I'm going to use this thread to compile various items of the best players from 1950-51. Starting off, this was Lukas Tank and my selection of the best XI (plus subs) of the year Starting XI: Zeman; Ramsey, Bonomi, Happel; Bozsik, Rossi; Matthews, Nordahl, Di Stefano, Puskas, Skoglund Bench: Grocsis, Ditchburn, Rugilo; G. Young, Kohlmeyer, Danilo; Jonquet, Lorant, Liebrich; Ocwirk, Varela, Hanappi; Wright, Johnston, Didi; Liedholm, F. Walter, Annovazi; Gren, Boniperti, Palotas; Jair, Schiaffino, Hidegkuti; Finney, Nyers, Ademir; Kocsis, Zarra, O. Walter; Basora, Cesar, Ghiggia https://footballarguments.wordpress.com/2023/02/14/retro-series-team-of-the-season-1950-1951/ Goalkeepers Walter Zeman (Rapid Vienna and Austria) 15 games, 0 goals for Rapid Vienna. Won the Zentropa Cup and a great performance against Scotland for Austria. Gyula Grosics (Honved and Hungary) 15 games, 0 goals in 1950, 29 games, 0 goals in 1951 Ted Ditchburn (Tottenham and England) 42 games, 0 goals Miguel Angel Rugilo (Velez Sarsfield and Argentina) Earned the nickname "the Lion of Wembley" for a famous performance against England in May 1951. Defenders Alf Ramsey (Tottenham and England) 40 games, 4 goals for Spurs who won the league. Andrea Bonomi (Milan and Italy) 38 games. Captain of Milan who won Serie A. Ernst Happel (Rapid Vienna and Austria) 24 games, 1 goal for Rapid Vienna who won the title George Young (Rangers and Scotland) 30 games, 1 goal for Rangers who finished 2nd Werner Kohlmeyer (Kaiserslautern and West Germany) Winner of the German championship Robert Jonquet (Reims and France) 33 games, 4 goals for Reims who finished 4th Gyula Lorant (Vasas/Honved and Hungary) 5 games, 0 goals for Vasas in 1950, 8 games, 0 goals for Honved in 1951 Half-backs Jozsef Bozsik (Honved and Hungary) 14 games, 1 goal in 1950, 24 games, 4 goals in 1951 Nestor Rossi (Millionarios and Argentina) Won the Colombian league in 1951 Danilo Alvim (Vasco Da Gama and Brazil) Ernst Ocwirk (Austria Vienna and Austria) 23 games, 0 goals for Austria Vienna. Obdulio Varela (Penarol and Uruguay) Gerhard Hanappi (Rapid Vienna and Austria) 11 games, 2 goals for Rapid Vienna who won the league Billy Wright (Wolves and England) 38 games, 0 goals Harry Johnston (Blackpool and England) 38 games, 7 goals Carlo Annovazzi (Milan and Italy) 37 games for Milan Inside-Forwards Ferenc Puskas (Honved and Hungary) 15 games, 25 goals in 1950, 21 games, 21 goals in 1951 Alfredo Di Stefano (Millonarios and Argentina/Colombia) 29 games, 23 goals in 1950, 34 games, 32 goals in 1951. Won the league both seasons. Didi (Fluminense and Brazil) Nils Liedholm (Milan and Sweden) 31 games, 13 goals Fritz Walter (Kaiserslautern and West Germany) Winner of the German championship Peter Palotas (MTK and Hungary) 25 games, 25 goals in 1951 for champions MTK Jair (Palmeiras and Brazil) Juan Alberto Schiaffino (Penarol and Uruguay) 16 games, 7 goals in 1950, 34 games, 9 goals in 1951 Nandor Hidegkuti (MTK and Hungary) 14 games, 12 goals in 1950, 25 games, 21 goals in 1951 Gunnar Gren (Milan and Sweden) 36 games, 9 goals for Milan Wingers Stanley Matthews (Blackpool and England) 36 games, 0 goals Nacka Skoglund (Inter and Sweden) 29 games, 2 goals for Inter who finished 2nd in the league Tom Finney (Preston and England) 34 games, 13 goals for Preston who won the Second Division Istvan Nyers (Inter and Hungary) 2nd top scorer in Serie A with 31 goals Alcides Ghiggia (Penarol and Uruguay) Gianpiero Boniperti (Juventus and Italy) 38 games, 22 goals Estanislau Basora (Barcelona and Spain) 30 games, 16 goals Strikers Gunnar Nordahl (Milan and Sweden) 34 goals in 37 games for Milan, also got a hat-trick in the Latin Cup final. Ademir (Vasco da Gama and Brazil) Sandor Kocsis (Honved and Hungary) 15 games, 24 goals in 1950, 26 games, 30 goals in 1951 Telmo Zarra (Athletic Bilbao and Spain) 38 goals in 30 league games, also scored 6 for Spain including 4 in one match against Switzerland. Ottmar Walter (Kaiserslautern and West Germany) Winner of the German championship. Scored 2 goals in the final. Cesar Rodriguez (Barcelona and Spain) 27 games, 29 goals
In England the POTY was Harry Johnston 1950/51 - Harry Johnston, Billy Wright, Tom Finney (Johnston narrowly beat Wright and Finney) Credit: @PDG1978 Tottenham won the league ahead of Manchester United and Blackpool Tottenham Hotspur Edwin Ditchburn 42/0, Henry Clarke 42/0, William Nicholson 41/1, Alfred Ramsey 40/4, William Walters 40/15, Edward Baily 40/12, Arthur Willis 39/0, Ronald Burgess 35/2, Leslie Medley 35/11, Leonard Duquemin 33/14, Peter Murphy 25/9, Leslie Bennett 25/7, Colin Brittan 8/0, Sidney McClelland 7/3, Charles Withers 4/0, Alexander Mason Wright 2/1, Dennis Uphill 2/1, James Scarth 1/0, Sidney Tickridge 1/0. Manchester United John Aston 41/15, Reginald Allen 40/0, Stanley Pearson 39/18, John Rowley 39/14, John Carey 39/0, Allenby Chilton 38/0, Henry Cockburn 35/0, Donald Gibson 32/0, Henry McShane 30/7, John Downie 29/10, William McGlen 26/0, William Redman 16/0, James Delaney 13/1, Thomas Bogan 11/3, Clifford Birkett 9/2, Brian Birch 8/4, Mark Jones 4/0, Thomas McNulty 4/0, Frank Clempson 2/0, John Crompton 2/0, Jeffrey Whitefoot 2/0, Edward McIlvenny 2/0, Laurence Cassidy 1/0. Blackpool FC George Farm 42/0, Henry Johnston 38/7, John Mudie 37/17, Edmund Shimwell 37/0, Hugh Kelly 37/1, Stanley Matthews 36/0, Eric Hayward 36/0, Stanley Mortensen 35/30, William Perry 33/4, Thomas Garrett 32/0, William Slater 16/4, Allan Duncan Brown 16/3, John Wright 14/0, William Wardle 9/0, Alan Withers 8/5, Ewan Fenton 7/0, William McIntosh 6/1, George McKnight 6/3, John Crosland 5/0, Rex Adams 3/0, Albert Hobson 3/0, Andrew McCall 3/0, John Ainscough 2/0, Robert Leonard Stephenson 1/1.
This was Tom's final selection for 1950-51 and for context I've also included below his initial selection and text: Ademir de Menezes (Vasco da Gama, Brazil) Beara, Vladimir (Hajduk Split, Yugoslavia) Ben Barek, Larbi (Atletico Madrid, France) Di Stefano, Alfredo (Millonarios, Argentina) Finney, Tom (Preston, England) Gren, Gunnar (AC Milan, Sweden) Hanappi, Gerhard (Rapid Vienna, Austria) Hidegkuti, Nandor (MTK, Hungary) Jari da Rosa (Palmieras, Brazil) Kocsis, Sandor (Honved, Hungary) Liedholm, Nils (AC Milan, Sweden) Mermans, Jef (Anderlecht, Belgium) Milburn, Jackie (Newcastle, England) Nordahl, Gunner (AC Milan, Sweden) Nyers, Istvan (Inter Milan, Hungay) Ocwirk, Ernst (Austria Vienna, Austria) Praest, Karl Aege (Juventus, Denmark) Puskas, Ferenc (Honved, Hungary) Wagner, Theodore (Wacker Vienna, Austria) Wilkes, Faas (Inter Milan Netherlands) Zarra, Telmo (Athletic Bilbao, Spain) Zemen, Walter (Rapid Vienna, Austria) Original selection 1951 Ben Barek, Lari (Altetico Madrid) Cláudio (Corinthians) Di Stefano, Alfredo (Millonarios) Gren, Gunnar (AC Milan) Hidegkuti, Nandor (MTK, Hungary) Jair (Palmieras) Kocsis, Sandor (Honved, Hungary) Liedholm, Nils (AC Milan) López, Valeriano (Sport Boys) Luizinho (Corinthians) Matthews, Stanely (Blackpool, England) Milburn, Jackie (Newcastle, England) Mortensen, Stan (Blackpool, England) Nordahl, Gunnar (AC Milan) Nyers, Istvan (Internazionale) Puskas, Ferenc (Honved, Hungary) Ramsey, Alf (Tottneham, England) Reilly, Lawrie (Hibernean, Scotland) Schiaffino, Juan Alberto (Penarol, Uruguay) Walter, Ftitz (Kaiserslautern, West Germany) Wilkes, Faas (Internazionale) Zarra, Telmo (Atletic Bilbao, Spain) Zizinho (Bangu) Honorable Mention: Carbone, Baltazar, Francisco Rodrigues, Orlando, Didi, Adolfo Pedernera, Higinio García, Ernesto Gutiérrez, Walter Gomez, Ron Burgess, Lennart Skoglund, Giampiero Boniperti, Karl Åge Præst, Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Robert Dienst, Ernst Happel, Henry Carlsson, Abe Lenstra, Peter Palotas, Károly Sándor In South America international football hits a slow spot after the World Cup. On the club level teams from Sao Paulo had an excellent year. Corinthians won the Paulista in style, famously scoring 103 goals in 24 games, led by playmakers Claudio and Luizinho. In the Rio Sao Paulo tournament Cornithians finished tied with rivals Palmieras for first position well clear of the rest of the field. Palmieras overcame Corinthians in a two games playoff, with Jair scoring a brace in the final game. Palmieras would see more success in the in the 1951 Copa Rio or Small World Cup. The tournament boasted a strong eight team field including Palmieras, Vasco, Austria Vienna, Nacional, and Juventus. Palmieras won the tournament, beating a previously dominant Juventus in the final. Zizinho's surprise transfer to Bangu had a major effect on the 1951 season. Bangu finished the season tied for first position with a Fluminense side featuring a young Didi, but lost the tournament deciding playoff. Bangu were also the highest finishing Rio based team in the 1951 RSP tournament. In Uruguay Pernarol reclaimed their place as champions, while Racing won its third consecutive title. This was the first three peat in Argentina since WWI. Racing had lost its star offensive player, Mendez, for most of the season and squeaked through as champions by a single point on the strength of their defense. In Europe AC Milan led by the famous Gi-No-Li trio won the domestic title and Latin Cup. They beat out rivals Inter, who had assembled their own international all star team (Wilkes, Nyers, Skoglund) to match Juventus and Milan. Jackie Milburn had the eye catching British performance leading Newcastle to the FA Cup while Tottneham won the league. After Nordahl finding two more candidates for the final three was not clear. Although it seems very Italian centric another player from Milan like Liedholm or players from Inter like Wilkes and Nyers make sense. On the British front Milburn seems like the best possible candidate, with Matthews and Mortensen having good seasons as well. In South America there does not seem to be a standout candidate. Jair seems to have played a very important role in two major titles, and the Paulista seems to have a strong claim as the best league in South America at this point with Argentina's decline and Sao Paulo teams dominance in the RSP. Zizinho might have made an excellent candidate if Bangu had managed to win the playoff and Carioca.
Also for info this was Arriaga's selection: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/h...yer-short-lists.2027972/page-79#post-39047136 1950-1951: Ho boy, what a season! I noticed there was already some discussion about this one, but wide open doesn't even begin to describe it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. In terms of internationals, this season was a fairly uneventful one, with not much going on in terms of great teams. I think the talent drain to club level is already starting to show. For example, a team like Scotland has a pretty good record this season, but in the reports they get blasted as often as not. Their Iron Curtain -based defence is solid, but there's not much going on in terms of attacking excitement. Steel has a couple of MotM moments, but even he's considered a shadow of his former self. While on the subject of shadows of their former selves, the big game this season is the one between England and Argentina. It's dubbed the game of the century (of course), but the game that came half a decade too late might be more appropriate. It wasn't a bad game or anything, but it's pretty shocking to see how far the two teams have slipped from their peak. The English talent drain is pretty palpable. They keep introducing a bunch of 30-yo debutantes to hang around for a cap or two, and you can just feel how empty the tank is now. The top striker in Britain is now Trevor Ford of Wales. Finney is England's one true top guy, and even he's dropped at one point (though it's for tactical reasons. He's been criticized as over-elaborate). He makes a comeback with some top-performances, though. The Scottish report says "I have not seen a better individual display from any player on an international field." Things aren't any better for Argentina. Their MotM against England is goalkeeper Rugilo, hailed now as the best in the world but gone by next year. Interesting aside: Pescia and Loustau stand out for playing without shin pads and socks. A Dutch reporter says the post-Superga Italy that visited Britain in 1949 was better than this Argentina. Not only that, but it's mentioned even the Irish dominated them for most of the game. This is good news for me, because it means I don't have to consider any Argies in seasons where they don't have any internationals. In terms of tactics, they're a hard team to crack, defending with seven or eight men. Continental teams do that, too, but the English don't. Probably explains what's going to happen a couple of years from now. The rut extends to the continent. Though the results are still good, Italy are now slipping into their post-Superga slump. There are already complaints about how all the best players in the league are foreigners. Their top guy is probably Lorenzi, but he gets dropped due to having a fear of flying. Can't blame the guy, now can you? After one of the games, Italy get a surprise visit... by Sandro Mazzola, already a major celebrity who seems to appear in the papers as often as the players. It's pretty amazing things turned out for him the way they did. After a peak of a couple of years, Spain are back to being Spain. It's confirmed the players don't bring their club form to NT-level. This often extends even to the big three of Zarra, Basora and Gainza. Zarra reminds me of an improved Langara. Highly-rated as one of the best strikers around, scoring a ton of goals, but the reports are still often critical of him. Continental Europe has about one team whose profile actually increases this year, and it's Yugoslavia. Them being Yugoslavia, they're inconistant as hell, but they still have a bunch of players that are considered some of the best around. The Cajkovski, Djajic, Mitic, Bobek core is now joined by a top goalkeeper in Beara. Previous goalkeeper Mrkusic was another goalie notable for the way he moved outside the box, BTW. Austria is the one team that has the results to match the talent. Ocwirk is actually disappointing more often than not, but Zeman, Happel and Hanappi form a strong core. They're joined by a top new forward in Theodor Wagner. Elsewhere in Europe, the best CF in Europe is still Mermans. He's not the only Belgian class player, either. They also have goalkeeper Bogaerts, described as the "Belgian Rugilo". This is more than adept, as neither are heard from again. Of the other smaller countries, Switzerland have their best player in Bickel, described by the Spanish as being similar to Kubala. Interesting comparison, taking into account Kubala hasn't emerged in Spain yet. Guess he was playing in unofficial competitions? Juventus haven't managed to scoop up all the great Danes. Knut Lundberg is there to run the show against Austria, being described as on par with the best Austrians. With things being as they are on the international front, the door is wide open for club stars. The Italian big three are well-represented, and joined again by Ben Barek. The best player in Colombia was, would you believe it, Di Stefano. I didn't find any conclusive Brazilian rankings, except it seemed like Jair had fallen to #2 in Sao Paulo. Ademir was top scorer in Rio and is the only one of the big three to keep his spot for next year, so I'll go with him. Ademir (Brazil) Basora, Estanislao (Spain) Beara, Vladimir (Yugoslavia) Ben Barek, Larbi (Morocco/France) Bobek, Stjepan (Yugoslavia) Cajkovski, Zlatko (Yugoslavia) Di Stefano, Alfredo (Argentina) Finney, Tom (England) Gren, Gunnar (Sweden) Hanappi, Gerhard (Austria) Hansen, John (Denmark) Liedholm, Nils (Sweden) Mermans, Jef (Belgium) Mitic, Rajko (Yugoslavia) Nordahl, Gunnar (Sweden) Nyers, Istvan (Hungary) Praest, Karl Aage (Denmark) Puskas, Ferenc (Hungary) Wagner, Theodor (Austria) Wilkes, Faas (Netherlands) Young, George (Scotland) Zarra, Telmo (Spain) Zeman, Walter (Austria) As I mentioned above, deciding the honors was tougher than ever. Luckily, I managed to find one great source that ranked the best players around this time (see also bottom of post). It's by Julius Ukrainczyk, a journalist who had seen more than 100 games live. As someone who has gone through more than 100 match reports live, I wholeheartedly agree with the CDS/France Football corrections. The results this year were pretty mind-blowing to me, so it was nice to see some confirmation I was on the right track. And also to see how high the Serie A stars were ranked even on a continental scale. I deliberately didn't mention Hungary until now, because that link offers a good view of their status this season. It was mentioned in this thread how they have a pretty low international profile this season. With the cold war on one of it's colder stages, the link offers a good view on how difficult it would have been to get a good understanding of teams lurking behind the iron curtain. I followed the path set by that ranking and included Puskas based on all-around rep (9 goals in 4 internationals helps, too). TotS: Zeman Young Horvat Happel; Cajkovski Hanappi; Mermans Gren Nordahl Zarra Bobek There finally seems to be some depth in the FB department, with Ramsey and Marche competing for spots. Ironically, while FBs increase their profile, things are now quiet on the centre-half spot. I settled on Horvat, whose performances increased steadily throughout the season. By summertime he was "making no mistakes". The two wing-halves had a strong claim, but there wasn't much behind them. For the forward-line I combined my own perceptions with the "official" list. Wilkes, Mitic and Finney made it to the bench. Liedholm's profile is increasing, but he still comes off as clearly #3 of the Gre-No-Li line. Gren actually came off the best from my Serie A research, but I eventually went with the following top 3: 1. Nordahl 2. Mermans 3. Gren Nordahl wins it due to his excellent numbers, highest ranking in the linked list, and having the highest modern rep out of the three. Note: His post contains a link to a couple of Teams chosen as the best in Europe. The author makes a specific point that England is not part of Europe for footballing purposes. Team A: Zeman, Neury, Parola, Marche, Čajkovski, Barufka, Melchior, Mitic, Nordahl, Puskas, Gainza Team B: Beara, Rudas, Carre, Happel, Annovazzi, Djajic, Basora, Wilkes, Zarra, Hansen, Vukas
Turning to Italy, a ranking of their best players from CdS: GK: 1. Casari (Napoli), 2. Sentimenti IV (Lazio), 3. Moro (Lucchese), 4. Buffon (Milan), 5. Cardani (Como) RB: 1. Silvestri (Milan), 2. Antonazzi (Lazio), 3. Giaroli (Palermo), 4. Grava (Torino), 5. Bertuccelli (Juventus) LB: 1. Cervato (Fiorentina), 2. Viney (Pro Patria), 3. Beccatini (Genoa), 4. Farina (Udinese), 5. Furiassi (Lazio), Right-half: 1. Pilmark (Bologna) 2. Annovazzi (Milan), 3. Mari (Juventus), 4. Castelli (Genoa), 5. Todeschini (Genoa) Centre-half: 1. Tognon (Milan), 2. Giovannini (Inter), 3. Parola (Juventus) 4. Mezzadri (Bologna), 5. Rosetta (Fiorentina) Left-half: 1. Venturi (Roma), 2. Magli (Fiorentina), 3. Achilli (Inter), 4. Scarpato (Lucchese), 5. Pinardi (Como) RW: 1. Cervellati (Bologna) 2. Armano (Inter), 3. Muccinelli (Juventus) 4. Di Maso (Palermo) 5. Vitali (Fiorentina) IR: 1. Gren (Milan), 2. Wilkes (Inter), 3. K. Hansen (Juventus), 4. Pandolfini (Fiorentina), 5. Turconi (Como) CF: 1. Nordahl (Milan), 2. Amadei (Napoli), 2. Lorenzi (Inter), 4. Piola (Novara), 5. Boniperti (Juventus) e Cappello (Bologna) IL: 1. J Hansen (Juventus), 2. Liedholm (Milan), 3. Sorenson (Atalanta), 4. Skoglund (Inter), 5. Sorenson (Udinese) LW: 1. Nyers (Inter), 2. Praest (Juventus), 3. Nilsson (Genoa), 4. Carapellese (Genoa), 5. Puccinelli (Lazio) Various: 1. Sentimenti V (Lazio), 1. Gimona (Palermo), 3. Nordahl (Roma), 4. Gramaglia (Napoli), 4. Fuin (Palermo), 6. Bonomi (Milan), 7. Mazza (Lucchese), 8. Gei (Sampdoria), 9. Bronee (Palermo), 10. Ciccarelli (Triestina), Trere (Roma), Meroni (Como)
Staying in Italy, Serie A was won by Milan ahead of Inter, Juventus and Lazio. MILAN: Buffon (37), Rossetti (1); Silvestri (38), Bonomi (38), Foglia (14), Belloni (1); Annovazzi (37), Tognon (38), De Grandi (30); Burini (35), Gren (36), Nordahl (37), Liedholm (31), Renosto (28), Santagostino (14), Vicariotto (2), Carnier (1). The top scorers list: 34 G. Nordahl (MI). 31 Nyers (IN). 23 K. Hansen (JU); Wilkes (IN). 22 Boniperti (JU). 21 Lorenzi (IN). 20 J. Hansen (JU). 19 Piola (NO); Soerensen (AT). 16 Annovazzi (MI); Cappello (BO); Praest (JU).
Moving to Spain, the league was won by Atletico Madrid ahead of Sevilla, Valencia and Barcelona Leading players for Atletico: Domingo (29), Tinte (24), Lozano (26), Mujica (23), Hernandez (14), Escudero (30), Carlsson (26), Perez Paya (26), Ben Barek (22), Silva (20), Juncosa (19) Some subs: Aparicio (18), Riera (11), Estruch (11) Top scorers: 1 Telmo Zarra Atlético Bilbao 38 2 César Rodríguez Barcelona 29 3 Pahiño Real Madrid 21 4 Manuel Badenes Valencia 20 5 Adrián Escudero Atlético Madrid 19 Juan Araujo Sevilla Gerardo Coque Valladolid 8 Francisco Javier Marcet Español 18 9 Epi Real Sociedad 17 José Caeiro Real Sociedad
In France, the league was won by Nice ahead of Lille, Le Havre and Reims. http://www.pari-et-gagne.com/saison195051.html Some of Nice's leading players: Léon Rossi (21m/3b), Robert Germain (34m), Roger Mindonnet (31m), Mokhtar Ben Nacef(18m), Serge Pedini (30m/1b), Jean Belver (27m), Jean Courteaux (27m/27b), Antoine Bonifaci (32m/4b), Pär Bengtsson (27m/15b), Désiré Carré (32m/6b), Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (16m/7b), Yeso Amalfi (17m/5b), Louis Broccolichi (3m), François Fassone (8m/1b), Ahmed Firoud (24m), Marcel Gaillard (5m), Robert Grange (2m), Ake Hjalmarsson (8m/2b), Hassan M’Jid (2m), Lennart Samuelsson (9m), Roberto Serone (1m), Elie Rous (Entr), Jean Lardi (Entr), Numa Andoire (Entr) Top scorers 1 Roger Piantoni Nancy 28 2 Jean Courteaux Nice 27 3 Henri Baillot Bordeaux 22 4 Jean Levandowski Lens 21 Jean Grumellon Rennes 6 Jean Saunier Le Havre 20 Bram Appel Reims 8 Jean Baratte Lille 19 9 Marcel Rouvière Nîmes 17 10 Léon Deladerrière Nancy 15 Pär Bengtsson Nice Jean-Jacques Kretschmar Roubaix-Tourcoing
Over in Argentina the 1950 league season was won by Racing Club, ahead of Independiente, Boca Juniors and River Plate. It was played between April 2 and December 10 1950. https://www.historical-lineups.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1950.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_Argentine_Primera_División The top scorers were: Carlos Lacasia (Independiente) - 27 Mario Papa (San Lorenzo) - 23 Alfredo Runzer (Atlanta) - 23 Angel Labruna (River Plate) - 21 Juan Aroz (Gimnasia) - 21 Walter Gomez (River Plate) - 20
Turning to Brazil: In Rio, the championship was won by Vasco, ahead of America, Bangu and Botafogo. It was played between August 12, 1950 and January 28, 1951. A late season fixture between the top two included these line-ups: Vasco – Barbosa, Augusto e Laerte; Ely, Danilo e Jorge; Alfredo, Ipojucan, Ademir Menezes, Maneca e Djair. Técnico: Flávio Costa. América – Osni, Joel e Osmar; Rubens, Osvaldinho e Godofredo; Natalino, Maneco, Dimas, Ranulfo e Jorginho. Técnico: Délio Neves. Topscorers Ademir Menezes (Vasco), 25 gols. Durval (Flamengo), 16. Dimas (América), 14. Simões (Bangu), Djair e Maneca (Vasco), 13. Ariosto (Botafogo) e Ipojucan (Vasco), 12. Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo: It was won by Palmeiras ahead of Sao Paulo, Santos and Portuguesa and was played 20 August 1950 to 28 January 1951. Top scorers 1 Pinga Portuguesa 22 2 Odair Santos 18 Baltazar Corinthians 4 China Guaraní 16 5 Francisco Rodrígues Palmeiras 14 6 Nininho Portuguesa 13 7 Leopoldo São Paulo 10
Looking at internationals, I'll start in South America given their success at the previous World Cup. My period under reference for this season effectively starts the day after the 1950 World Cup final (16 July 1950) and extends to the end of the Copa Rio on 22 July 1951. For context, these ELO ratings at the end of 1951 were: 1. Argentina 2. Brazil 3. Italy 4. Scotland 4. England 6. Hungary 7. West Germany 8. Austria 9. Yugoslavia 10. Spain 11. Uruguay 12. Paraguay 13. Sweden 14. Wales 15. Denmark Note: Argentina's rating is distorted by the fact they played only 4 internationals between 1948 and 1951. Argentina 09/05/1951 1-2 England (London) Friendly (Boye) 13/05/1951 1-0 Ireland (Dublin) Friendly (Labruna) Their line ups in those two games: England: Rugilo, Colman (Allegri), Filgueiras, Yacono, Faina, Pescia, Boye, Mendez, Bravo, Labruna, Loustau Ireland: Rugilo, Allegri, Filgueiras, Perez, Yacono, Faina, Gutierrez, Boye, Mendez, Benavidez, Labruna, Loustau Brazilian, Paraguay and Uruguay did not play an international in the period
Ademir in 1950/51 Carioca 19 matches, 25 goals, 8 assist, 1.73 g+a (1st place) August to January Rio-São Paulo 6 matches,9 goals, 0 assist, 1.5 g+a (7th place) February to April https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/ademir-de-menezes.2135070/ Copa Latina 1951 AC Milan champions Stats Leaders (june) Top Scorer: André Strappe - Lille (5) Assists: Gunnar Gren - Milan (3) G+A: Nordahl - Milan (5) André Strappe - Lille (5) https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/latin-cup-copa-latina-1949-1957.2113200/page-4#post-41914041
Austria 08/10/1950 7-2 Yugoslavia (Vienna) Friendly (Stojaspal 2, Melchior 2, Decker, Wagner, Aurednik) 29/10/1950 3-4 Hungary (Vienna) Friendly (Wagner 2, Melchior) 05/11/1950 5-1 Denmark (Vienna) Friendly (Wagner 3, Melchior, Aurednik) 13/12/1950 1-0 Scotland (Glasgow) Friendly (Melchior) 27/05/1951 4-0 Scotland (Vienna) Friendly (Wagner 2, Hanappi 2) 17/06/1951 3-3 Denmark (Copenhagen) Friendly (Melchior, Wagner, Riegler) England 07/10/1950 4-1 N Ireland (Belfast) Home Championship (Baily 2, Lee, Wright) 15/11/1950 4-2 Wales (Sunderland) Home Championship (Baily 2, Mannion, Milburn) 22/11/1950 2-2 Yugoslavia (London) Friendly (Lofthouse 2) 14/04/1951 2-3 Scotland (London) Home Championship (Hassall, Finney) 09/05/1951 2-1 Argentina (London) Friendly (Mortensen, Milburn) 19/05/1951 5-2 Portugal (Liverpool) Friendly (Nicholson, Milburn 2, Finney, Hassall) Hungary 24/09/1950 12-0 Albania (Budapest) Friendly (Puskas 4, Budai 4, Palotas 2, Kocsis 2) 29/10/1950 4-3 Austria (Vienna) Friendly (Puskas 3, Szilagyi) 12/11/1950 1-1 Bulgaria (Sofia) Friendly (Szilagyi) 27/05/1951 6-0 Poland (Budapest) Friendly (Kocsis 2, Puskas 2, Sandor, Czibor) Italy 08/04/1951 4-2 Portugal (Lisbon) Friendly (Pandoflini, Burini, Amadei, Cappello) 06/05/1951 0-0 Yugoslavia (Milan) Friendly 03/06/1951 4-1 France (Genoa) Friendly (Lorenzi 2, Amadei, Cappello) Scotland 21/10/1950 3-1 Wales (Cardiff) Home Championship (Reilly 2, Liddell) 01/11/1950 6-1 N Ireland (Glasgow) Home Championship (McPhail 2, Steel 4) 13/12/1950 0-1 Austria (Glasgow) Friendly 14/04/1951 3-2 England (London) Home Championship (Johnstone, Reilly, Liddell) 12/05/1951 3-1 Denmark (Glasgow) Friendly (Steel, Reilly, Mitchell) 16/05/1951 1-0 France (Glasgow) Friendly (Reilly) 20/05/1951 5-0 Belgium (Brussels) Friendly (Hamilton 3, Mason, Waddell) 27/05/1957 0-4 Austria (Vienna) Friendly West Germany 22/11/1950 1-0 Switzerland (Stuttgart) Friendly (Burdenski) 14/04/1951 3-2 Switzerland (Zurich) Friendly (Gerritzen, F Walter, O Walter) 17/06/1951 1-2 Turkey (Berlin) Friendly (Haferkamp)
Update 1950-51 Ademir de Menezes (Vasco da Gama, Brazil) Basora, Estanislao (Barcelona, Spain) Burgess, Ron (Tottenham, Wales) Cajkovski, Zlatko (Partizan Belgrade, Yugoslavia) Finney, Tom (Preston, England) Gren, Gunnar (AC Milan, Sweden) Hanappi, Gerhard (Rapid Vienna, Austria) Kocsis, Sandor (Honved, Hungary) Liedholm, Nils (AC Milan, Sweden) Mermans, Jef (Anderlecht, Belgium) Milburn, Jackie (Newcastle, England) Mitic, Rajko (Red Star, Yugoslavia) Mortensen, Stan (Blackpool, England) Nordahl, Gunner (AC Milan, Sweden) Nyers, Istvan (Inter Milan, Hungay) Ocwirk, Ernst (Austria Vienna, Austria) Puskas, Ferenc (Honved, Hungary) Stojaspal, Ernst (Austria Vienna, Austria) Wagner, Theodore (Wacker Vienna, Austria) Wilkes, Faas (Inter Milan Netherlands) Zarra, Telmo (Athletic Bilbao, Spain) Zemen, Walter (Rapid Vienna, Austria) Podium: 1) Nordahl 2) Puskas 3) Hanappi Contenders: Gren, Ademir
This that Trachta found is good for Hungary (also when using translate - Puskas and Hidegkuti starting calendar year 1951 better than they ended it IIRC; Boszik moving clear as top right half during 1951 after being close with Kovacs in 1950 it might have been too, with Puskas being clear as top inside left/(and overall player perhaps it was too) in that previous year overall also) https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/g...e-best-players.2112404/page-120#post-42550528 Perhaps it brings Szuzsa into the equation a bit more, but it's only one source I suppose and we know they can vary in more modern times too so maybe downgrading Palotas too much (based on the average grade) would be a bit hasty I guess - he's placed in the famous deep-lying CF role of course in effect (with at club level MTK having him there and Hidegkuti as inside forward, before first Palotas then Hidegkuti placed as deep-lying CF for Hungary in the following months/years). Re: Italian grades and ratings of players I guess there is a difference with final CdS assessments of Gren 1 and Wilkes 2 for inside right, and Hansen 1 and Liedholm 2 for inside left compared to the France Football assessment for a Europe XI (at the middle point of the season though) where they, or their writer individually, have Wilkes in Team A (and say/s Italian sources would concur) and Liedholm is suggested as someone who could in effect go above Hansen in the reckoning for continental XI selection (according to them...and possibly CdS themselves judging by their headline re: him and Gren too?, but not the original selector/s from Zurich) - 1949/50 could have been influential still re: that anyway though too possibly.... Copying again the links for what comme refers to that Arriaga and schwuppe had found re: that Corriere dello Sport 1951 - 32 - Fascicolo: 12 (Ademir, Zizinho and Bauer picked out in the piece just above the talk about the Europe XI also, regarding the World Cup) https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/various-stuff-i-found-from-the-40s-60s.2092755/#post-37409448