England scored nine against Scotland at Wembley on this day.

England went goal crazy in the Wembley sunshine on this day 49 years ago, putting nine into Scotland’s net as HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh watched from the Royal Box. The famous stadium had never seen as many goals in a single match.

Walter Winterbottom’s England couldn’t stop scoring in that season. They beat Luxembourg 9-0, Mexico 8-0, Wales 5-1, Northern Ireland 5-2 and Spain 4-2. But it was their 9-3 thrashing of the Scots in the British Championship on 15 April 1961 that really caught the eye.

Johnny Haynes, the Fulham maestro, won the toss and the English attack quickly turned on the style that had been so effective in the first four internationals of 1960-61. The Wembley crowd of 97,350 didn’t have to wait too long for the first goal, Bobby Robson shooting past Frank Haffey after ten minutes. Jimmy Greaves doubled the lead nine minutes later from Bobby Smith’s astute pass and then made it 3-0 before the break, slipping the ball in after Haffey had failed to deal with a Smith cross.

The army of Scottish fans finally had something to cheer in the opening ten minutes of the second half, Mackay and Wilson both netting to give the Scots a chance at 3-2. But England went straight to the other end for Bryan Douglas to score a decisive fourth goal off Haffey’s fingertips.

Then the home side stepped up a gear and it was almost raining goals as Smith (2), Haynes (2) and Greaves found the net.

It finished 9-3, Quinn having managed a third for the Scots. England had scored four goals in the last 11 minutes!