he was forced to back down by manager Bill Murray. Ford was sold on to Cardiff City in November 1953. Shackleton never won any honours with Sunderland, the closest he came to doing so being a third-place finish in 1949–50, when they finished one point behind champions Portsmouth. Shackleton felt that a surprise home defeat to Manchester City on 15 April was both decisive and galling, as teammate Jack Stelling twice missed a penalty in a 2–1 loss. Sunderland lost fewer games than any other team in the 1954–55 season, but still ended up four points behind champions Chelsea. They also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1955 and in 1956, losing 1–0 to Manchester City at Villa Park and then 3–0 to Birmingham City at Hillsborough. He injured his ankle on the opening day of the 1957–58 season, and announced his retirement shortly afterwards. This meant he played only 45 minutes for new manager Alan Brown, who had a reputation as a tough taskmaster. The club were reluctant to grant him a benefit match, but relented after Shackleton threatened to tell the FA about illegal payments the club had made. International career Shackleton won his first full cap for England in a 0–0 draw with Denmark on 26 September 1948. He was dropped and replaced by Stan Pearson for England's next game, before making a surprise return in a 1–0 win over Wales at Villa Park on 10 November 1948. His third cap came again against Wales, in a 4–1 victory in Cardiff on 15 October 1949. He then had to wait five years for his fourth cap, in which time the England selectors had tried 17 different players at inside-forward, with limited success. Selectors had always viewed the rebellious Shackleton with distrust, and one selector who was challenged over Shackleton's continued absence in the England team told a journalist that "we play at Wembley, not the London Palladium." He made his return again against Wales, in a 3–2 victory at Wembley Stadium. He put in his finest performance however in his final England appearance, scoring with a chipped goal in a 3–1 win over the then World Champions West Germany on 1 December 1954. He later wrote that the goal was "my most memorable scoring effort in a lifetime of soccer... I felt a keen sense of satisfaction – not because the goal made our victory