1896–97 British Home Championship

The 1896-97 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations. It was won by Scotland after a late goal at The Crystal Palace which beat England to the trophy despite England's dominance of the competition up to that point. Ireland came third despite conceding 14 goals and Wales finished last having picked up only one point.

England began the tournament the strongest, scoring six without reply against the Irish in Belfast with Fred Wheldon claiming a hat-trick. Ireland recovered in the second match however, a high-scoring affair against Wales in which the Irish just claimed a 4–3 victory. Wales too improved in their second match, forcing a draw from Scotland in Wrexham, before Scotland too improved, beating Ireland 5–1 at home to temporarily take the top of the table. England surpassed them in the penultimate match, winning 4–0 over Wales and needing only a draw in the final game at home against Scotland to win the tournament. Scotland however were more than a match for the English and scored late to claim their 2–1 victory and win the trophy.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Scotland	5	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5
England	4	3	2	0	1	11	2	+9
Ireland	2	3	1	0	2	5	14	−9
Wales	1	3	0	1	2	5	10	−5

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

England v Ireland

20 February 1897

England	6 – 0	Ireland
Fred Wheldon 3, Steve Bloomer 2, Charlie Athersmith

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Ireland v Wales

6 March 1897

Ireland	4 – 3	Wales
James Barron, Olphie Stanfield, James Pyer, Jack Peden		Billy Meredith 2, Caesar Jenkyns

Solitude, Belfast

Wales v Scotland

20 March 1897

Wales	2 – 2	Scotland
Morgan Morgan-Owen, David Pugh		John L. Ritchie (P), John Walker

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Scotland v Ireland

27 March 1897

Scotland	5 – 1	Ireland
John McPherson 2, Bob McColl, Neilly Gibson, Alexander King		James Pyper

Ibrox Park, Glasgow

England v Wales

29 March 1897

England	4 – 0	Wales
Alf Milward 2, Ernest Needham, Steve Bloomer

Bramall Lane, Sheffield

England v Scotland

3 April 1897

England	1 – 2	Scotland
Steve Bloomer		Thomas Hyslop, James Millar

The Crystal Palace, London

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