17 October 1973, Wembley. England 1–1 Poland.
By Hamish McTavish
A Wednesday night at the old Wembley, and the country had already decided it was a collection. Win or bust, Barry Davies said later, and he did not think anybody seriously thought England would fail. They had been at every World Cup since they first entered in 1950. They had won one less than eight years earlier. They had been one of the better sides in Mexico. Poland only needed a draw. England needed a win. That is not a riddle. That is a formality with a crowd of a hundred thousand attached.
Brian Clough, out of work two days, sat in the ITV studio and did the week's certainty out loud. He called Jan Tomaszewski a circus clown in gloves and told the viewers to settle down and enjoy an English victory. Peter Taylor, beside him, called the Poles donkeys. Brian Glanville, in the matchday programme, had already written that if Poland qualified they would be remote outsiders. The Sun would need the morning to find The End of the World. The Telegraph would need Sir Alf's future in the balance. The night itself only needed Clough, and the clown, and the kettle.
Tomaszewski walked out with legs of jelly. He has said so since. He was thinking please do not let it be another 7–0. England had put seven past Austria a month earlier. In front of the royal box he hoped they were not the next Austria. The England end, remembering Chorzów, shouted animals. He heard it. Then the first minute woke him up. He rolled it out, did not see Allan Clarke two metres away, dived at the striker's feet, and broke the small bones in his left wrist. They froze for the night. The adrenaline did the rest. Adam Musiał told him afterwards it was good that Clarke had kicked him, because it woke him up.
The rest of the first half is England occupying a half without finishing a thought. Chance after chance. Tomaszewski's legs, arms, hands. The posts. A teammate on the line. Mick Channon hits the woodwork from close in with the keeper beaten. Thirty-six shots before the end, twenty-six corners, the woodwork twice, four efforts cleared off the line. At half-time it is still nothing-nothing, which in the English head is only a delay. Clough refused to take the clown back. "Keep calm. Put the kettle on, mother. Don't worry — the goals are going to come."
A goal did come. It was not theirs.
Just after the hour the night became the night. Norman Hunter, preferred to Bobby Moore, came across on the left near halfway and got his feet tangled. Robert Gadocha went. Jan Domarski arrived like a train and hit a low one that skidded under Peter Shilton on the wet. Hunter would call it the worst moment of his career. Shilton said he tried to make the perfect save; if he had been more experienced he would have stuck a foot or a knee out. One break. One greasy finish. The clown's team were in front at Wembley, and the collection had become a problem.
Eight minutes later Martin Peters went down under Musiał. The Belgian referee, Vital Loraux, pointed. Peters later said he had dived, in desperation. Clarke sent Tomaszewski the wrong way, high to the keeper's left, as if he were training with children. Shilton could not watch. He crouched with his back to the other goal. One-one. They still needed another. They did not get it.
Tomaszewski's favourite stop of the night came in the last ten minutes, again from Clarke, who turned away to celebrate the winner he thought he had. A blind save on the left side. The ball bounced off the clown. England had a corner. Clarke was crouched with his eyes wide open. In the eighty-eighth minute Ramsey sent on Kevin Hector for Martin Chivers. Hector had a header hacked off the line in the dying seconds. Poland held. The stadium, Davies said, went to a stunned silence. More disbelief than anything else.
Hunter trudged off looking finished. There were tears in the dressing room. Tomaszewski did not go out. His wrist had started to speak. In the morning he saw the papers and found himself on the front of them, the man who stopped England. He has always said it was Górski and the eleven he positioned. Against England he made mistakes, and they were not punished, because of the men in front of him. Clough, after, still called him a clown. Would you want him in your team? Derek Dougan told him off on the same programme. Years later, in Manchester, Clough apologised. Tomaszewski shook his hand and thanked him, because only great people admit mistakes. He can have the handshake. We keep the kettle.
Poland went to West Germany and finished third. Lato took the golden boot. Tomaszewski saved penalties in different matches. By the time those finals started, Ramsey was gone. Six months and two games after the clown, the only World Cup-winning manager England have ever had was out of work. The Sun called it the end of the world. For once the type was not doing too much. They had not missed a World Cup since they first bothered to enter. They missed this one because a man in gloves they had already laughed at would not lie down.
They said a clown. They said donkeys. They said put the kettle on. They said the goals are going to come. If you still think it was only Hunter's feet, a funeral is only a Tuesday.
The film is up. ITV had it live. Channel 4 still has the week before: David Rose at Highbury, watching the Poles train, talking about flaws the fast English forwards could expose. The night itself is on the old Big Match reel — Domarski, Clarke, the clown's hands. Do not review it. Watch the clown refuse to be a clown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmKOfDeQtpo
## Related reading
- [Swedes 2, Turnips 1](/blogs/the-tape/swedes-2-turnips-1) — Taylor, a vegetable, and another night they treated as a right - [Yanks 2, Planks 0](/blogs/the-tape/yanks-2-planks-0) — Foxboro, Meola, and people who expected to beat America - [The wally with the brolly](/blogs/the-tape/the-wally-with-the-brolly) — another wet English exit, already on the Tape
If the nights sit right, the shirts and the wall are at [/shop](/shop).
## FAQ
What was the score when England drew with Poland at Wembley in 1973?
England 1–1 Poland, on 17 October 1973 at Wembley. Domarski scored for Poland; Clarke equalised from the penalty spot. England needed a win to qualify and went out on the draw.
Why is Jan Tomaszewski called the clown?
Brian Clough, on ITV before the match, called him a circus clown in gloves. Tomaszewski kept England out; Poland reached the 1974 World Cup and finished third. Clough later apologised.
Did England miss a World Cup after 1973?
Yes. They had appeared at every World Cup since first entering in 1950. The 1–1 draw meant they failed to qualify for West Germany 1974. Ramsey left the job within months.