May 14, 1938: The Germany national soccer team salute their country's flag, in their entirety. Their opponents, the England team, also do so -- with one exception: Stan Cullis.
Stanley Cullis (no middle name) was born on October 25, 1916 in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. A centreback, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. "Wolves," a team from the "Black Country" in the West Midlands, outside Birmingham. He debuted in 1935, became a regular in 1937, and by 1938 was team Captain, nearly leading them to the Football League Division One title, falling just 1 point short of North London team Arsenal.
He was selected for the England team that was to play Germany at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 14, 1938. In 1935, the teams had played in London, and the fear that German fans coming to support their team might cause trouble went unreleased. England won the game.
But things had changed. In 1935, the ruling Nazi Party had kept its excesses, including its awful treatment of Germany's Jews, domestic. In 1936, Germany had sent troops to the Rhineland, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. That year, fights between the British Union of Fascists and London leftists became known as the Battle of Cable Street. In March 1938, Austria was annexed. Now, the German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, was making noise about wanting the Sudetenland, a section of Czechoslovakia that was mostly ethnically German.
The starting lineup for England in Berlin: Goalkeeper, Vic Woodley, Chelsea (West London); right back, Bert Sproston, Leeds United (Yorkshire); left back and Captain, Eddie Hapgood, Arsenal; right half, Ken Willingham, Huddersfield Town (Yorkshire); centre half, Alf Young, Huddersfield Town; left half, Don Welsh, Charlton Athletic (South London); outside right, Stanley Matthews, Stoke City (Staffordshire); inside right, Jackie Robinson, Sheffield Wednesday (Yorkshire); centre forward, Frank Broome, Aston Villa (Birmingham); inside left, Len Goulden, West Ham United (East London); and outside left, Cliff Bastin, Arsenal.
If you are a baseball fan, you may have noticed a familiar name. Yes, Wednesday had a player named John Allan Robinson, who was known professionally as Jackie Robinson. There was also a basketball player of the same name, of some renown, who was a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team that won the Gold Medal in London.
Four reserves were chosen, in case any of the starting XI couldn't play. Cullis was one. The others were Arthur Bateman of Brentford (West London), Willie Hall of Tottenham Hotspur (North London), and Harry Clifton of Newcastle United (North-East). But the only player who had to drop out was one of the reserves, Hall. To make it worse for "Spurs" fans, his replacement was an Arsenal star, Ted Drake.
Before the game, as usual, both sets of players lined up for the playing of the national anthems. "God Save the King" was played for England, with no issue. It was expected that when the Deutschlandlied -- with music composed by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, and its August Heinrich Hoffmann-written opening line of "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt" -- meaning, "Germany, Germany over all, over all in the world" -- the German players would face the Swastika flag, and give the Fascist salute. They did.
But when Sir Neville Henderson, the British Ambassador to Germany, out of respect for their hosts and the betterment of international relations with one of the world's major powers at the time, demanded that all England players give the Nazi salute on the pitch as well, and was backed up by the Football Association (the FA), Cullis refused. He was the only England player selected for this game to do so. With substitutes not allowed for this match, he did not enter the game.
Sadly, yes, it happened. England in white,
Germany in red, which appears black in this photo.
Germany wore red shirts with lace-up collars, white shorts and black socks. This enabled England to wear the same uniform they wore in their 1935 home win over Germany: White-collared jerseys, navy blue shorts, and black socks topped with two white horizontal stripes, or "hoops."
Despite the German players, between them, having more international match experience than any opponent England had ever played to that point, England won the game, 6-3, thanks to 2 goals by Jackie Robinson. Matthews, Broome, Goulden and Bastin also scored.
Contrary to popular belief, Cullis was not punished by the FA, but his England appearances were limited to 12, due to World War II interrupting international play. He captained Wolves into the 1939 FA Cup Final, but they lost to Portsmouth. They also finished 2nd in the Football League -- "the Dubious Double," runners-up in both League and Cup.
He would have more luck as a manager of "Wolves." He got them to win the League in 1954, '58 and '59, and the Cup in 1949 and '60. In a weird twist, the 1954 title was won by edging Wolves' local "Black Country" arch-rivals, West Bromwich Albion, who featured a Wolverhampton boy that Cullis refused to sign, Don Howe, would would later be a star coach -- and West Brom then beat Wolves to win the FA Cup. Thus, each rival denied the other the Double.
In 1954, Cullis led Wolves to a win over Honved, the Budapest side that featured several of the Hungary players that had embarrassed England at Wembley and in Budapest the year before, and would reach the 1954 World Cup Final -- losing to West Germany. This was one of the catalysts in the establishment of the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League.
Wolves legends, left to right: Billy Wright, Cullis' star player on their 1950s teams;
Cullis himself; and Dicky Dorsett, a teammate on the 1938 & '39 near-miss teams.
Stan Cullis died in 2001. A statue of him now stands outside Wolves' Molineux Stadium, one of whose stands is named for him. Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said of him, "All round, as a player, as a manager, and for general intelligence, it would be difficult to name anyone since the game began who could qualify to be in the same class as Stan Cullis."
The soccer rivalry between England and Germany would resume after World War II, highlighted by England's win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Final. While the Deutschlandlied was restored as the German national anthem after The War, only the 3rd verse is used, due to the overtones of the Nazi tyranny that the 1st and 2nd verses still invoked.
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May 14, 1938 was a Saturday. This was also the day the Errol Flynn version of The Adventures of Robin Hood premiered. I have a separate entry for that event.
That day, there were only 4 games in what would later be called Major League Baseball -- and only 2 of them reached a conclusion.
* The New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Athletics were tied 1-1 after 5 innings at Yankee Stadium, when the game was called due to rain. At the time, the Yankees had only 1 hit, and it wasn't by 1st baseman Lou Gehrig, center fielder Joe DiMaggio, or catcher Bill Dickey. It was by their 2nd baseman, and it wasn't rookie sensation Joe Gordon, either: It was by Bill Knickerbocker.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Bees (as the Braves were known from 1936 to 1940), 10-2 at Ebbets Field.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 10-9 at Fenway Park in Boston. Future Hall-of-Famer Jimmie Foxx won it with a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals were tied 7-7 after 10 innings at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, when the game was called due to darkness.
So what happened to the other half of the major leagues? Rain. Lots of rain.
* The New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on June 29. The Giants swept, 9-1 and 6-2. Over the 2 games, Mel Ott went 4-for-9 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Despite an 18-3 start, the Giants would fail to make it 3 straight National League Pennants, finishing 5 games behind the winners.
* The Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns were rained out at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (Which was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) It was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 19. The Tigers swept, 8-7 and 7-4. Over the 2 games, Hank Greenberg went 4-for-7 with 3 home runs, including a walkoff in the opener, and 5 RBIs. He would hit 58 home runs that year, tying Foxx in 1932 for the most in a season, to that point, by anyone other than Babe Ruth.
* The Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago, which was in its 1st season of the ivy-covered outfield wall and the big hand-operated scoreboard atop the center field bleachers. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 21. The Cubs swept, 6-4 and 6-1. These games would help make the difference, as the Cubs beat the Pirates for the Pennant by 2 games, and the Giants by 5. But they would be swept by the Yankees in the World Series.
* And the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians were rained out at League Park in Cleveland. The game was rescheduled for August 22. The White Sox won, 4-2. John Whitehead outpitched Bob Feller.
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