England played the USA in their first match under lights on this day.

These days it’s perfectly normal for England to play a match under floodlights, either at home or away. It wasn’t always the case, of course, with Wembley internationals being played on Wednesday afternoons until well into the 1960s.

England played their first-ever match under lights on this day in 1953. It was the last of a four-match summer tour that had included fixtures against Argentina in Buenos Aires (abandoned in a monsoon!), Chile in Santiago and Uruguay in Montevideo.

The England tourists ended up in New York City, playing USA before 10,000 fans inside a floodlit Yankee Stadium. The match should have taken place on 7 June, a Sunday, but was postponed until the next day due to some torrential rain.

The visitors struggled in the first half, reviving memories of the embarrassing World Cup defeat in Brazil three years before, but managed to conjure up a goal two minutes from the break. Tom Finney provided the pass and Newcastle’s Ivor Broadis (above) hooked the ball home.

In the second half England relaxed in the unfamiliar conditions and ran out 6-3 winners against an American team which had several players with English League experience. The other scorers were Nat Lofthouse (two), Redfern Froggatt and Finney (two).