1888–89 British Home Championship

The 1888-89 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

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Scotland	5	3	2	1	0	10	2	+8
England	4	3	2	0	1	12	5	+7
Wales	3	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1
Ireland	0	3	0	0	3	2	16	−14

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

23 February 1889

England	4 – 1	Wales
Johnny Goodall Fred Dewhurst Jack Southworth Billy Bassett		William Owen

Victoria Ground, Stoke

2 March 1889

England	6 – 1	Ireland
John Yates 3 Alf Shelton Joe Lofthouse John Brodie		James Wilton

Anfield, Liverpool

9 March 1889

Scotland	7 – 0	Ireland
Frank Watt 7', 10' David Black 25' William Groves 32', 50', 70' Tom McInnes 88'

Ibrox Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: William H. Stacey (England)

13 April 1889

England	2 – 3	Scotland
Billy Bassett 15', 17'		55' Neil Munro 82' James Oswald 90' James McLaren

Kennington Oval, London

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: John Sinclair (Ireland)

15 April 1889

Wales	0 – 0	Scotland

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: John Sinclair (Ireland)

27 April 1889

Ireland	1 – 3	Wales
John Lemon		Richard Jarrett 3

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

References

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

v t e British Home Championship
Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Competitors	England Ireland / Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Seasons	1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 First World War 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 Second World War 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84
Rous Cup Nations Cup Matches outside the British Home Championship