Bureaucratic blazers of the FA let the public down in 1958
The Munich air disaster cast a dark shadow over England’s 1958 campaign. To lose such brilliant young players was a tragic loss.
However, sympathy should be limited when you consider that, despite being allowed a squad of 22, England chose to take 20…leaving two spaces vacant. Sympathy decreases further when you bear in mind that Stanley Matthews and Nat Lofthouse were left behind. Stan, despite being 43 was still at the peak of his powers and sent fear through opposition defences. Lofthouse was also in great form having scored two to beat Man Utd in the FA cup Final. A barnstorming centre forward, the Lion of Vienna frightened opposition defences. Stan crossing to Lofthouse could be a formidable weapon, yet they were ignored.
So why didn’t they make the squad? WELL, one theory was that Lofthouse being a physical centre forward didn’t present an appropriate image for the FA. As for Stan, in 1950 after England’s exit Stan had been fascinated by other teams play…especially the South American sides, and decided to stay in Brazil to watch and learn. The FA blazers resented this and warned him he’d have to pay a heavy price for such gross insubordination. That would explain it partly BUT, if that was the case, why was he in the squad for 1954? In short, we don’t know for certain why we chose to take a squad two men short….omitting our two most potent attacking force in the process and treating the tournament with contempt. WE can only speculate in exasperated disgust.
The baflling omissions of 1958 show that despite a snazzy website and encouraging females and ethnic minorities into the game the English FA have a damaging legacy of detached stuffiness to shake off.