April 9, 1938: The 1st Televised Soccer Game

Left: Bill Shankly of Preston North End and Scotland.

Right: Micky Fenton of Middlesbrough and England.

April 9, 1938: For the 1st time, a soccer game is televised. On September 13, 1937, the BBC had televised an intrasquad scrimmage by Arsenal, at the Arsenal Stadium, known as Highbury for its neighborhood in North London. But this was the 1st real game to be televised.

The game was broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation. To generate the most possible interest, the BBC decided not to make their 1st such broadcast a club match, but the biggest rivalry in the sport in the world at the time: The national teams of England and Scotland, at the national stadium, Wembley Stadium in West London.

The game was the conclusion of the round-robin British Home Championship for the 1937-38 season. England had already won it, having beaten Ireland and Wales, while Scotland could only gain a draw against Ireland and had lost to Wales. (Ireland had beaten Wales.) So this game would be for nothing but pride.

Not surprisingly, the England team had 3 players from North London team Arsenal, who were in position to win the Football League Division One, and did so, 18 days later. All of them on the left side: Left back Eddie Hapgood, now serving as Captain for both club and country, with Scotsman Alex James having retired; left half Wilf Copping, then considered the League's leading "hardman," although he never fouled hard enough to be sent off in a game; and outside left Cliff Bastin, who had already become Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer, and, through the 2021-22 season, 84 years later, still ranks 3rd on their all-time list.

The other North London team, Tottenham Hotspur, sent inside right Willie Hall. West London team Chelsea contributed goalkeeper Vic Woodley. Birmingham area team Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. Wolves, sent centre half Stan Cullis, who would manage them to glory in the 1950s. Staffordshire team Stoke City sent outside right Stanley Matthews, "the Wizard of Dribble."

And from Yorkshire: Leeds United sent right back Bert Sproston and inside left Eric Stephenson, Huddersfield Town sent right half Ken Willingham, and Middlesbrough sent centre forward Micky Fenton.

This was not an especially strong era for Scotland's football league: Only 3 players in it made the Scotland starting XI for this game: Right back Andy Anderson and inside right Tommy Walker, of Edinburgh team Heart of Midlothian, a.k.a. Hearts; and left half George Brown, of Glasgow team Rangers. Hearts ended up finishing 2nd in the Scottish league, 3 points behind Glasgow team Celtic, with Rangers in 3rd, 12 points behind their bitter "Old Firm" rivals. Yet no player from Celtic was selected for this team.

Preston North End, of Lancashire, would win the FA Cup 11 days later, also at Wembley, with a starting XI with 7 Scotsmen. They were previously known for having won the League in its 1st season, 1888-89, and also the FA Cup that season, for the first "Double." They played 22 games, winning 18, drawing 4, and losing none, becoming known as "The Invincibles," and that team set the pattern for the 1938 squad to follow, with 5 Scots and a Welshman among their Englishmen.

Of 1938 Preston's 7 Scots, 4 were selected for this game: Left back Andy Beattie, centre half Tommy Smith, inside left George Mutch, and right half Bill Shankly. Mutch would score the winning goal of the Final, against Huddersfield, with seconds to go in extra time, avoiding a replay. Shankly would manage Liverpool to glory in the 1960s and '70s, unsurprisingly with some Scottish stars.

From Middlesbrough came Scotland's goalkeeper, David Cumming; and their outsight right, Jackie Milne. From Blackpool came centre forward Frank O'Donnell, a Scotsman of Irish descent. And from West London team Brentford came outside left Bobby Reid.

As the home team, England had the first choice of kit. They chose their usual home uniform of white shirts and blue shorts. That was fine with Scotland, as it enabled them to wear their usual home colors, of blue shirts and white shorts. A crowd of 93,267 saw them kick off at 3:00 PM.

Only 6 minutes into the game, Hapgood made a rare mistake, with what was described as "a poor clearance." It was knocked back into the box by an overhead kick from Milne to O'Donnell, who passed to Walker. He shot past Woodley, and it was 1-0 to Scotland. England had 84 minutes to find an equalizer, but couldn't. For the 2nd time, the 1st being 10 years and 19 days earlier, Scotland had become "The Wembley Wizards."

Tommy Walker

This Tommy Walker should not be confused with the lead character of The Who's Tommy. But perhaps his goal could be called a "Walker's Crisp." He lived until 1993.

The television broadcast does not survive. But a review does, and it is laudatory: An April 12 newspaper article stated: "The television was described as a triumph for the engineers. Play was clearly shown on the screen, and it was seldom difficult to follow the ball. The elaborate camera apparatus was mounted in the Press box at the rear of the main stand."

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April 9, 1938 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season was coming to a climax, as the Stanley Cup Finals were underway, but this was a travel day. The Chicago Black Hawks went on to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3 games to 1.