29th JUNE

Day late sorry. We are getting rather late in the year, so late that the new training schedules for our local teams are being published. We start training this week! Well not me-the boys! England's International matches were played at the end of the league season in late February, March and occasionally in early April. In 1911 England played Scotland, always the last of the Home internationals, on April 1st. After the Great War, matches were scheduled for March, April and October and there were friendly tours to Europe from 1908, taking the game to Austria, Hungary and Bohemia.

International matches for England did not happen until "ironically" 1939, when England went to Europe and played matches in May against Italy at the San Siro 2-2, against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Belgrade 1-2 and Roumania a 2-0 win, in Bucharest. 

Things got back to normal in the post war period with what can only be described as a "Post War Tour of Friendship to Switzerland (0-1) and Portugal (10-0) in May 1947. Tours to Europe resumed from then. 

In 1950 England met the USA in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in England's first World Cup. (Remember the World Cup had run since 1930). Eventually, the England head coach, Walter Winterbottom, the first "professional manager" of our national team, took the inventors of the great game to pit their wits against foreign opposition, other than in Europe, in a Global competition. 

On June 29th 1950, England took all their best professionals and played the USA (below), a team of amateurs and novices and lost 0-1. England also lost 0-1 to Spain and that was that! Oh by the way, England had started rather well on the 25th June, winning their first group match in Rio, thumping Chile 2-0. Over 29,000 watched the founders of the great game start their first World Cup campaign with confidence, Ooops, what happened next. 

The next June 29th fixture was versus Norway, at the Ulevall Stadium in Oslo on tour and this resulted in a 6-1 victory with goals from Jimmy Greaves (4), John Connelly of Burnley and Bobby Moore. England was warming up for the World Cup Finals in London....and we all know what happened. Good planning by Sir Alf.

In 1990, on this day, England met Belgium in Bologna, a World Cup Second Round tie and won 1-0 with a goal from David Platt. He was helped by Shiltomn, Parker, Pearce and Wright; Butcher, Walker, McMahon, Gascoigne, Waddle, Lineker, Barnes and Bull.

On June 29th 2021 in UEFA 2020, the Round of 16, 5pm ko, England beat Germany 2-0 at Wembley with goals from Sterling (75) and Kane (86) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uio-GveMuQA