On 20/11/1935, while still in England, Raymond Braine, Sparta's centre-forward, made the following extremely interesting statement to English journalists about his experience in England:

Braine: In England, football is played very differently from ours. Here the winner is the one who plays the tougher style and who has the best pace. Of course, perfect ball handling and flawless technique are also required. It struck me in particular that almost every goal is reached by the English through a scramble in front of goal, or when the wings suddenly cut the ball to the other side. But do not believe that all 22 players are football players. I am convinced that there are players on this continent who, after 3 months of training, would be more successful in England than the British.

Braine did not only trabel to England to play against Stoke City, but also to watch some matches. Braine was asked what were his thoughts of the Aston Villa-Chelsea match. Braine answered:

Braine: I highlight Aston Villa's and Chelsea's insiders, who have more knowledge of ball management than their colleagues, but I have to say that I didn't like their passes because I thought it was much better. If our viewer, who is unfamiliar with the technical finale of the English, would see a league match here, he would think that England was playing primitive football. But if you get to know all the excellence of the English players, the breakthrough game and the wild pace of 90 minutes, you would by no means lose your admiration. Of course, only hard training will allow English players. The shots that go to the goal are far more powerful than ours. This can be explained by the fact that the balls are much more inflated than ours, and that the soccer shoes are made of much harder leather and have a hard forehead that cannot be used on our soft ground.