The beautiful game in wartime: How football unified and thrived during World War II

Stanley Matthews runs with the ball for the RAF team (Picture: Getty)On 16 October 1943, around 60,000 spectators made their way into Maine Road for a wartime international fixture between England and Scotland.The hosts were undoubtedly the favourites, but few would have expected England to run out 8-0 winners in such a dominant fashion.Tommy Lawton, who went on to play for Chelsea, Notts County and Arsenal after the war, scored four goals in that game and later said it was the best team he had