White Hart Lane 1935

Friendly International
White Hart Lane, London, 04.12.1935

0-3 (0-1)
– / Camsell 42., 66., Bastin 69.

England: Hibbs – Male, Hapgood (c) – Crayston, Barker, Bray – Matthews, Carter, Camsell, Westwood, Bastin

Germany: Jakob – Haringer, Münzenberg – Janes, Goldbrunner, R. Gramlich – Lehner, Szepan (c), Hohmann, Rasselnberg, Fath

Colours: Germany – white shirts, black shorts, black socks; England – blue shirts, white shorts, blue socks

Referee: Otto Ohlsen (Sweden)
Assistants: not known

Attendance: 54,164

When England hosted Germany at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane ground in December 1935, five years had passed since their last encounter. Many things had changes, not least of which had been the political landscape of the European continent. The German team that arrived in England in 1935 were now representatives of the National Socialist regime, which caused many in England – led by the Trades Union Congress – to consider even boycotting the match. More ironic perhaps was the fact that the game was being played at Tottenham – long seen as one of the Football League’s “Jewish” clubs.

The fear that the influx of German supporters would turn the match into a propaganda spectacle for the Nazi Party never materialised, and although the crowd were provided with a rendition of the Horst Wessel Lied it was eventually the two sets of players that set the agenda on the field – mutual respect and sportsmanship. While Germany wore their traditional white and black kit, England stepped out in a new blue and white ensemble.

In the end the men in blue ran out easy 3-0 winners against a defensive and even overly respectful German side, as Middlesbrough’s George Camsell grabbed a brace with the third being added by Arsenal’s Cliff Bastin – who until 1997 had held the record as his club’s top goalscorer. England may have scored more were it not for the twenty-seven year old Hans Jakob in the Germany goal, who pulled off a string of saves to deny the home side on a number of occasions. Another player who made a decent impression was the athletic Alemannia Aachen full-back Reinhold Münzenberg, who performed a more than adequate marking job on a certain Stanley Matthews.

What had been billed as something of a grudge match had in fact turned into something of a back-slapping exercise; both teams exchanged toasts and gifts, and the Trades Union Congress were roundly condemned for bringing politics into what had been a fairly contested sporting spectacle. If anything, the actions of the protesters had been highly counterproductive – a fact that was not lost on those oiling the propaganda machine back in Germany.

Cumulative Record

Home: played 4, won 0, drawn 2, lost 2. Goals for 6, goals against 13.
Away: played 2, won 0, drawn 0, lost 2. Goals for 0, goals against 12.
Overall: played 6, won 0, drawn 2, lost 4. Goals for 6, goals against 25.