England 3-0 France (partially found footage of international football match; 1947)

Photo of the match.

Status: Partially Found

On 3rd May 1947, England hosted France at the Highbury Stadium for an end-of-season friendly international football match. Featuring a dominant display by the hosts, the match was the fourth earliest international football match to be televised by the BBC, as well as one of the earliest televised matches to feature the French national football team.

Background

Heading into the match, England had recently become the 1946-47 British Home Champion following a 1-1 draw with Scotland on 12th April 1947. The match would act as an end-of-season tour friendly match for England following its Scotland encounter and the culmination of the 1947 FA Cup Final. Meanwhile, France's last game was a 1-0 win over Portugal on 23rd March 1947. The last time both teams met was on 26th May 1938, where England won away 4-2.

This would be the fourth international football match broadcast by the BBC, as it also televised the Scotland match weeks earlier. This was the second televised match by the BBC to featured a side outside the British Isles, with the first being England's win over a Rest of Europe side on 26th October 1938. It would also be one of the earliest instances of a televised match featuring the French national football team, although whether this was the first ever remains unverified. Like the Scotland match and the 1947 FA Cup Final, the BBC were limited to televising only part of the match, as the Labour Government had imposed post-war rationing that restricted domestic electricity usage. To comply with the rationing, the BBC agreed to televise only the second half of the game. Commentary was provided by Jimmy Jewell and Alan Clarke.

The Match

The match itself occurred on 3rd May 1947 at Highbury Stadium in front of 54,389 fans. Like with the England-Scotland game, the home side were still debating on whether to play Stanley Matthews or Thomas Finney on the right wing. This time, Finney was selected to start. The first 45 minutes were dominated by England, with a few chances from the hosts from Tommy Lawton and Finney, which were saved by Julien Da Rui. Despite this, the game still remained 0-0 at half-time, with England's over-elaboration in the midfield being blamed for allowing France to reinforce its defence appropriately.

The second-half saw some better passing from the hosts, allowing for the first goal to occur at the 51st minute when some quick passing between players from the 50 yard mark enabled Finney to score. 13 minutes later, following a poor clearance from the visitors, Wilfred Mannion doubled England's league by lobbing the ball over the goalkeeper into the French net. At the 77th minute, Eddie Lowe, who was making his international debut, performed an effective dummy and cross that stunned the opposition's defence enough to enable Horatio Carter to strike, giving England its final goal of the match. There were opportunities for England to extend its lead further, but some desperate tackling according to Mike Payne prevented any notable chances from occurring. Thus, England had again maintained its strong record at home against European opposition.

Availability

Like all early television programs, the England-France match was televised live and was unlikely to have been directly recorded. Although there were means of achieving this following the Second World War, recording seldom occurred until video tape was perfected in the late-1950s. Thus, televised footage of the match is most likely permanently missing. Nevertheless, a few minutes of match footage from British Pathé's newsreels remains publicly accessible.

Gallery

Videos

British Pathé newsreel of the match.

British Pathé newsreel of the match.

Image

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  Issue 1228 of Radio Times detailing the television broadcast of the match.

See Also

Association Football/Soccer Media

• 1937 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1937)
• 1938 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1938)
• 1939 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1939)
• 1947 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1947)
• 1955 Scottish Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1955)
• 1966 FIFA World Cup Final (partially found original colour film of international football match; 1966)
• Arsenal 7-1 Hibernian (lost footage of charity football match; 1952)
• Arsenal vs Arsenal Reserves (lost footage of early BBC televised football match; 1937)
• Barbados 4–2 Grenada (partially found soccer match footage; 1994)
• Barnet 3-2 Wealdstone (lost footage of Athenian League football match; 1946)
• Brian Clough's Football Fortunes (lost DOS port of football management game; 1987)
• Charlton Athletic 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (lost footage of FA Cup match; 1947)
• England 0-1 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1938)
• England 1-1 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1947)
• England 3-0 Rest of Europe (partially found footage of international football match; 1938)
• Falkirk 3-2 Newcastle United (lost footage of football match; 1953)
• Hallo! Bundesliga (lost GolTV series; mid 2000s-mid 2010s)
• Juventus 1-7 A.C. Milan (partially found footage of Serie A football match; 1950)
• Scottish Universities 1-1 English Universities (lost footage of international football match; 1952)
• Serbia vs Albania (partially found footage of abandoned UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match; 2014)
• United! (lost British soap opera; 1965-1967)

Early BBC Sports Television

• 1931 Epsom Derby (lost televised footage of horse racing event; 1931)
• 1937 International Imperial Trophy Race (lost footage of motor race; 1937)
• 1937 Wimbledon Championships (partially found footage of tennis tournament; 1937)
• 1938 Ashes Series (partially found footage of international test cricket match; 1938)
• 1953 British Grand Prix (partially found footage of Formula One race; 1953)
• Archery (lost early televised toxophily; 1937-1938)
• The Boat Race 1938 (partially found footage of rowing race; 1938)
• Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
• Darts and Shove Ha'penny (lost early BBC televised darts matches; 1936-1939)
• England 16-21 Scotland (partially found footage of rugby match; 1938)
• Horace Lindrum vs Willie Smith (lost footage of televised snooker; 1937)
• Woods and Jack (lost early televised lawn bowls; 1937; 1946)

Early BBC Television

• Alexandra Palace's wartime television demonstrations (lost footage of private television transmissions; 1943, 1945)
• An Inspector Calls (lost television adaptation of play; 1948)
• Ann and Harold (lost early BBC drama television series; 1938)
• BBC Election Night (lost coverage of British general elections; 1950-1951)
• The Care of Your Car (lost early BBC motoring show; 1947)
• Cook's Night Out (lost early BBC cooking show; 1937)
• Craftsmen at Work (lost early BBC documentary show; 1938, 1946)
• Dish of the Month (lost early BBC cooking show; 1937)
• First Aid (lost early BBC medical show; 1937)
• Foundations of Cookery (lost early BBC cooking show; 1939)
• Marcel Boulestin television shorts (lost early BBC programs; 1937-1939)
• Masks through the Ages (lost early BBC history talk show; 1937)
• Opening of the BBC Television Service (partially found coverage of inaugural day of high-definition television service; 1936)
• The Orchestra and its Instruments (lost early BBC music talk show; 1937)
• RCA recording of BBC Television Service (found footage of pre-Second World War BBC television broadcast; 1938)
• Sea Stories (lost early BBC talk show; 1936-1937)
• Spelling Bee (lost early BBC game show; 1938)
• Telecrime (lost early BBC crime drama; 1938-1939; 1946)
• The Wasp's Nest (lost early BBC television adaptation of Agatha Christie short story; 1937)
• Weaponless Self-Defence (lost early ju-jitsu television program; 1936-1937)
• The World of Women (lost early BBC talk show; 1937)

Early Sports Television Media

• 1934 Philo T. Farnsworth broadcasts (lost early television demonstrations; 1934)
• 1936 Summer Olympics (lost television coverage of Berlin Games; 1936)
• 1938 Pennsylvania Quakers football season (lost early televised college football games; 1938)
• 1960 Daytona Races (lost CBS and NBC televised footage of NASCAR prelude events to Daytona 500; 1960)
• Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
• Brooklyn Dodgers 2-5 6-1 Cincinnati Reds (lost footage of MLB doubleheader; 1939)
• Brooklyn Dodgers 23-14 Philadelphia Eagles (lost footage of NFL game; 1939)
• Columbia Lions 1-2 Princeton Tigers (partially found footage of college baseball game; 1939)
• Fordham Rams 34-7 Waynesburg Yellow Jackets (lost footage of college football game; 1939)
• Indianapolis 500 WFBM-TV Broadcasts (lost racing footage; 1949-1950)