1964 British Home Championship

The 1964 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was an unusual affair in which victory was shared between the England, Scotland and Northern Ireland national football teams after all teams scored four points by beating Wales and then winning one and losing one of their remaining matches. Goal difference was not at this stage used to determine team positions in the tournament, but if it had been, England would have won with a goal difference of +8 with Scotland second and Northern Ireland third.

England began the tournament the stronger side, defeating Wales 4-0 in Cardiff. Northern Ireland too began well, beating the fancied Scots in a close game in Belfast. In the second round England took the lead with a thumping 8-3 victory over Northern Ireland at home, in which Jimmy Greaves and Terry Paine both scored hat-tricks. The Scots gained some ground on the leaders by beating Wales in a close game in Glasgow in which John White scored. He would be tragically killed just two months after the tournament concluded. In the final matches, played at the close of the domestic season, England needed only a draw against Scotland to claim the trophy, whilst Northern Ireland had to beat Wales to have any hope of reachign parity. Northern Ireland were successful in another close game at Swansea, but Scotland edged England 1-0 to claim their own third share of the Championship.

Table

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

Results

footballbox
date = October 12, 1963
team1 = fb-rt|NIR
score = 2–1
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = Billy Bingham, Sammy Wilson
goals2 = Ian St John
stadium = Windsor Park, Belfast----footballbox
date = October 12, 1963
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 0–4
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 =
goals2 = Bobby Smith 2, Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Charlton
stadium = Ninian Park, Cardiff----footballbox
date = November 20, 1963
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 2–1
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = Denis Law, John White
goals2 = Barrie Jones
stadium = Hampden Park, Glasgow----footballbox
date = November 20, 1963
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 8–3
team2 = fb|NIR
goals1 = Jimmy Greaves 4, Terry Paine 3, Bobby Smith
goals2 = Sammy Wilson 2, Jobby Crossan
stadium = Wembley Stadium, London----footballbox
date = April 7, 1964
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 2–3
team2 = fb|NIR
goals1 = Brian Godfrey, Wyn Davies
goals2 = Sammy Wilson, Jimmy McLaughlin, Martin Harvey
stadium = Vetch Field, Swansea----footballbox
date = April 11, 1964
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 1–0
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 = Alan Gilzean
goals2 =
stadium = Hampden 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