1889–90 British Home Championship

The 1889-90 British Home Championship was an edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. The seventh such competition held, the 1890 edition was, for the second time, jointly won by England and Scotland, the sixth time that Scotland had won. Played during the second half of the 1889/90 season, the tournament was also notable for two matches played by England on the 15 March against Wales and Ireland simultaneously. With an increasingly crowded domestic schedule cramping available dates for matches, England fielded two entirely separate teams, both of which won their games with an aggregate of twelve goals to two.

Wales took the early lead in the competition, winning the opening game at home against Ireland. England's double victories over Wales and Ireland then placed them in front with favourites Scotland still to play a match. Scotland responded to England's lead with two comfortable wins over Wales and Ireland 5–0 and 4–1 leaving the final match between England and Scotland as the deciding game. Despite a furious and dramatic encounter, neither side could best the other and the result was a 1–1 draw, placing both England and Scotland at the head of the table, goal difference not at this stage being used to differentiate the teams.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
England	5	3	2	1	0	13	3	+10
Scotland	5	3	2	1	0	10	2	+8
Wales	2	3	1	0	2	6	10	−4
Ireland	0	3	0	0	3	4	18	−14

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

8 February 1890

Wales	5 – 2	Ireland
William Owen Dick Wilcock David Lewis William Pryce-Jones 2		William Dalton 2

Old Racecourse, Shrewsbury

15 March 1890

Wales	1 – 3	England
William Lewis		Edmund Currey 2 Tinsley Lindley

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

15 March 1890

Ireland	1 – 9	England
Jack Reynolds		Fred Geary 3 Kenny Davenport 2 William Townley 2 Joe Lofthouse John Barton

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

22 March 1890

Scotland	5 – 0	Wales
Lalty Wilson 20' William Paul 36', 43', 60', 70'

Underwood Park, Paisley

Attendance: 7,500

Referee: William Finlay (Ireland)

29 March 1890

Ireland	1 – 4	Scotland
Jack Peden 25'		10', 80' Gilbert Rankin 50' Thomas Wyllie 70' John McPherson

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: William H. Stacey (England)

5 April 1890

Scotland	1 – 1	England
John McPherson 37'		17' Harry Wood

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 26,379

Referee: John Reid (Ireland)

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