complacency. As stated, since they were the creators of the game, the English simply assumed that they were superior to everyone else and decided to totally ignore advances in coaching and tactics that originated abroad. The English press were so convinced of a huge win, they wrote that the U.S. should be given a 3 goal head start. Even the American manager admitted his own team had no chance. But somehow, the U.S. dethroned the “Kings of Football” 1-0, and this was followed by another 1-0 loss to Spain. With that, England failed to make it past the first round of the World Cup despite their immense talent.

​

Despite this, they were, believe it or not, still convinced of their superiority. Until, that is, their infamous drubbing at the hands of Hungary’s Mighty Magyars in 1953. Again, England expected to utterly demolish the team from the small, landlocked Eastern European country. The England players and coaches knew nothing about the Hungarian players, other than that one of them was called “The Galloping Major” because he was in the army. In their minds, England were the masters and Hungary were the pupils. As a result of Hungary’s technical and tactical superiority, England were torn apart 6-3. They then traveled to Hungary seeking revenge and trying to prove that the result was a fluke – and they lost 7-1.

 

The results sent shockwaves throughout English football and had a profound effect on the game in that country. It served as a massive wake up call, and for the first time, English coaches looked to the continent for advances in football tactics and training. It opened the floodgates to English teams achieving great success by adopding European principles, such as Matt Busby’s Manchester United side and it’s achievements in the early European Cups, the Manchester City Don Revie Plan side that won the FA Cup thanks to similar tactics used by the Hungarians, the Tottenham Hotspur side of the early 1960’s under Bill Nicholson, who used Hungarian principles to form the first English double-winning side of the 20th century and West Ham under Ron Greenwood who won the European Cup Winners Cup using the same tactics.

​

 Despite everything, there is a strong case to suggest that the England team between 1945 and 1953 was even better than the 1966 side that eventually won the World Cup.

​

Achievements: Several good wins in a series of Victory Internationals, huge wins vs Italy and Portugal

Star player: Tom Finney, DoB 5 April 1922, Preston, England, nickname: The Preston Plumber

Finney is particularly famous for his fierce loyalty and dedication to his club Preston North End, as well as for his performances for the England national team. He was born in Preston on a street right next to Deepdale Stadium in 1922, and when he was offered to sign for Preston North End at 14, his father instisted that he finish his apprenticeship with the family plumbing business first, earning him the moniker “The Preston Plumber”, while the rest of his team were unfairly known as “Finneys 10 Drips.” Soon after signing, World War II broke out, and Finney was called up to the Royal Armoured Corps where he fought in Egypt and Italy, as a Stuart tank driver in the 9th Lancers. While on leave, he played in army games and on one occasion he played against future actor Omar Sharif. He finally made his Preston debut after the war, and went on to play for England 76 times, and was named Footballer of the Year in 1954 and 1957, the first player to win the award twice. He spent his entire career with Preston, making 433 appearances for them. Now aged 91, Finney is Englands oldest living national footballer and is President of Kendal Town FC.