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Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host country | England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales |
Dates | 7 October 1950 – 14 April 1951 |
Teams | 4 |
Final positions | |
Champions | Scotland |
Runners-up | England |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 6 |
Goals scored | 30 (5 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Billy Steel (4 goals) |
The 1950–51 British Home Championship football tournament was the Home Nations follow-up to England's disastrous appearance at their first World Cup, the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. There the much vaunted English had been beaten by the USA and Spain. The Scots had refused to go, and the Welsh and the Irish had failed to qualify. The Scots went on to capitalise on the demoralised English by taking the Home Championship away from them too.
The tournament began with wins for the favourites away from home, England beating the Irish and Scotland the Welsh. In the second matches, this dominance was emphasised with powerful wins by England in Sunderland over the Welsh and Scotland who beat the Irish 6–1 including four goals from Billy Steel. In the final game at Wembley Stadium, a tense and furious game brought the trophy to Scotland, who finished 3–2 winners. Wales had already beaten Ireland to claim third spot.
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scotland (C) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 6 |
England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 4 |
Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 2 |
Ireland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 0 |
Wales | 1–3 | Scotland |
---|---|---|
Aubrey Powell 68' | 23', 57' Lawrie Reilly 72' Billy Liddell |
Scotland | 6–1 | Ireland |
---|---|---|
John McPhail 8', 13' Billy Steel 53', 57', 66', 79' | 43' Kevin McGarry |
England | 2–3 | Scotland |
---|---|---|
Harold Hassall 26' Tom Finney 63' | 33' Bobby Johnstone 48' Lawrie Reilly 54' Billy Liddell |
The 1969–70 British Home Championship Home Nations international football tournament was a heavily contested series which contradicted the common view that it would be little more than a warm-up for the English team prior to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, at which they were to defend the title they had won on home soil four years earlier. They had won the two previous tournaments and were considered much stronger than the other three home nations, none of whom had qualified for the finals in Mexico. The English however struggled in their opening fixture, drawing with the Welsh away, and although they subsequently beat the Irish, were unable to overcome the Scots. Scotland had a good opening to the campaign, but drew their last two games, whilst Wales salvaged parity following a victory over Northern Ireland in their final fixture. Since goal difference was not at this time used to determine position, England, Wales and Scotland shared the trophy. Had modern scoring techniques been in place, England would have won, followed by the Welsh and the Scots.
The 1968–69 British Home Championship was the third edition of the tournament to be held while England were World Champions following their victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was reverted to its pre-First World War format, being played at the end of the season in a short period of time, to relax the demands on the players during the competitive season. England re-emphasised their dominance over the British game with a second comfortable win in a row. The tournament began with the favourites England and Scotland securing comfortable wins over their weaker opponents, before England repeated the feat in a tougher game against Wales and Scotland were held to a draw by Ireland. Going into the final game needing a win, the Scots were thoroughly beaten by a strong English team, who took the trophy in a 4–1 victory.
The 1965–66 British Home Championship was a cause of great excitement as it supplied spectators and commentators a view of England prior to their contesting the 1966 FIFA World Cup on home soil at which they were one of the favourites. None of the other Home Nations had qualified for the World Cup and so were determined to spoil England's preparation, leading to some very dramatic and heavily contested matches, particularly England's final game in Glasgow.
The 1982–83 British Home Championship was the penultimate in the series of football tournaments between the British Home Nations which stretched back 99 years to 1884. In 1983 England and then Scotland announced their withdrawal from future competition after the 1984 competition with the arrangement of the Rous Cup between the two nations to eliminate Wales and Northern Ireland, who were seen as weaker opposition. The 1983 tournament was a tight contest, which England won with a final victory at home over Scotland following an opening victory over Wales and a draw in Belfast. The game at Wembley was played in midweek in an attempt to curb the large number of travelling Scottish supporters. The Scots came second with a win over Wales and a draw with Northern Ireland off-setting their final day defeat. The Welsh succumbed to goal difference as the points system then in use meant that the Irish, who had drawn twice and lost once without scoring themselves gained the same number of points for a smaller goal difference despite Wales' victory over them in their final game.
The 1929–30 British Home Championship was an edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. 1930 was the year in which the tournament finally gained a serious rival as the premier international football competition, with the inception of the 1930 FIFA World Cup, held in Uruguay. The Home Nations were not however members of FIFA due to disputes over the growing professionalism in continental and South American football. As a result, they were not able to attend and indicated that even if they were invited they would have no interest in attending, deeming foreign opposition too weak for serious contest. The England team, which dominated the 1930 championship, had lost to Spain the year before in the first defeat by a foreign football team, and in the same year they only managed draws with Germany and Austria. The Scottish side, which had won most of the previous ten championships, was likewise unprepared, only playing its first game outside the British Isles in 1929, and being heavily defeated on tour in 1931 by both the Austrians and the Italians.
The 1979–80 British Home Championship saw only the second undisputed victory for Northern Ireland in the British Home Nations international football tournament in 96 years of its existence. It was the first time since 1970 that Scotland agreed to travel to Northern Ireland, having refused to play there since 1972.
The 1970–71 British Home Championship was an international football competition between the British Home Nations. The tournament was low-scoring affair, reflecting trends in world football at the time, which relied on heavy defense. England won the tournament in their final match by beating Scotland following an earlier victory over Ireland and a draw with the Welsh. The England versus Scotland match saw more goals than the rest of the tournament put together, but Ireland did manage to gain a rare second-place position with 1–0 wins over disappointing Welsh and Scottish sides, whose own match for last place was a goalless draw.
The 1978–79 British Home Championship was a British Home Nations competition, won by the English football side and notable for seeing marked increases in hooliganism and falling attendance which would result in its cancellation in 1984. The English started well, beating Northern Ireland to match the heavy Welsh victory over Scotland on the same day, which featured a hat trick by John Toshack. Scotland recovered by beating the Irish in their next match while England and Wales played out a goalless draw, leaving three sides theoretically capable of winning the Championship in the final round. Wales could only manage a draw with the Irish and so in the deciding match between England and Scotland, a 1–1 half time score gave the Scots some hope but a strong second half performance from England was rewarded with a deserved 3–1 win. This result gave England the Championship, with Wales in second place. The tournament also saw the introduction of goal difference to separate teams, although it had no effect on the eventual outcome.
The 1976–77 British Home Championship launched a brand new era in Home Nations football during its final game, when jubilant Scottish fans invaded the pitch at Wembley Stadium following their team's 2–1 victory. Unlike a similar occasion in 1967, family football had given way to hooliganism and extensive damage was done to the stadium and riots in London throughout the night followed the occasion. It was events like this which eventually led to the tournament's cancellation in 1984.
The 1974–75 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations. It resulted in a resounding victory for an England team which was going through one of the worst periods of consistent play in their history. The tournament saw several draws, including two dramatic 2–2 ties for the Welsh team against England and Scotland and a goalless draw between England and Northern Ireland. The Scots had begun better, beating the Irish 3–0 in their second game and so entered the final match with a real chance of victory. The Welsh, like the English, had a 2-point advantage in their final match, but failed to capitalise on this, losing to Northern Ireland and ending in last place. The final game, between England and Scotland was in the end a one-sided affair, the English crushing the Scots in a 5–1 rout and winning the tournament.
The 1963–64 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was an unusual affair in which victory was shared between the England, Scotland and Ireland national football teams after all teams scored four points by beating Wales and then winning one and losing one of their remaining matches. Goal difference was not at this stage used to determine team positions in the tournament, but if it had been, England would have won with a goal difference of +8 with Scotland second and Ireland third.
The 1964–65 British Home Championship was an outright victory for the English football team in the run up to the 1966 FIFA World Cup which was held in the country. England's preparation for the tournament had included a rare pre-season tour of the Americas, in which they had beaten the USA 10–0 in New York, but crashed to a 1–5 defeat by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and also lost to Argentina. The Home Championship was a close contest however and an unexpected Welsh defeat of Scotland as well as a drubbing of Ireland in their final game helped them to an impressive second. In the end however, none of the other home nations would qualify for the world cup finals, which England would go on to win.
The 1952–53 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations throughout the 1952–53 season. The tournament saw a last minute goal by Lawrie Reilly in the final game at Wembley which salvaged a draw and thus a share in the trophy for Scotland. England were the other winners whilst both Wales and Ireland played well in a very competitive competition.
The 1962–63 British Home Championship football tournament came after disappointment for the home nations in the 1962 FIFA World Cup, for which only England qualified, only to be beaten 3–1 in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil. The Home Championship was won by a Scottish team which dominated all their matches and whitewashed their opponents for the second year in a row as part of a period of temporary but pronounced dominance.
The 1956–57 British Home Championship was the final full championship before the Munich air disaster would kill or end the careers of five England Internationals one from Northern Ireland mid-way through the following tournament. A close-fought competition between England and Scotland, the tournament also featured some very good performances from Wales and Ireland. For tournaments of the day, this was considered a low-scoring affair, although the performances were consistently high.
The 1948–49 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations. The tournament was notable for it being the final competition the Home Nations competed in before they joined the FIFA World Cup and thus the last time it was the most important international football tournament in Britain.
The 1937–38 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1937–38 season. The competition was won by England after they defeated Ireland and Wales in their opening games. Even though Scotland won the final game at Wembley Stadium, England were able to hold their lead, thanks to the Welsh victory over Scotland in their opening match. Wales however were unable to continue this form, losing to England and Ireland in their subsequent matches. The Scots and Irish drew, and thus shared second place.
The 1933–34 British Home Championship was an annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1933–34 football season. It was won by Wales, whose run of form during the 1930s was their last sustained period of international success in the team's history. In taking the title they beat both favourites England and the poor Scots, holding Ireland to a score draw. England came second with commanding victories over Scotland and Ireland but suffering defeat to the Welsh on home turf in Newcastle. Ireland also managed victory over the Scots but were well beaten by England and could only draw with Wales to take third place.
The 1927–28 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1927–28 season between the British Home Nations. The competition was won by Wales who did not lose a game and only dropped a single point during the tournament. This championship is most notable for what became known as the "Wembley Wizards" when a scratch Scottish team crushed a highly regarded England side 5–1 at the English national stadium of Wembley. Neither England nor Scotland placed in the top two, something that would not happen again for 56 years, until the final British Home Championship in 1984.
The 1923–24 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1923–24 season between the British Home Nations. It was won by the excellent Welsh team of the early 1920s who achieved a whitewash of the other three home nations over the tournament, scoring five goals for just one in return.