THE WAR EFFORT.

October 4th 1941, recorded the visit of Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (below) to Wembley to support the "War Effort", by spectating an International between England and Scotland. This was a "well kept secret" and a "morale boost" for the nation, as Winston greeted the teams, there was a tremendous welcome for him and for the teams. He shook hands with the players and witnessed the Scottish visitors losing 0-2!!

England played 6 WAR TIME internationals in 1941; three against Scotland and three against Wales. The matches were for morale boosting and the matches went like this:

8/2/1941: at St James' Park, Newcastle: v Scotland, who won 2-3 (25,000 attended).

16/4/1941: at The City Ground, Nottingham: v Wales,  England won 4-1 (13,016)

3/5/1941: at Hampden Park, Glasgow: v Scotland, England won 3-1 (78,000)

7/6/1941: at Ninian Park, Cardiff: v Wales, England won 3-2 (20,000)

4/10/41: at Wembley, v Scotland, England won 2-0  (60,000)

25/10/41 at St Andrew's, Birmingham v Wales, England won 2-1 (25,000)

Some of the international players took work where they could; Joe Mercer at Cammell Laird shipyard, Dixie Dean in an abattoir, Raich Carter, a fireman, earning around £3 per week, a substantial drop from the footballers' wage of around £8! There was no "unemployment protection" under national insurance, so conscription might have been a good way to being fed and given a roof overhead! 

Fears of bombing raids, rationalisation of resources, saw heavy restrictions on attendances. There were still League matches, with limited attendances, especially at grounds near dockyards such as Millwall and Charlton. As the war wore on, guesting allowed clubs to borrow players, depending on where they were stationed as soldiers, airmen and in the navy and depending on when they could get "leave". Many were allowed to play to boost morale. One player played for 8 different clubs in 9 weeks.

36 wartime or Victory Internationals were played: England won 22 and drew 6, using 78 different players. None of the game had "official status" but they did allow morale boosting and fundraising for the War effort.

In 1942 there were 5 internationals against Scotland and Wales; in 1943 5 and 1944 5, 1945 only 3 and in 1946 England played  Ireland (7-2), an FA International XI (1-0), Wales (3-0) and Netherland (8-2).

By 1947 England played 8 internationals including the 3 "Home teams", France win 3-0, Switzerland lose 0-1, Portugal win 10-0!!, Belgium 5-2 and Sweden 4-2. Players who played several times, included Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen, George Hardwick (capt), Frank Swift in goal, Neil Franklin, Bill Wright, Wilf Mannion, Tommy Lawton and Laurie Scott.

During the game v Sweden on November 19th 1947, England played at Highbury under FIF substitute rules meaning England had two substitutes on the "bench", Sweden had 3. England did not use subs until 1950....https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-facts-about-football-in-the-second-world-war