Flying Down To Rio, Flight two

Flight 2 - 1950 -  Spurs take part in the world cup and why India didn’t

In this occasional series leading up to this summers World Cup I thought I’d recall some of the incidents involving Spurs and our connections to the competition. As well as some of the strange incidents that have enriched the history of the World Cup. Where better to start than 1950 which had a major effect on Tottenham Hotspur and English football.

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Tottenham’s first encounter with the Word Cup came in Brazil in 1950 (1) the first tournament after the Second World War. FIFA had offered places in the tournament to the top two teams in the preceding Home International Championship. Scotland declined to take part as they had finished second in the qualifying competition having previously said they would only go if they won. England as winners accepted taking part for the first time having previously declined an invitation to compete in 1938.

Tottenham had finished the English season as run away Second Division Champions and had four players in the England squad which was one of the favorites for the trophy. The Brazilian press labeled the English team the 'Kings of Football.’

Scotland’s decision not to take part may seem odd to us now but they were not the only country. A combination of economics, with many nations still recovering from the war, and of politics led to a number of the top teams not taking part in the competition. None of the strong Eastern European teams entered. Turkey withdrew. Portugal and France had both failed to qualify but FIFA asked them to take part. Neither accepted, France claiming it was because their team would have to travel 3,500 km between matches. Argentina declined to take part as for the second tournament running. They had wanted to host the event but had been unsuccessful. Five South American teams would be involved without playing any qualifiers.

Second Left Alf Ramsey, fourth left Eddie Baily, then Bill Nicholson and Ted Ditchburn

Oh you wanted to know about India ! According to FIFA, India could of taken part in the Finals but they wanted to play barefooted and FIFA refused to give permission saying they had to wear boots. Thus India also declined to take part. Other sources have since claimed it that India’s decision was due to the costs involved. Either way, they did not compete.

Alf Ramsey

Alf Ramsey was the first Spur to compete at the World Cup finals. He played in all three of England’s games. The first game was against Chile, this first ever meeting of the two countries was played in heavy rain. The FIFA account of the game says Chile had a “Robust approach” in a game where both sides hit the woodwork twice. England won 2-0 and their first ‘Finals’ goal was scored by Blackpool’s Stan Mortensen.

The last two competitions before the war had been a straight knock out competition. The Brazilian FA had campaigned for a return to the group format.

 FIFA did not like this idea but when Brazil suggested they would not host the competition otherwise FIFA backed down. The Draw was made with sixteen teams but then due to the withdrawals the competition when ahead with two groups of four, one of three and the fourth group only had two teams. England were badly prepared and disorganized for the competition. This experience I believe would help Spurs later as one of the Tottenham players in the squad was wing-half Bill Nicholson. He did not play in the competition but I believe his experience in seeing first hand how poorly prepared England were helped shape his managerial style later when Tottenham entered European competition . 

The second game would turn out to be one of the biggest upsets in football history when a crowd of just 10,000 saw England lose 0-1 to the USA in Belo Horizonte (2). The American part timers included a funeral director, a painter, a knitting machinist and a postman. The stadium was described by the players post match as having an  ‘atmosphere that was steamy and the pitch bumpy.’

There was no TV crews from England and only eight newspaper reporters made the trip. Back in England newspapers received the news by wire. The score line was assumed to be a typing error and they announced that England had won 10-1. The Times had a reporter on the ground and when his report arrived in London it described the England teams performance thus  “Probably never before has an English team played so badly. The chances missed were legion." Matthews later describe the American team as arriving 'wearing sombreros and smoking cigars’

Eddie Baily

A number of changes were made for the final game with Spain. Spurs Inside left Eddie Baily won his first cap in this game which was also lost 1-0. Thus England finishing second in the group were eliminated. The fourth Spur in the England party who also didn’t play was Ted Ditchburn (3).

It may seem strange now that instead of a knock out system in the final stages another round-robin group would decide the winner. This group included Uruguay who had not played any qualifying games and only one to reach the final four, beating Bolivia 8-0. In the final group Brazil beat Sweden 7-1 and Spain 6-1 with Uruguay drawing with Spain the hosts only needed a draw to win the competition.

The game was played in the newly built, Maracana, the biggest stadium in the world.  An estimated crowd of 200,000 watched as Brazil took the lead before Uruguay fought back to win 2-1. It seemed unbelievable to the host nation that Uruguay had come from behind to record their triumph. The event even inspired the introduction of a new noun into the countries language, Maracanazo. This term is still used today to describe Brazil losing at home. Uruguay had not only caused a major upset but by beating the hosts they had won the trophy for the second time having been the first winners in 1930.On Flight 3 - Some memories from that tournament and just how England being unprepared helped Tottenham more than ten years later.

Thanks - FIFA, FA, England on line, THFC , THOS, The BBC,  Daily Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail. Stanley Matthews,

Notes -
1. Connections - Brazil, part 2, 21/12/13
2. England return to Belo Horizonte in 2014 to face the mightily Costa Rica.
3. Ted Ditchburn - Talking Tottenham 2, 27/9/13.

About the author:
Keith Harrison, Nilgiris, TN
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