7 December 1932 - England Wows The Wunderteam

On 7 December 1932, England ended the Austrian Wunderteam's 14-game unbeaten streak with a 4-3 win at Stamford Bridge.

Led by manager Hugo Meisl and assisted by Jimmy Hogan, the Austrian side used a fast-moving flowing attack built on quick passing that saw them become one of the most prominent and successful teams in Europe. Starting in April 1931, they rattled off a string of fourteen unbeaten matches, including dominant wins over Germany (6-0, 5-0), Scotland (5-0), and Hungary (8-1).

England were on a seven-game unbeaten streak of their own, including a 7-1 win over Spain at Highbury in December 1931.

They met for a friendly at Stamford Bridge, drawing a crowd of 42,000. There, England took a 2-0 lead with goals from Samuel Crooks (5') and Jimmy Hampson (pictured) (27'), but Austria's Karl Zischek halved the deficit with a 58th-minute strike. Unfazed, England restored the margin to 3-1 with a goal from Eric Houghton (77'), giving the appearance that the game was all but over.

The scoring was not done, however. Austrian star Matthias Sindelar scored in the 80th minute, followed by another England goal from Hampson two minutes later. Zischek found the net again in the 87th minute to set up a wild finish, but the hosts weathered the storm and held on for the 4-3 win.

14 May 1931 - France Gets The Win And The Shirts

On 14 May 1931, France got their first win over England and started a new football tradition.

Since their initial meeting in 1923, the two teams had played each other six times, all in France. England had won all six, including some by impressive margins--the three previous matches ended 0-6 (in 1927), 1-5 (1928), and 1-4 (1929).

Playing before a crowd of 30,000 at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in the Paris suburb of Colombes, it appeared that the 1931 friendly was headed for a similar result when England went up 0-1 with a goal from Samuel Crooks after only ten minutes. But France equalized five minutes later with a strike from Lucien Laurent (pictured), then jumped to a 4-1 lead with goals from Robert Furois (18'), Marcel Langiller (29'), and Edmond Delfour (57'). Thomas Waring pulled one back for the visitors in the 71st minute, but Furois restored the margin when he completed his brace five minutes later to set the final score at 5-2.

After the final whistle, the French players asked to keep the shirts of their English counterparts to commemorate the victory. It was the first recorded instance of shirt-swapping, which has since become a tradition for footballers around the world.