Express & Star

England versus Wales - in the Black Country!

England taking on Wales on the football field is a tale as old as the game - and it's a match that came to the Black Country on two occasions in the 1940s.

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The 102nd meeting of the two British nations takes place at Euro 2016 in France this afternoon and at a major tournament finals for the first time, writes Craig Birch.

They first locked horns in January 1879 with all but 10 of their meetings being either friendlies, home nation competitions or some sort of testimonial or exhibition affair.

That's a term that won't be levied at the respective Classes of 2016, who will put it all on the line in their second Group B game approaching crunch time for the knockout stages.

The West Midlands and the rest of the country, both here and in Wales, will be glued to their television screens from 2pm as the Three Lions take on the emerging Welsh wizards.

But the Black Country has, indeed, seen it all before, with Wolves and West Brom both staging a clash between the two with the Second World War going on strong as the back-drop.

As was policy from the Football Association during war tie, the games were not classed as full internationals and, as a result, caps were not awarded to the players who featured.

England and Wales first came to Wolves on 24 October 1942 for a friendly, where the Welsh would register only their second win over the English in eight games since the conflict began.

'England attack ragged' read the headline in the Express & Star, with the article bemoaning the lack of bite in attack despite three centre-forwards being in the side.

A bright opening 20 minutes at Molineux had resulted in the hosts taking the lead on 11, Tommy Lawton making their attacking advantage count with an early goal.

But England faded with star wingers Stanley Matthews and Jimmy Mullen increasingly becoming isolated, as did the latter's Wolves team-mate and future boss Stan Cullis.

They paid the price as Horace Cumner levelled in the 27th minute, before netting the winner after the break on 76 as his impressive link-up with schemer Bryn Jones paid dividends.

Some 30,195 were in Wolverhampton that Saturday afternoon, a respected attendance at the ground with the war in full flow and a fixture that, ultimately, had nothing on the line.

The two nations met in un-competitive action six more times, with England winning four and drawing two, before Wales notched their next win over the English on 20 October 1945.

It came back in the Black Country, this time on the turf of Albion. While still not regarded as a full international, the war-time tournament was called the 'British Victory Home Championship.'

'England and Wales will have to play better against the Scots' read the Express & Star headline and so it proved, with Scotland later beating both sides on their way to winning the competition.

A dour affair at the Hawthorns had just the one goal in it and it went to the Welsh visitors, who produced the match's only moment of real quality when Aubrey Powell netted after 34 minutes.

His grand effort from distance settled matters in a game where a Wolves goalkeeper was between the sticks at either end. Bert Williams played for England, while Cyril Sidlow featured for Wales.

Williams didn't half as much to do as his club-mate Sidlow, who saved the result for his side with some outstanding saves in the last 20 minutes. A massive crowd of well over 50,000 looked on.

Some 56,000 tickets had been issued for the game, while over a hundred more supporters watched from the roof of the main stand. For Albion secretary Fred Everiss and his helpers, it was their own victory.

It didn't match the biggest gate the club had ever seen, as 64, 815 had watched the Baggies take on Arsenal in a 1937 FA Cup tie. They had previously staged home internationals in 1922 and 1924.

Albion coach Fred Reed looked after the England team against Wales, having already racked up nearly 20 years of service at club level. Traffic, described as 'dense,' was well coped with afterwards.

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