1884 British Home Championship

The 1884 British Home Championship was the inaugural international football tournament, played between the Home Nations of the British Isles which at the time made up the constituent nations of the United Kingdom; England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. International football matches had begun with annual games played between England and Scotland in 1872 and they had been joined by Wales in 1876 and Ireland in 1882. In 1883 the four governing bodies held a conference to standardise the rules of the game and to arrange a tournament to be held yearly in which the four nations would all play each other once in a league format. This championship would be considered by many to be the world's premier international football tournament for the next 46 years.

The tournament was played in an unusual layout, with Ireland playing all three of their games first, and losing heavily in each one. Then England and Scotland played what would eventually be the deciding match of the tournament, which Scotland won in a close fought contest. Finally Wales played both England and Scotland, losing heavily to each in turn and thus granting Scotland victory in the first British Home Championship.

Table

The points system worked as follows:
* 2 points for a win
* 1 point for a draw

Results

footballbox
date = January 26, 1884
team1 = fb-rt|IRE
score = 0–5
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 =
goals2 = James Gossland 2, William Harrower 2, John Goudie
stadium = Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast----footballbox
date = February 9, 1884
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 6–0
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = Billy Owen 2, Edward Shaw 2, Arthur Eyton-Jones,
Robert Albert Jones
goals2 =
stadium = Racecourse Ground, Wrexham----footballbox
date = February 23, 1884
team1 = fb-rt|IRE
score = 1–8
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 = William McWha
goals2 = Henry Cursham 3, Edward Johnson 2, Charles Bambridge 2, Arthur Bambridge
stadium = Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast----footballbox
date = March 15, 1884
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 1–0
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 = John Smith
goals2 =
stadium = Cathkin Park, Glasgow----footballbox
date = March 17, 1884
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 0–4
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 =
goals2 = William Bromley-Davenport 2, Billy Gunn, Norman Bailey
stadium = Racecourse Ground, Wrexham----footballbox
date = March 29, 1884
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 4–1
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = John Kay 2, Francis Shaw,
Joseph Lindsay
goals2 = Robert Roberts
stadium = Cathkin Park, Glasgow

References

*cite book
author= Guy Oliver| title=The Guinness Record of World Soccer
date=1992
publisher=Guinness
id=ISBN 0-851129-54-4