1888 British Home Championship

The 1888 British Home Championship was the fifth edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. It was the first edition of the tournament in which Scotland did not at least share in the trophy and was also notable for a record flood of goals, 46 in six games, 26 of them conceded by Ireland, who suffered a disastrous competition.

England began the tournament in the same vein as they finished it, winning the openign match 5-1 against Wales in Crewe. Wales responded to this, and to their shock defeat by Ireland the year previously with an 11-0 thrashing of the visiting Irish, a Welsh record scoreline which remains standing after nearly 120 years. Any hopes of a recovery for the Welsh were however dashed in their final game when Scotland administered a 5-1 beating in Edinburgh.

England returned to the fray and gained revenge for their narrow defeat in the deciding match of the previous year when they in turn thrashed Scotland 5-0 in London, leaving only the weak Irish in between them and the trophy. Before this however, Ireland received another massive defeat at the hands of Scotland, who beat them 2-10 in Belfast to take second place. In the final game, England needed only a draw to secure the title but managed a win by five goals to one to take their first undisputed championship.

Table

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

Results

footballbox
date = February 4, 1888
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 5–1
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = Fred Dewhurst 2, George Woodhall, Tinsley Lindley, Johnny Goodall
goals2 = Jack Doughty
stadium = Nantwich Road, Crewe----footballbox
date = March 3, 1888
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 11–0
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = Jack Doughty 4, Roger Doughty 2, Gwynne Howell 2, Job Wilding 2, William Pryce-Jones
goals2 =
stadium = Racecourse Ground, Wrexham----footballbox
date = March 10, 1888
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 5–1
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = Alexander Latta 2, William Paul, Neil Munro, William Groves
goals2 = Jack Doughty
stadium = Hibernian Park, Edinburgh----footballbox
date = March 17, 1888
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 0–5
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 =
goals2 = Fred Dewhurst 2, Tinsley Lindley, Dennis Hodgetts, Johnny Goodall
stadium = Cathkin Park, Glasgow----footballbox
date = March 24, 1888
team1 = fb-rt|IRE
score = 2–10
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = William Dalton 2
goals2 = William Dickson 4, Geordie Dewar, Thomas Breckenridge, Ralph Aitken, Niel McCallum, Allan Stewart, Robert Wilson (Own Goal)
stadium = Solitude Ground, Belfast----footballbox
date = April 7, 1888
team1 = fb-rt|IRE
score = 1–5
team2 = fb|ENG
goals1 = William Crone
goals2 = Albert Allen 3, Fred Dewhurst, Tinsley Lindley
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