October 23, 1963: To celebrate its 100th Anniversary -- the actual Centennial was October 26, 3 days later -- the Football Association hosts a match at the old Wembley Stadium in London: "England vs. The Rest of the World." This was the 1st time a team of worldwide all-stars had played a single team, anywhere. (The FA had celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1938 with an "England vs. The Rest of Europe" match at Wembley.)
Here are the lineups, with the player's club at the time. For England, managed by Alf Ramsey:
1, goalkeeper, Gordon Banks, Leicester City
2, right back, Jimmy Armfield, Blackpool, serving as Captain
3, left back, Ray Wilson, Huddersfield Town
4, right half, Gordon Milne, Liverpool
5, centre half, Maurice Norman of Tottenham Hotspur
6, Bobby Moore, West Ham United
7, outside right, Terry Paine, Southampton
8, inside right, Jimmy Greaves, Tottenham Hotspur
9, centre forward, Bobby Smith, Tottenham Hotspur
10, inside left, George Eastham, Arsenal
11, outside left, Bobby Charlton, of Manchester United.
Substitutes: 12, goalkeeper Tony Waiters of Blackpool; 13, fullback Ken Shellito of Chelsea; 14, midfielder Ron Flowers of Wolverhampton Wanderers; 15, left half Tony Kay of Everton; and 16, centre half Joe Baker of Arsenal, who was born in England, and thus had to play for England under the rules of the time, even though his parents were Scottish, and he'd lived most of his life in Scotland.
For "The Rest of the World," managed by Fernando Riera of Benfica, of Lisbon, Portugal:
1, goalkeeper, Lev Yashin, Soviet Union and Dynamo Moscow
2, right back, Djalma Santos, Brazil and Palmeiras
3, left back, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, West Germany and Italian team Mantova
4, right half, Svatopluk Pluskal, Czechoslovakia and Dukla Prague
5, centre half, Ján Popluhár, Czechoslovakia and Rudá Hvezda Brno (Red Star Bruno)
6, left half, Josef Masopust, Czechoslovakia and Dukla Prague
7, outside right, Raymond Kopa, France and Stade de Reims
8, inside right, Denis Law, Scotland and Manchester United
9, centre forward, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentina and Real Madrid, who served as Captain
10, inside left, Eusébio, Portugal and Benfica
11, outside left, Francisco Gento, Spain and Real Madrid.
Substitutes: 1, goalkeeper Milutin Šoškić of Yugoslavia and Partizan Belgrade; 2, right back Luis Eyzaguirre of Chile and Universidad de Chile; 6, left back Jim Baxter of Scotland and Glasgow Rangers; 9, centre forward Uwe Seeler of West Germany and Hamburger SV; and 10, midfielder Ferenc Puskás of Hungary and Real Madrid.
So, 3 from South America, 1 from Africa (Eusébio was from Mozambique, still a colony of Portugal until 1975), none from Asia, none from North America (certainly, no Americans), 6 from Eastern Europe, 5 from Western Europe, and 2 from the British Isles but not England (Law and Baxter, both Scots).
Riera had managed his homeland of Chile, including Eyzaguirre, to 3rd place on home soil in the 1962 World Cup. Yashin had helped the Soviet Union win the 1st-ever European Championship in 1960. Santos was the only member of the Brazil team that won the 1958 and 1962 World Cups to participate: For whatever reason, Pelé of Santos, who turned 23 that day, did not. Pluskal, Popluhár and Masopust were members of the Czech team that reached the Final of the 1962 World Cup, losing to Brazil. That was the closest any Warsaw Pact nation ever came to winning the World Cup.
The Captains before the match: Armfield (left) and Di Stéfano
The England attack, led by Greaves, had several good chances to score, but Yashin kept denying them. In the 2nd half, Riera replaced Yashin with Šoškić. Big mistake: Greaves assisted Paine, who scored in the 66th minute. Law, already terrorizing England for Man U in a forward pairing with Charlton (they were the holders of the FA Cup), equalized in the 82nd minute. It looked like a draw (as a friendly, there was no plan for extra time), but in the 90th and last minute, Greaves scored to make it 2-1 England.
Greaves, who had helped Tottenham win the 1962 FA Cup and the 1963 European Cup Winners' Cup (but had been with Chelsea when "Spurs" won the 1961 League title and FA Cup, "The Double"), was hailed as the best attacker in the world. Yashin was hailed as the best goalkeeper, and was soon honored with the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) as World Player of the Year. He remains the only goalkeeper ever to receive it.
This win gave Alf Ramsey and his players the realization that they could actually win the 1966 World Cup, which would be played on home soil. Banks, Wilson, Moore and Charlton would start for England in the Final. Armfield, Greaves, Eastham and Flowers would also be selected for that winning England team. Kay would not be a member of that team, banned from the game for his participation in the 1964 British football betting scandal.
Still alive from this game, 58 years later: For England, 7 players: Milne, Norman, Paine, Eastham, Charlton, Flowers and Kay; For The Rest of the World, 5 players: Schnellinger, Law, Gento, Šoškić and Eyzaguirre.
*
October 23, 1963 was a Wednesday. The baseball season was over. American football was in midweek. And no NHL games were scheduled. But there were 3 NBA games played that day:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Baltimore Bullets, 115-106 at the Baltimore Civic Center. Walt Bellamy, later to be a Knick, scored 41 for the Bullets, who are now the Washington Wizards. The Civic Center is now named the Royal Farms Arena.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 124-116 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. The arena is now named the TCF Center. Jerry West scored 31.
* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the St. Louis Hawks, 99-95. Wilt Chamberlain scored 22 points, but that did not lead the game: Bob Pettit scored 24 in defeat.