1885–86 British Home Championship

The 1885–86 British Home Championship was the third annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. As common for the time, the matches were punctuated by some high scorelines and for the first time two teams finished level on points at the top of the table, thus sharing the championship as goal difference would not be introduced to separate teams for over nearly 90 years.

England and Scotland were the joint winners, with Wales third and Ireland last with zero points. The tournament began in February 1886 with a match between Wales and Ireland which Wales won comfortably 5–0. Ireland next played against England and Scotland, suffering two heavy defeats in which they conceded 13 goals for three in reply. With the three leaders therefore equal on points, England and Scotland played their match, sharing points in a 1–1 draw. Wales then played against England and Scotland in the final games but lost both, resulting in England and Scotland sharing the title.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Scotland	5	3	2	1	0	12	4	+8
England	5	3	2	1	0	10	3	+7
Wales	2	3	1	0	2	7	7	0
Ireland	0	3	0	0	3	3	18	−15

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

27 February 1886

Wales	5–0	Ireland
Bill Roberts Job Wilding Richard Hersee Thomas Bryan Herbert Sisson

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

13 March 1886

Ireland	1–6	England
Jimmy Williams		Benjamin Spilsbury 4 Tinsley Lindley Fred Dewhurst

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

20 March 1886

Ireland	2–7	Scotland
John Condy 19' Samuel Johnston 44'		15', 18', 25', 60' Charles Heggie 35' John Lambie 40' Michael Dunbar 75' James Gourlay

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: George T. Wolstenholme (Ireland)

27 March 1886

Scotland	1–1	England
George Somerville 80'		35' Tinsley Lindley

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Alexander Hunter (Wales)

29 March 1886

Wales	1–3	England
William Lewis		George Brann Fred Dewhurst Andrew Amos

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

10 April 1886

Scotland	4–1	Wales
Bob McCormick 30' James McCall 47' David Allan 53' William Harrower 56'		88' John Owen Vaughan

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 5,500

Referee: John Sinclair (Ireland)

References

Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.

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