England 1-1 Poland 1973: Infamous World Cup Qualifier remembered by Mick Channon & Peter Shilton

It was called "the death of football" in the national papers the following day. Get the inside story on the match from two players who played for England that day, Mick Channon & Peter Shilton.
Subscribe to the official KZbin channel of the England football team featuring exclusive news, match highlights and more at / england
To find out more about the England team log on to: www.thefa.com/e...
Become a fan of England on Facebook at / englandteam
And follow us on Twitter at / fa

[@zephirus67]

I am Italian, born in 1967 and the very first game I have a clear memory of is Poland-Argentina 3-2 in Germany 1974 WC.That polish team became my favourite of the tournament (even if they sent off my Italy) and the names of those fantastic players forever carved in my mind.

[@YarosUK]

Luca.great spoken.all the best

[@wonjubhoy]

Any fair minded person would say England should have won that game. It is also fair to say Poland had the superior national team at that time. They were 3rd at the world cups in 1974 and 1982 and reached the 2nd round of the world cup in 1978, a far superior record than England's at that time.

[@wojciechsz4033]

When you see this game, you have to admit that Channon is right. England had a tough team, who could achieve a great success during the World Cup. However, he forgot about Chorzów. I have to remind Mr.Channon that England lost game against Poland in Chorzów. It means that Mr Channon exaggerate the abilities of English team.

[@certech25]

Not so at all Mr Kevin Gallagher , Poland overall even at the Wembley match was the deserving team for the tie , England could not score a goal in the match and save themselves by foul on Lato from losing the match , why did you cut this from the tape ? that would be straight red card nowdays .

[@tv1canada]

Tomaszewski saved to penalty kicks in world cup , Deyna one of best players in history, Lato world cup top scorer, won bronze medal twice 74 , 82 , Really average players??? Team Poland made it to few Mundials in the row . Honestly you lost first game in Chorzow , 2:0 , after this Lubanski didn't even play at Wembley. After Wembley team got even better with Zmuda and Szarmach .

[@purpledragons1146]

@@wojciechsz4033 Channon did exaggerate the England national team. Poland had better players but that game England deserved to win

[@olekpasz6278]

Channon saying Polish team was ‘moderate’ is being totally disrespectful considering what the Polish team achieved at WC1974 - lost one game to eventual winners West Germany on a pitch which was more like rice field and should never have been played - at WC74 finished 3rd beating countries like Argentina, Italy, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Brazil and had winner of Golden Boot in Gregorz Lato - all this without Lubanski who got injured in match v England in Chorzow.

[@jorgeponce5512]

Don't forget Brian Clough's fave "Clown", Tomaszewski, who was going to be selected Best Goalkeeper at the 1974 WC. His performance at Wembley was heralding.

[@slider3215]

Poland had some great players and I enjoyed watching them at the 74 WC

[@CONSIDERABLYMORE1]

Agreed. Poland finished 3rd in 74 and 82. Plus they were 1972 Olympic champions, which included a 2-1 win over the DDR who would beat W.Germany 1-0 in the World Cup. Poland only went out in 1974 to a single Gerd Muller goal, on an atrocious, waterlogged pitch. So, according to Channon, all that made Poland moderate and England superior, even though England failed to qualify and had earlier lost 2-0 to Poland in Chorzów. Channon is the clown!

[@michaelmuldowney8]

Poland were a quality team who really should have made the final in 1974.

[@GazalAlShaqab]

This is a perfect exemple of what is called BAD FAITH by Channon & Shilton (but I understand and do not blame, it is so hard to be objective when it comes to national football). But, as Paul Breitner (Germany defender) said on the FIFA website in 2007: "POLAND had a better team at the '74 World Cup than Germany, Netherlands, Brazil, or anyone else for that matter. The Poles had the best team in 1974." Poles played football ahead of its time in 1974: offensive, speed transitions, zone defense, switching positions (for exemple Lato and Gadocha), assumed imbalance… Here, in 1973, the Polish team is not quite mature, but is about to become a really fantastic team, the greatest by far in Polish history (it will severely decline after 1982).

[@olekpasz6278]

Gazal Al Shaqab such a shame we were not able to see the Golden Boy od Polish football, Wlodzimierz Lubanski at WC74 - even without him, Polska were the best team at WC74

[@matbritton6816]

Never underestimate the Poles.

[@tonydo9136]

I think that Mick Channon may have been mistaken to suggest that England were far superior to Poland. Perhaps he didn't watch the 1974 World Cup finals? I think Poland were a little more than moderate.

[@macioluko9484]

Yes. If losing to the eventual winners - West Germany on an awful pitch 1-0 and then beating the 1970 holders Brazil in the bronze medal match was moderate… then I guess the best England finishes since 1966 in Italia 90 (4th) & Russia 2018 (4th) was below average I guess…

[@peterwhent66]

Difficult to agree that England should have gone to the world cup. I think we got exactly what we deserved. We lost away to Poland and drew at home to Wales. There were four games for England in the whole qualifying campaign and we only won one of them. This match at Wembley was only a decider because Wales did us a favour and beat Poland.

[@chrisbennett6260]

well if Wales beat poland they couldnt have been that great surely

[@stefanwagner1424]

The problem with the English side was (and is) that they always thought (think) they're a class act when in fact they're only slightly above average. No way they could ever have finished 3rd in the WC finals (given their qualifying) like the Polish did...

[@jimmann8290]

before that game England had the better players and home as well but the poles had the better team as they proved it in 1974 they got 3rd

[@iananderson3799]

England: underestimating opponents and overestimating own talent for 100 years now.

[@EjsCF]

Superior? 1974 WC-poland 3rd place

[@VidarLund-k5q]

Jan Tomaszewski was an excellent goal keeper, with range, reacion, strength and courage. Hard to beat..

[@andrzejbanas9701]

I am so sorry guys but you've had no chance to beat that strongly motivated polish team that time. Unintentionally I hope you mr Shilton and mr Channon you disrespect class of your opponents then and now. Perhaps that the main reason you've lost it. Never ever underestimate the Poles. By the way you've had an illusion you've dominated that game but it still an illusion. Watch the game again and submit an amazing polish team offensive performance including brilliant individual skills of Musiał, Deyna and Tomaszewski. Let's we broke the myth of one way system game. You supposed to be lucky to draw that game really.

[@PrZemek44]

Infamous? B/c of McFarland's foul on Lato? we certainly would've been 2:0 at the time... Where is it? Watch the full game before making comments about our team being "overwhelmed"... Before making ANY comments. WTF is Channon talking about? There was this one goal disallowed, with the bogus penalty so... 1:1 ;)

[@olekpasz6278]

PrZemek44 agree 💯- admittedly Polska rode their luck but as u said the foul on Lato should have resulted in sending off - there was only one goal disallowed and the penalty England were awarded was one of the softest I have seen - I was lucky to be at Wembley that day to witness that famous match 👍🏻

[@vantheman1238]

Mick Channon played in the game and his description seems fair. Why was his goal disallowed?

[@pawelantkowiak7579]

@@vantheman1238 hand ball by the player making the assist?

[@certech25]

@@vantheman1238 his description is not fair , because he knows that there was hand ball pass , that is why the goal did not count , and it was the only disallowed goal in the match

[@iananderson3799]

As a Scot, I fell in love with Poland that evening.

[@mazury450]

I think it is a bit of an insult from Channon to say that Poland were a "moderate team" and implying that England would have been better in the 1974 finals. That's a bit of an insult to the Polish team, who were not at their best at Wembley, but possibly the best team at the 1974 finals in Germany and were beaten as much by the rain as by West Germany.

[@chriswebber8227]

I was 15,my first England International and such a fantastic atmosphere the game seemed to be over in a flash

[@kailashpatel1706]

Does Mick know that Poland reached 3 semis between 1974 and 1982..?

[@mariuszwodzicki3714]

He knows, and because he also thinks Poland was a “moderate team, make no mistake” (his own words), he assumes England would have totally destroyed the opposition in Germany 1974. His mistake is, clearly, thinking that the level of the team that beat Argentina, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, was exactly the same as the one they faced at Wembley a year earlier.

[@jorgeponce5512]

And a 5th place in 1978, which would be a great result for any nation other than Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Germany, France, and Spain.

[@johnbuggy9121]

The English are still whinging 40 years later.

[@noelball5137]

Nevermind my English Patriots. Scotland Qualified & Wales smash 2 past Tomaszevski in March 73!

[@lechatw9715]

1:51 - What? 2 or 3 goals disallowed in this match? What's he talking about? Maybe I didn't understand very well?

[@pincopallinoqualsiasi7865]

Typical lack of humility from Mick Channon which still exist today from lots of people. RESPECT the others and do not think that the best team always win.

[@sandr6769]

The truth is that both teams deserved to qualify for that WC74 tournament, but I don't know if England would beat Argentina and Italy in the group stage. Only thing that Polish team lacked at that time was prestige, people thought they're weak, and maybe that was one of their strengths. Nobody thought they could reach the final and when you underestimate someone, you can get a hard beating.

[@HandleGF]

Channon was a long time doing little in the England team. The chances he missed under Revie add up to a damning rap sheet.

[@George-nh4fc]

Mick Channon said Poland were a moderate team.....why didn't England beat them then ?

[@johnmacaroni105]

It looks to me that they had not much composure in front of goal. They kept snaping at the ball trying to smash it in. Should have looked up more, passed to a better place player who then could have closed their eyes and smashed the ball straight at the goalie with the commentator saying what another great save.... Trying to find Moore having an argument with Ramsey about making a substitution in this game, he finally did 88th min ..... Southgate Euro's 24.

[@macioluko9484]

With all due respect Mr Channon, The 1970’s were years that saw a rather mediocre England side. A quarter final exit in 1970 in Mexico, followed by another quarter final exit in the 1972 Euros. Failure to qualify to Germany 1974. Failure to reach the quarter final stage in Euro 1976. Another missed World Cup in 1978 and yet another quarter final exit in Euro 1980 with no Olympic medals to speak of since… 1912…

[@headgroundsman1650]

shocked shilton admitted he made an error.............

[@myroseaccount]

Like everything else to do with English football, Shilton was overrated.

[@gregod806]

That's a first.

[@Lefab3470]

Shilton and Shannon?English "70 arrogance....and we dont understand this superiority: what have done this team after 66?And England doesn t seem to take a better way in Euro 2021...

[@silverag7679]

When you watch the entire game, this game wasn't as one sided as the cherry picked 4 minutes. Poland between 1972 and 1982 was a stronger team than England, no question. In 1974 world cup they could place anywhere on the podium. They beat all but one team, in controversial circumstances. English arrogance lead them always to a street without exit over and over again. They;ve never been of a quality of Brazil, Germany, Italy, or Argentina. They always were a strong competitor, don't get me wrong, but it's like comparing Backham to Messi, Ronaldo, or Maradona.

[@Scott_Raynor]

How on earth was that disallowed??

[@BenedictusFan]

Why on earth was that goal disallowed?

[@slabart12]

+BenedictusFan Handball.

[@myroseaccount]

Foul by the England player passing it back to Channon.

[@myroseaccount]

Watch it closely, Allan Clarke handled the ball before playing it back to Channon who scored.

[@jorgeponce5512]

@@myroseaccount Exactly. That's what the Belgian referee called.

[@secondaryfront]

England was FAVORED by referee in this one. The goal was rightfully disallowed, and referee spared them a OBVIOUS red card after faul on Lato.

[@chesterma6321]

What was it disallowed for?

[@secondaryfront]

@@chesterma6321 hand touch at 1:54, obviously, because earier Bell's jump was 100% clean.

[@jefdarcy]

No, at that time this wasn't a red card, actually not until the early 90's, I think. But Channon is making things up about two or three goals being disallowed. It was just one goal, and it was correctly disallowed for Clarke handling the ball. Also Peters dived out of desparation to get that penalty, he admitted this in his autobiography.

[@paweleee3183]

Kto po meczu z England, Sterling to tempa aktorka

[@sebaschippk5167]

Olimik Gold 1973

[@myroseaccount]

Whilst it was one way traffic throughout, what is overlooked then as now, is how England were frenzied and frenetic. They shouldn't have slung it into the box at every opportunity. They should have tried to draw Poland out of position with swift, accurate and decisive play making and passing movements. In other words England's lack of technique was never more on show than in this harem scarem game. It would be hard to imagine Poland achieving the same result if they had to hold out for a draw in say Rome, or Munich or Madrid. You could imagine Italy would bide their time. They would ensure no mistakes or giveaways and ground Poland into the dirt. I also don't think England would have got as far as Poland had they qualified.

[@kennybrown4920]

We get it, you don't like England. In fact I think England would have at least got to another Final if they'd qualified.

[@olekpasz6278]

Italy grinding Poland into the dirt ? If I recall we outplayed Italy at WC74 beating them 2-1 😄

[@michaelbaylor2837]

@@kennybrown4920 England useless

[@gregod806]

Everyone bangs on about this as the game that cost England! They won one game in the group FFS and I still say the draw at Wembley v Wales is the one that cost them their place at the WC.

[@iananderson3799]

Even had England won that match 1-0 Poland would still have topped the group.

[@gregod806]

@@iananderson3799 Yes you are right. Polands home form in the group was impressive whereas the 'Wembley fortress' unusually let England down.

[@iananderson3799]

@@gregod806 Wow. A polite post on YT!!!! 😄 You will get yourself banned, sir.

[@gregod806]

@@iananderson3799 🤣

[@tonynesbit9673]

Would of could of but didn't!

[@johnfranklin8047]

I remember this game (and the feeling of shock) like it was yesterday. If only England had found a little more composure in front of goal.

[@kevinprior3549]

Just didn't happen for us did it

[@johnmacaroni105]

No, the goal wasn't big enough 😂

[@fandbzgt100]

*Maradona*

[@slider3215]

Cubillas

[@АлександрБелоусов-ь1ц]

Это беда английского футбола. Я сность и прямолинейность. Иногда корявый пас в штрафную наудачу опасней сильного четкого удара

[@christiandrichards]

Shilton! Cost us in two World Cups. Qualifying 1973 and Italia 90 when he was over-the-hill and over-rated. The fact he is Little Englander Brexiteer does not colour my opinion.

[@cleightorres3841]

continental europeans like to go off a cliff every now and then, now flirting with fascism again! brexit in a decade might seem like a great move brits holding up freedom and democracy in europe have something to be proud of germans push this utopian bs of the eu but in reality they still are little stormtroopers bent on domination

[@Lefab3470]

Always this english arrogance ....i hate english '60 70 football arrogance....

[@slider3215]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/inmweZpud76bps0

[@That_Random_Bloke]

If you hate the English, why are you on the England KZbin channel?

[@Lefab3470]

@@That_Random_Bloke i don t hate English, but english mentality of this period:clubs were kings of european cups, England won title only 7 years before, then was sure to beat Germany in Mexico '70, here Polish players were clowns or almost nothing, elimination of creator of football was "end of football" ....Later, english were ok for self deprecating .