1979 British Home Championship
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1979 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 goaless 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 1-0 half time lead 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.
[edit] Table
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 England |
5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 |
 Wales |
4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 |
 Scotland |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 |
 Northern Ireland |
1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -5 |
The points system worked as follows:
- 2 points for a win
- 1 point for a draw
For the first time, goal difference was used to divide the teams, although it made no difference to the final outcome at this tournament.
[edit] Results
| May 19, 1979 | Wales |
3–0 | Scotland |
Ninian Park, Cardiff |
| John Toshack 3 |
| May 19, 1979 | Northern Ireland |
0–2 | England |
Windsor Park, Belfast |
| David Watson, Steve Coppell |
| May 22, 1979 | Scotland |
1–0 | Northern Ireland |
Hampden Park, Glasgow |
| Arthur Graham |
| May 23, 1979 | England |
0–0 | Wales |
Wembley Stadium, London |
| May 26, 1979 | Northern Ireland |
1–1 | Wales |
Windsor Park, Belfast |
| Derek Spence | Robbie James |
| May 26, 1979 | England |
3–1 | Scotland |
Wembley Stadium, London |
| Peter Barnes, Ray Wilkins, Kevin Keegan | John Wark |
[edit] References
- Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-851129-54-4.
|
Competitors: |
| Football in the United Kingdom: England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales |
| 1884 | 1885 | 1886 | 1887 | 1888 | 1889 | 1890 | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 | 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | First World War | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | Second World War | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 |
| Rous Cup | Home Nation matches since 1984 |
