As part of qualification for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, England and Finland were both drawn in qualifying group 2 along with Italy and Luxembourg. Remember when groups only had four teams? The opening game of group 2 took place in Helsinki, between Finland and England, and ended 1-4 to the visitors.
So the return fixture took place on October 1976 at Wembley Stadium, and here is the match programme. It was Finland's first full visit to the Empire Stadium.
Having been to recent England internationals at Wembley, one of the first things you notice is the price. 20p! It's at least £5 for a programme for games these days. Taking inflation into account, 20p is now the equivalent of just under a pound. But, this is only twenty pages long. A penny per page (including adverts) is probably not that bad I guess.
The front cover shows a photo taken from the previous fixture in Helsinki, a goal scored by Kevin Keegan in the 30th minute to put England 1-2 ahead. Inside is a photo (and caption) for the goal, describing a delighted Keegan signalling his pleasure. A strange choice of phrase for someone in such short shorts.
England kit fans will appreciate the Admiral effort in the photo, along with Keegan's dapper wristbands.
Legendary football statistician Jack Rollins (author of the Rothman's Football Yearbook) has put some facts and figures about the two sides. A couple of them here: England are seeking their 300th win in full internationals, and that this fixture was the fifth time that England and Finland have met, England having won the previous four.
Jack Rollin goes on to give a history of England's previous World Cup qualifying campaigns. Only two short paragraphs catalogue 1966 (as England didn't have to qualify, being hosts), but a lot was made of the failure to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. There was some minor reminiscing over a pre-World Cup friendly in 1966 where England beat Finland 3-0.
The first set of pen pics shows the England squad, with brief descriptions and four photos - of Peter Shilton, Paul Madeley, a splendid photo of a young Ray Wilkins and Joe Royle. The summaries basically include the club, sum of their most recent transfer and their age.
Check out the hair on Butch
We see photos of England in action against Ireland from September, and a squad list.
Excuse the fold...
No match programme would be complete without an article on the opposition - and apparently FINLAND MUST NOT BE TREATED LIGHTLY!
Some mildly patronising comments such as "Naturally for Finland to compete at all so well at this level is a splendid advertisement for their enterprise and willingness to succeed" are quite entertaining in this more enlightened age, and then we're reminded that England gave football to Finland in 1890.
A brief history of Finnish football follows, touching on the 1912 Olympic side, and various failures to qualify for World Cups. There was a brief mention of the UEFA Youth Tournament final in Switzerland, where England narrowly won 1-0. Coach Aulis Rytkonen gets name-checked, that he was a former international himself.
We also get a bonus advert for previous match programmes, including the 1966 World Cup final, the 1962 European Cup final, and the 1976/77 Rothman's book for a bargain £2.50...
We gave them football!!
After some more adverts, for Zetters treble chances and the inter-varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge (35p for a standing ticket), we meet some of the Finnish players.
The photographs are of Göran Enckelman of TPS (father of former Aston Villa keeper Peter), Erkki Vihtilä of Ilves, Ari Mäkynen of VPS, Ramio Vierikko of MiPK Mikkeli and Matti Paatelainen of Haka, the captain of the side and father of current coach Mixu.
Like an FA Cup match of today, the programme likes to remind us of the day jobs of the Finns, most of whom were amateurs. Vihtela was an electrician, Makynen was a fireman, Vierrikko a student, Jouko Suomalainen an insurance agent, Aki and Esa Heiskanen were also firemen, and Jyrki Nieminen a computer operator on the railway. I'd love to know what puns the British tabloid press had prepared for them if they scored...
Meet the Finns
So that is the programme. The game itself finished 2-1 to England - Man City's Dennis Tueart scored after four minutes, before the computer operator (and HJK forward) Nieminen replied for Finland. Joe Royle scored the winner after 51 minutes. England finished second in the group, on goal difference behind Italy. Finland ended up third, only taking points from two wins over Luxembourg.
Highlights of England 2-1 Finland in 1976
I'll be giving this programme away as a competition prize in the near future. Follow my Twitter for more information, and you can get your hands on a piece of history.
