Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter B; There Was no Fluke About It
Flush with the optimism of the post-war world, England rejoined FIFA in 1946. What followed was a decade of finding out that the rest of the world had more than caught them up.
b. There was no fluke about it
It took sixteen months from VE Day for England to get back into action, and by that time a lot had changed. Under different circumstances there would have been a 1946 World Cup, but there was no time - and very little money - to arrange one. FIFA’s first post-war congress didn’t take place until the 1st July 1946.
In the spirit of international cooperation which briefly swept much of the world in the immediate post-war period, the home nations rejoined, and this time it actually was permanent. England also finally appointed their first Director of Coaching and suggested he take on the additional responsibility of being the first England team manager, although the FA Selection Committee retained control of team selection for the whole of his time in charge of the players.
The early signs were encouraging. They returned with a 7-2 win against (Northern) Ireland and beat the Netherlands 8-2 that November. In May 1947, they beat Portugal 10-0 in Lisbon, with Tommy Lawton opening the scoring and Stan Mortensen getting four on his debut. But possibly the highlight of that brief renaissance came a year later, when a crowd of 58,000 in the Stadio Communale in Turin saw England beat Italy 4-0.
There were no survivors from their 1938 World Cup winning team, but this was the age of Il Grande Torino, one of Italy’s greatest club teams of all-time. Seven of Italy’s starting team that day were Torino players. This was, it was reckoned, a sign that England could win this World Cup thing, should they qualify for it in 1950.
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