1889 British Home Championship

The 1889 British Home Championship was the sixth international football tournament between the British Home Nations and as with all but one of the previous tournaments, Scotland won, beating England by one point to take the championship. Wales achieved third place whilst Ireland finished bottom, as they had for five of the previous competitions.

England began the strongest team, scoring ten goals in their first two matches against Wales and Ireland for just two in reply. Scotland then showed their intent with a 7-0 defeat of Ireland at home in their first game. In what would turn out to be the deciding game of the competition, England and Scotland then played out a very fast-paced match which Scotland won 3-2 despite England's home advantage. Only needing a single point against Wales in their last match, Scotland only just achieved it, finishing with a rare scoreless draw. Ireland and Wales then played the decider for last place, Wales comfortably beating the Irish 3-1.

Table

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

Results

footballbox
date = February 28, 1889
team1 = fb|ENG
score = 4–1
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = Johnny Goodall, Fred Dewhurst, Jack Southworth, Billy Bassett
goals2 = William Owen
stadium = Victoria Ground, Stoke----footballbox
date = March 2, 1889
team1 = fb|ENG
score = 6–1
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = John Yates 3, Alf Shelton, Joe Lofthouse, John Brodie
goals2 = James Wilton
stadium = Anfield, Liverpool----footballbox
date = March 9, 1889
team1 = fb|SCO
score = 7–0
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = William Groves 3, Francis Watt 2, David Black, Thomas McInnes
goals2 =
stadium = Ibrox Park, Glasgow----footballbox
date = April 13, 1889
team1 = fb|ENG
score = 2–3
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = Billy Bassett 2
goals2 = Neil Munro, James Oswald, James McLaren
stadium = Kennington Oval, London----footballbox
date = April 15, 1889
team1 = fb|WAL
score = 0–0
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 =
goals2 =
stadium = Racecourse Ground, Wrexham----footballbox
date = April 27, 1889
team1 = fb|IRE
score = 1–3
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = John Lemon
goals2 = Richard Jarrett 3
stadium = Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast

References

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