10 May 1930 - The Beginning Of A Beautiful Rivalry

On 10 May 1930, England and Germany met for the first time in a full international, playing to a 3-3 draw in Berlin.

Unofficial representative teams for the two countries played twice in 1899 with England dominating both matches, 13-2 and 10-2. Shortly afterward, England played two matches against combined German and Austrian teams and won both, 6-0 and 7-0.

But their trip to Berlin in 1930 was their first meeting since the establishment of an official German team in 1908. The game looked likely to follow the pattern of those earlier meetings when England went up 0-1 with an 8th-minute goal from Joe Bradford, but Germany's Richard Hofmann (pictured) brought the hosts level in the 21st minute.

The two traded goals again as Bradford put England back in front in the the 31st minute and Hofmann scored another equalizer eighteen minutes later. He then completed his hat-trick in the 60th minute to give Germany the lead. They held it for twenty minutes until David Jack found the net to finish the game 3-3.

Since then, the two teams have formed a fierce rivalry, including England's famously controversial win over Germany in the final of the 1966 World Cup.