Battle of Highbury

The "Battle of Highbury" was the name given to the football match between England and Italy that took place on November 14, 1934 at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London. England won 3–2 in a hotly contested and frequently violent match.

Background

This was Italy's first match since they had won the 1934 FIFA World Cup that summer, although England had not taken part as the Football Association had left FIFA in 1928. England were still considered one of the strongest teams in Europe at the time, and the match was billed in England at least as the "real" World Cup final. The match was important enough to the Italians that Benito Mussolini had reportedly offered each player an Alfa Romeo car and the equivalent of £150 (about £6,000 in modern terms) if they beat the English.

The match set a record, in that it was the first and so far only time that seven players registered with the same club (namely Arsenal) started for England. [

Some historians claim that there have been two other such occasions, in 1894 and 1895, when seven players from the Corinthians played for England, both times against Wales. However, many Corinthian players were primarily registered with other clubs, with the Corinthians team at the time serving as a combined amateur XI that occasionally played friendlies, as a feeder team of sorts to the main England team. Authoritative sources such as "United Kingdom & Éire International Database" (Jeff Hurley/AFS, 1998), "England (1872 - 1940), Éire (1924 - 1940), England/Amateurs (1906 - 1940): Full Internationals" (IFFHS, 2000) and "Soccer: The International Line-Ups & Statistics Series - England 1872-1960" (Mike Ross, 1995) give no more than three players in the 1894 match, and two in the 1895 match, that were primarily registered with Corinthians; the FA's "Official Annual" does not recognise Corinthians' claim either. Reference: cite web

title=Most Players from a Single Club in an England Team
url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamClubs/ClubsMostPlyrsMatch.html
work=England Football Online

] [

The only other occasion when seven players from the same club have been on the pitch for England was on March 28, 2001, when Manchester United's Teddy Sheringham came on as a substitute against Albania in the 84th minute; five other United players had started the match, and Wes Brown had come on as a sub earlier.

] Coincidentally, the match was played at Arsenal's home stadium, Highbury. In addition to the seven Arsenal players (Frank Moss, George Male, Eddie Hapgood, Wilf Copping, Ray Bowden, Ted Drake and Cliff Bastin), a young Stanley Matthews won his third cap for the side; Cliff Britton, Jack Barker and Eric Brook were the other three players. The England side was largely inexperienced, with every player having fewer than ten caps for his country.

First half

The match was violent from the very start; the Italian centre half Luis Monti broke his foot after a challenge from Drake, and had to withdraw after only two minutes. With no substitutes allowed in those days, the Italians had to play the rest of the game with 10 men. Enraged by Monti's treatment, the visitors repeatedly retaliated against their English opponents: Eddie Hapgood had his nose broken (and had to be withdrawn for 15 minutes), while Bowden damaged his ankle, Drake was punched and Brook had his arm fractured.

Brook missed a first-minute penalty after Drake was fouled by Ceresoli, but promptly turned from villain to hero as he soon scored twice, with a header and a free kick. Ted Drake added a third before half-time to make it 3-0.

econd half

However, Italy were not World Champions for nothing, and after half time took the game to England. Giuseppe Meazza scored twice, and was only denied an equaliser by the woodwork and a series of saves from England's athletic goalkeeper, Frank Moss. England's "hardman" Wilf Copping took the man of the match award with a strong fighting and tackling display in midfield.

The match settled nothing; although the English could claim a win and unofficially crown their young and inexperienced side World Champions, the Italians could claim they had been handicapped for virtually the entire match by being a man down. One thing that could not be contested was the violent nature of the match; the FA considered withdrawing from all internationals as a result, while Stanley Matthews would later recount that it was the most violent match of his long career.

In Italy, despite their loss the team are still celebrated as "The Lions of Highbury".

Lineups and scorers

Highbury Stadium, London, November 14, 1934;Attendance::56 044 spectators;Referee::Olson (Sweden) flagicon|Sweden;Scorers::England: 3' Eric Brook 1-0, 10' Eric Brook 2-0, 12' Ted Drake 3-0:Italy: 58' Giuseppe Meazza 3-1, 62' Giuseppe Meazza 3-2

;England(3-4-3) Frank Moss (Arsenal) - George Male (Arsenal), Eddie Hapgood (c) (Arsenal), Cliff Britton (Everton), Jack Barker (c) (Derby County), Wilf Copping (Arsenal), Stanley Matthews (Stoke City), Ray Bowden (Arsenal), Ted Drake (Arsenal) , Cliff Bastin (Arsenal), Eric Brook (Manchester City)

;Italy(2-5-3) Carlo Ceresoli (Ambrosiana-Inter), Eraldo Monzeglio (Bologna), Luigi Allemandi (Ambrosiana-Inter), Attilio Ferraris (AS Roma), Luis Monti (Juventus), Luigi Bertolini (Juventus), Enrique Guaita (AS Roma), Pietro Serantoni (Juventus), Giuseppe Meazza (Ambrosiana-Inter), Giovanni Ferrari (Juventus), Raimundo Orsi (Juventus):Manager: Vittorio Pozzo

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1900-39/1934-35/MS195Ita1934.html Report at England Football Online]
* [http://www.11v11.co.uk/page286-4 Photo and report at 11v11.co.uk]