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On This Day In World Cup History


chowie

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1957

England draw 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland at Dalymount Park, Dublin. Needing just a point to qualify for the World Cup finals in Sweden, England are rocked by a third minute goal from Dublin-born winger Alf Ringstead, who smashes a loose ball wide of his Sheffield United teammate, England keeper Alan Hodgkinson to send the capacity crowd in Dalymount Park wild.

From then on, England struggle to make any impact against an inspired Irish defence in which Bournemouth goalkeeper Tommy Godwin and Millwall centre half Charlie Hurley are outstanding. The game reaches its last minute when Tom Finney fires over a perfect cross for John Atyeo to head a superbly- taken equaliser that gives relieved England a passport to Sweden.

David Pegg, who comes in for the injured Stanley Matthews, wins his only cap before becoming one of the victims of the Munich air crash. Although Atyeo's goal saves England a lot of embarrassment, and a hammering from the press, the selectors reward him by never selecting him again!

The only conceivable explanation is that the selectors (there was no all- powerful manager then) object to a part-timer. Throughout most of his career, John played part-time for Bristol City, first working as a quantity surveyor, then training as a teacher and, but for that semi-professional status, might have represented his country more often.

Between 1951 and 1956, John scored 350 goals, helping City win the Division Three South title in 1955, and captaining them to promotion to Division Three ten years later. He then concentrated full time on his teaching career, eventually becoming a headmaster.

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