‘Eleven men from Éire upset the white shirts of England’

It was a result that was described in the newspapers as ‘a bombshell.’ And the raw facts of game allow for an understanding of why it was considered as such.

When the Ireland soccer team beat England by 2-0 at Goodison Park on 21 September 1949, it was the first time that England had lost on home soil to a team that was not from the UK.