1902–03 British Home Championship

The 1902-03 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations.

Unusually, the trophy was shared by three of the Home Nations all of whom scored four points. At the time, goal difference was not used to differentiate teams. In addition to the usual favourites of England and Scotland, Ireland also took their first ever share of the championship, after scoring their first ever victory over the Scots with a 2–0 win in Glasgow and subsequently beating Wales. The tournament was played under the shadow of the previous years finale, when a wooden stand at Ibrox Stadium had given way under the mass of supporters and 26 people had fallen to their deaths.

Ireland and England began the competition with the English scoring four without reply to take an early lead. England extended their advantage in the second match with a 2–1 victory over Wales and seemed to be on course for the championship. Scotland began their challenge against Wales in a match they narrowly won before stumbling against Ireland in a match the Irish dominated in front of the Scottish home support. Just two years previously at the same stadium, Scotland had beaten Ireland 11–0 in what is still their record win. On the back of this result, Ireland beat Wales 2–0 ending a miserable tournament for the Welsh who had scored only one goal and failed to gain a single point. In the final match between England and Scotland, Scotland needed a win to draw level with Ireland and England whilst England needed only a draw to take to competition undisputed. In a tough match in Sheffield both sides played well, but Scotland eventually won 2–1 taking their share of the trophy.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
England	4	3	2	1	7	3	+4
Ireland	4	3	2	1	4	4	0
Scotland	4	3	2	1	3	3	0
Wales	0	3	0	3	1	5	−4

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

England v Ireland

14 February 1903

England	4 – 0	Ireland
Vivian Woodward 2, Harry Davis, Own Goal

Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton

England v Wales

2 March 1903

England	2 – 1	Wales
Joe Bache, Vivian Woodward		Walter Watkins

Fratton Park, Portsmouth

Wales v Scotland

9 March 1903

Wales	0 – 1	Scotland
		Finlay Speedie

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

Scotland v Ireland

21 March 1903

Scotland	0 – 2	Ireland
		Joe Connor, Jack Kirwan

Celtic Park, Glasgow

Ireland v Wales

28 March 1903

Ireland	2 – 0	Wales
Archie Goodall, James Sheridan

Solitude, Belfast

England v Scotland

4 April 1903

England	1 – 2	Scotland
Vivian Woodward		Finlay Speedie, Bobby Walker

Bramall Lane, Sheffield

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