1901 British Home Championship

The 1901 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations. England won the competition with five points after strong victories over Wales and Ireland. Scotland too performed well, coming second with a win and two draws and racking up what remains their highest ever scoreline in an 11-0 demolition of the Irish in Glasgow.

Scotland's record win was the first match of the competition and saw hat-tricks by Sandy "Duke" McMahon and Bob Hamilton. In their second game however Scotland could not sustain their good form, resulting in a disappointing draw with a tough Welsh side who played well to gain their point. England entered the action next with a victory over the Irish, although the men in green limited the damage to just a three goal deficit. England then took the lead in the competition with a heavy 6-0 win over Wales, Steve Bloomer scoring four. In the final matches, Ireland and Wales played for pride, neither side being able at this stage to win the trophy. Wales eventually won the match 1-0. England and Scotland however fought out a furious encounter as both sides stood a good chance of winning. However by virtue of the Scottish draw with Wales, England needed only a draw to win the competition, a result they managed despite Scotland's resilience.

Table

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

Results

footballbox
date = February 23, 1901
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 11–0
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = Sandy McMahon 4, Bob Hamilton 4, John Campbell 2, David Russell
goals2 =
stadium = Celtic Park, Glasgow----footballbox
date = March 2, 1901
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 1–1
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = Thomas Parry
goals2 = John Robertson
stadium = Racecourse Ground, Wrexham----footballbox
date = March 9, 1901
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 3–0
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = Tip Foster 2, Tommy Crawshaw
goals2 =
stadium = The Dell, Southampton----footballbox
date = March 18, 1901
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 6–0
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = Steve Bloomer 4, Tip Foster, Ernest Needham (P)
goals2 =
stadium = St James' Park, Newcastle----footballbox
date = March 23, 1901
team1 = fb-rt|IRE
score = 0–1
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 =
goals2 = John Jones
stadium = Solitude Ground, Belfast----footballbox
date = March 30, 1901
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 2–2
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = Fred Blackburn, Steve Bloomer
goals2 = Bob Hamilton, John Campbell
stadium = The Crystal Palace, London

References

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