(England 1-1 Poland) 1973 World Cup Qualifiers – The legend, the myth

The fragility of England’s position was now very evident as the visitors only needed one mistake from their hosts, and they gained the advantage.

England would now need to score twice. The remaining 35 minutes became a siege on the Polish goal as the home side, and fans, became increasingly desperate. Surely a country which had only competed in one World Cup Finals tournament before, back in 1938, would not be able to repel such pressure?

A long throw on the right by Chivers was flicked on by Peters where Clarke laid the ball off for Channon to put the ball into the back of the net. But the referee was already blowing his whistle for a foul by Peters.

Almost immediately, on another attack Chivers took a quick free-kick to Peters on the right of the area and as he went past Musial the Polish defender knocked him to the ground.

After hesitation the referee finally pointed to the spot. Allan Clarke was given the responsibility of taking the kick, and he sent the keeper the wrong way for his 6th goal of the year, his 10th for his country and his 4th successful spot-kick in an England shirt. 1-1

The 100,000 strong crowd fully expected England to push on, and Currie down the right crossed into the area but the ball appeared to be going in under the bar before Tomaszewski just got a hand to it in time.

Peters and Channon then combined on the edge of the area to put Chivers in on the right of the area and his ball into the 6-yard box was strangely kicked in the air by the keeper.

As Channon steadied himself for the header, Tomaszewski came out and punched again and then got himself in the way of Clarke’s shot. It was desperate stuff but Poland knew they were going to be under the cosh. The rewards were too great and too close for them to give up easily.

Hunter burst forward combining well with Peters and his shot from outside the area was again parried by the keeper. Channon again forced his way down the right wing to cross into the area where Clarke got up first only to head just over the bar. Emlyn Hughes was increasingly operating as a left-winger as England piled on the pressure and during one move he cut inside to find Currie on the edge of the area and his first time shot was saved yet again.

The attacks were relentless as the Poles just seemed content to soak it all up. Currie found Peters wide on the left and he in turn found Hughes, who’d made a good run into the area. Hughes left foot cross to the far post hit Gorgon in the face as Channon looked to have been pushed over. The ball fell to Clarke who took a touch to set up a right foot shot. He met it perfectly from 7 yards out yet unbelievably Tomaszewski again threw himself into the save to push it round the post.

Increasingly there were England players with hands on hips or head in hands but all this pushing forward left them vulnerable to a counter attack and on one occasion Lato was clear and cynically pulled back by McFarland, who was happy to take a yellow card rather than see the Poles score again. Within minutes Lato was put through again despite the offside calls and was one-on-one with Shilton. He took the ball round him but his touch took him too wide which allowed England to get back and defend.

Then as the game moved towards a conclusion England had a corner on the left, taken by Currie into the 6-yard box where Tomaszewski seemed to punch the ball back to his own goal only for Szymanowski to block it and before they could properly clear the ball Channon came in but put his shot wide. A ball from the left by Peters high into the area saw the Polish keeper come and punch again but only to Colin Bell just outside the area, who controlled the ball and then hit a low shot which cannoned off Tomaszewski for Gorgon to save on the line and away for a throw-in.

The crowd were losing their voices and so were the commentators as few could believe England weren’t in front. The final whistle blew and the Poles were in raptures as they’d pulled off an amazing result to qualify for the World Cup Finals. Tomaszewski was easily the hero although his defence deserved significant credit for their resilience.

Inevitably Hunter was blamed for his mistake which lead to the goal although Shilton could still have saved the shot. To be fair to Hunter he admits his mistake calling it his ‘worst moment on a football pitch’. The country was in disbelief at what they had just witnessed. Emlyn Hughes recalled it as the ‘most one-sided game he had ever been involved in’. The ultimate fall-guy would be Ramsey who managed just two more internationals, neither of which England scored in and by April 1974 the reign of England’s greatest ever manager came to a rather inauspicious end.

It was to become the catalyst for one of the bleakest periods in English football as they failed to qualify for the 1976 European Championships and the 1978 World Cup too as Don Revie systematically turned England into a very unconfident and disjointed side. For Poland they went onto enjoy their outing in West Germany eventually finishing third with Lato scoring the only goal of the game against Brazil. This was to prove a golden period for Polish football as they also finished third in 1982.

Dejected English players after the match

For the next 40 years English journalists and doom-mongers have referred back to this game as something to fear, and there have been other crucial matches between the two which have decided qualification. For the English the game seemed to epitomise what it was to be an English sports fan.

They love a plucky challenger who just gets pipped at the post. The English are rarely comfortable as winners, always reflecting on how easy a fall from grace can emerge, and often revelling in seeing a guy who has lead the whole race get beaten on the line, or a brave tennis player reach Semi-Final after Semi-Final only to keep coming up against one of the best players to have ever played the game.

Even though I believe this game bears no resemblance to the match on Tuesday, there are disturbing similarities. With Ukraine playing San Marino the same night, it is very likely a draw is not good enough for England. They will hope the Polish goalkeeper this time is less blessed.

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