1895–96 British Home Championship

The 1896 British Home Championship was an edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. Despite England achieving an almost record 9–1 victory over Wales, the trophy was won by Scotland who won two and drew one of their matches, the draw coming in a hard-fought duel with Ireland.

Wales and Ireland kicked off the tournament with the Welsh heavily defeating the Irish in Wrexham. England too beat the Irish in their opening game, although by a smaller scoreline and England then achieved their 9–1 victory over Wales with Steve Bloomer scoring five, an England record. Scotland too beat Wales, scoring four without reply before being held by the Irish in an exciting and close match. In the final game at Celtic Park, England and Scotland played for the trophy, England only needing adraw whilst the Scots required a win to take the tournament. In a close and dramatic game, Scotland narrowly beat the English 2–1 and won the championship.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Scotland	5	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5
England	4	3	2	0	1	12	3	+9
Wales	2	3	1	0	2	7	14	−7
Ireland	1	3	0	1	2	4	11	−7

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

29 February 1896

Wales	6 – 1	Ireland
William Lewis 2, Billy Meredith 2, David Pugh, Grenville Morris		A. Turner

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

7 March 1896

Ireland	0 – 2	England
		Gilbert Smith, Steve Bloomer

Solitude Ground, Belfast

16 March 1896

Wales	1 – 9	England
Thomas Chapman		Steve Bloomer 5, Gilbert Smith 2, Billy Bassett, Johnny Goodall

Arms Park, Cardiff

21 March 1896

Scotland	4 – 0	Wales
Robert Neil 2, Alexander Keillor, Daniel Paton

Carolina Port, Dundee

28 March 1896

Ireland	3 – 3	Scotland
James Barron 2, Robert Milne (P)		Bob McColl 2, Patrick Murray

Solitude Ground, Belfast

4 April 1896

Scotland	2 – 1	England
William Lambie, Jack Bell		Billy Bassett

Celtic Park, Glasgow

References

Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.

v t e British Home Championship
Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Competitors	England Ireland / Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
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