1887–88 British Home Championship

The 1887-88 British Home Championship was the fifth edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. It was the first edition of the tournament in which Scotland did not at least share in the trophy and was also notable for a record flood of goals, 46 in six games, 26 of them conceded by Ireland, who suffered a disastrous competition.

England began the tournament in the same vein as they finished it, winning the opening match 5–1 against Wales at the Alexandra Recreation Ground in Crewe. Wales responded to this, and to their shock defeat by Ireland the year previously with an 11–0 thrashing of the visiting Irish, a Welsh record scoreline which remains standing after nearly 120 years. Any hopes of a recovery for the Welsh were however dashed in their final game when Scotland administered a 5–1 beating in Edinburgh.

England returned to the fray and gained revenge for their narrow defeat in the deciding match of the previous year when they in turn thrashed Scotland 5–0 in London, leaving only the weak Irish in between them and the trophy. Before this however, Ireland received another massive defeat at the hands of Scotland, who beat them 2–10 in Belfast to take second place. In the final game, England needed only a draw to secure the title but managed a win by five goals to one to take their first undisputed championship.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
England	6	3	3	0	15	2	+13
Scotland	4	3	2	1	15	8	+7
Wales	2	3	1	2	13	10	+3
Ireland	0	3	0	3	3	26	−23

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

England v Wales

4 February 1888

England	5 – 1	Wales
Fred Dewhurst 2, George Woodhall, Tinsley Lindley, Johnny Goodall		Jack Doughty

Alexandra Recreation Ground, Crewe

Wales v Ireland

3 March 1888

Wales	11–0	Ireland
Jack Doughty 4, Roger Doughty 2, Gwynne Howell 2, Job Wilding 2, William Pryce-Jones

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Scotland v Wales

10 March 1888

Scotland	5 – 1	Wales
Alexander Latta 2, William Paul, Neil Munro, William Groves		Jack Doughty

Hibernian Park, Edinburgh

Scotland v England

17 March 1888

Scotland	0 – 5	England
		Fred Dewhurst 2, Tinsley Lindley, Dennis Hodgetts, Johnny Goodall

Cathkin Park, Glasgow

Ireland v Scotland

24 March 1888

Ireland	2 – 10	Scotland
William Dalton 2		William Dickson 4, Geordie Dewar, Thomas Breckenridge, Ralph Aitken, Niel McCallum, Allan Stewart, Robert Wilson (Own Goal)

Cliftonville Cricket Ground, Belfast

Ireland v England

7 April 1888

Ireland	1 – 5	England
William Crone		Albert Allen 3, Fred Dewhurst, Tinsley Lindley

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

References

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

British Home Championship

Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Competitors	England 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 Home Nation matches since 1984

1887–88 in English football

« 1886–87 1888–89 »

FA competitions	FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds Final)

Related to national team	Home Championship

Club seasons	Newton Heath LYR (Manchester United) St. Mary's Y.M.A. (Southampton) Stoke West Bromwich Albion