Arsenal’s former ground Highbury had plenty of dramatic events over the years, but few were as explosive as this one in the 1930s. Fresh from their triumphant 1934 FIFA World Cup campaign, Italy headed to north London for a friendly against the Three Lions. Over 56,000 fans attended a match that despite only being a friendly, was a hotly anticipated contest between two of the best teams in Europe. Rather than being treated to a display of unrivalled footballing prowess, however, spectators saw a contest that quickly descended into an ugly brawl.
While the sheer violence of the contest is largely why it is still remembered today, it is also partly because England lined up with a record number of players from one team (a record that has not been broken). With seven Arsenal representatives among the selected XI, it was almost like the Gunners were taking on the world champions. But how did an England side consisting mainly of Arsenal players fare against the reigning World Cup holders?
Game Background
A dispute with FIFA over amateur player payments meant that the British nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928 and subsequently did not take part in the World Cup in 1930 or 1934. England were still recognised as one of the top footballing nations, however, so this was a big clash between two European titans. Some in England were even calling it the “real” World Cup final although, unsurprisingly, it was not billed in Italy in quite the same fashion.
It was the second time the two nations had met, the first coming in 1933 for a friendly in Rome. Nothing could separate the two teams on that occasion with goals from Giovanni Ferrari and Cliff Bastin cancelling each other out in a 1-1 draw. While this contest was also a friendly, it is important to remember the limited number of international fixtures in these times meant such matches were taken more seriously. During the 1930s, it was not unusual for England to play just four or five times a year. Therefore, teams would field their strongest lineups for friendlies rather than use them as a chance to experiment with fringe names.
Match Day
And it all started off so friendly!
Read about how the England v Italy match in 1934 descended into ‘The Battle of Highbury’ herehttps://t.co/hiMc7CMpyl pic.twitter.com/5N5BAmOitN— The League Magazine (@Theleaguemag) June 7, 2023
For the match on 14th November, 1934, England named seven Arsenal players in their team to face Italy. The seven were Frank Moss, George Male, Eddie Hapgood, Wilf Copping, Ray Bowden, Ted Drake and Cliff Bastin. Having such a strong Arsenal contingent hardly seemed a bad move given that the Gunners lifted the First Division title just months earlier and successfully retained their crown in the 1934/35 season. The remaining four players in the line-up came from Stoke City (Stanley Matthews), Everton (Cliff Britton), Derby County (Jack Baker) and Manchester City (Eric Brook).
Thanks to the heavy involvement of Arsenal players, it truly was a home game for the Three Lions as the contest took place in North London at Arsenal’s home, Highbury. Despite boasting a talented team, full of First Division winners, the England starting XI was very low on international experience. Not a single player involved had amassed 10 caps for the Three Lions. Few of the players went on to enjoy particularly illustrious international careers although Bastin, Copping, and Hapgood all reached 20 England caps while the legendary Matthews (making only his second appearance at the time) appeared 54 times for his country.
The Match
After a mere two minutes, Italian centre half Luis Monti broke his foot after a crunching tackle with England’s powerful centre forward, Drake. As there were no substitutes back in these times, Monti attempted to solider on and did so for 15 minutes. He was in no state to play though, as you would expect with a broken foot, and was soon brought off, leaving Italy to play most of the game with 10 men.
In the brief time Monti had been hobbling about in the last line of the defence, England had fully capitalised by scoring three goals. Despite missing a first-minute penalty, Brook bagged himself a brace through a header and a thunderbolt of a free-kick before Drake added a third in the 12th minute. It has been suggested that Monti’s teammates were unaware of the severity of his injury and failed to adequately cover for him. When the Juventus player came off though, the world champions adjusted their shape and steadied the ship by having a covering defender – someone who was actually able to run properly.
This nullified England’s attack which had looked so dangerous and fluent in the opening 15 minutes. The Italians, still very much upset by Drake’s challenge on Monti, went on the attack… but with their fists and feet rather than with the ball. A series of retaliatory challenges across the match saw several England players sustain serious injuries. Hapgood wound up with a broken nose that forced him off for 15 minutes, Brook had his arm fractured, Bowden injured his ankle, and Drake, the man who started it all, was punched. Needless to say, Swedish referee Otto Olsson was a busy man that day.
Matthews, who played over 800 matches for club and country, recalled the game as being the most violent contest he ever played in. It was so ferocious in fact that the FA considered withdrawing from all international fixtures, although they did not follow through with this. Back to the match though and England went in 3-0 at the break and were still enjoying a numerical advantage. Fans at Highbury may have been expecting the hosts to extend their lead but the world champions rallied after the restart.
In the second half, the visiting side pilled on the pressure and scored two goals through Guiseppe Meazza. The Azzurri could have easily found an equaliser as well but were denied either by the woodwork or some excellent goalkeeping from Frank Moss. Despite pounding on the door, the equaliser would just not come, leaving England to celebrate a 3-2 win, which they claimed made them the unofficial world champions. The Italians meanwhile took a lot of pride in their dogged and full-blooded performance played with a numerical disadvantage. They claimed the moral victory and back home the team were immortalised as the “Lions of Highbury”, or rather “I Leoni di Highbury”.