1897 British Home Championship

The 1897 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations. It was won by Scotland after a late goal at The Crystal Palace which beat England to the trophy despite England's dominance of the competition up to that point. Ireland came third despite conceding 14 goals and Wales finished last having picked up only one point.

England began the tournament the strongest, scoring six without reply against the Irish in Belfast with Fred Wheldon claiming a hat-trick. Ireland recovered in the second match however, a high-scoring affair against Wales in which the Irish just claimed victory 4-3. Wales too improved in their second match, forcing a draw from Scotland in Wrexham, before Scotland too improved, beating Ireland 5-1 at home to temporarily take the top of the table. England surpassed them in the penultimate match, winning 4-0 over Wales and needing only a draw in the final game at home against Scotland to win the tournament. Scotland however were more than a match for the English and scored late to claim their 2-1 victory and win the trophy.

Table

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

Results

footballbox
date = February 20, 1897
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 6–0
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = Fred Wheldon 3, Steve Bloomer 2, Charlie Athersmith
goals2 =
stadium = Trent Bridge, Nottingham----footballbox
date = March 6, 1897
team1 = fb-rt|IRE
score = 4–3
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = James Barron, Olphie Stanfield, James Pyer, John Peden
goals2 = Billy Meredith 2, Caesar Jenkyns
stadium = Solitude Ground, Belfast----footballbox
date = March 20, 1897
team1 = fb-rt|WAL
score = 2–2
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = Morgan Morgan-Owen, David Pugh
goals2 = John Ritchie (P), John Walker
stadium = Racecourse Ground, Wrexham----footballbox
date = March 27, 1897
team1 = fb-rt|SCO
score = 5–1
team2 = fb|IRE
goals1 = John McPherson 2, Bob McColl, Neilly Gibson, Alexander King
goals2 = James Pyper
stadium = Ibrox Park, Glasgow----footballbox
date = March 29, 1897
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 4–0
team2 = fb|WAL
goals1 = Alf Milward 2, Ernest Needham, Steve Bloomer
goals2 =
stadium = Bramall Lane, Sheffield----footballbox
date = April 3, 1897
team1 = fb-rt|ENG
score = 1–2
team2 = fb|SCO
goals1 = Steve Bloomer
goals2 = Thomas Hyslop, James Millar
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