1950 And All That
Last Friday evening was our eldest son’s school ‘s Christmas fair. Like many people there, I was keeping half an eye on the mince pies, the tombola, and the craft stalls, and half an eye on my phone, checking for texts from my brother who was watching the draw for the 2010 World Cup. When the news came through that England had landed with Algeria, Slovenia, and the USA for the group stage, I wasn’t the only one celebrating and passing the news on to others. The Sun caught the mood with a neat acrostic headline the next morning: 'EASY', standing for England, Algeria, Slovenia, Yanks. The script is, apparently, written. England will stroll through this group and then head all the way to the final. Some bookies have already made England second favourites to win the Cup, tabloid journalists are getting their historical clichés ready for the possible second round match with Germany, and even England’s manager, Fabio Capello, went from ‘It’s not so bad’ to ‘We have to win’ in the space of a single interview.
Two themes run through these simplistic readings of the situation that are of interest to the historian. The first is that the press, and many England fans, seem to have fallen back into an almost colonial contempt for Algeria, Slovenia, and the USA. There is a real belief that the three opponents are new footballing nations, and that they will be so in awe of England’s traditions that they will curl up and be beaten. Some of the media language reminded me of ideas that were current as far back as the 1908 Olympic Games, when journalists, administrators, and politicians simply assumed that England led the world in sport, and that the natural order of things was for the English to win and the foreigners to be grateful at being taught a lesson. The fact that England have played Slovenia only once (a 2-1 victory earlier this year) and have yet to meet Algeria adds to this sense of novelty. Forget the fact that England were relatively ordinary against Slovenia and won by only one goal; and forget the fact that Algeria have beaten both Uruguay and reigning African champions Egypt this year: England’s group matches are, according to the popular press, going to see a restoration of historical supremacy.
The second theme is, of course, the troubling matter of 1950. England have played the USA nine times, winning seven and losing two, but it’s the first of those games that historians are going to be recalling. In June 1950, England travelled to Brazil to take part in their first World Cup, having studiously ignored FIFA’s competition in 1930, 1934, and 1938. They beat Chile 2-0 in their opening group match, before meeting the USA at Belo Horizonte on 29 June. With such stellar names as Alf Ramsey, Billy Wright, Wilf Mannion, Tom Finney, and Stan Mortensen on the pitch, and a squad that included Stanley Matthews and Jackie Milburn, this really was a match that England couldn’t possibly lose. Joe Gaetjens, the USA’s Haitian-born forward, thought otherwise, and it was his goal that settled the match. Defeat against Spain a few days later sent England home. Forget England beating the USA 6-3 in 1953, 8-1 in 1959, 10-0 in 1964, and 5-0 in 1985: it will be the ghost of 1950 that the media and the fans will have to look out for in South Africa next year.

