1972–73 British Home Championship

The 1972–73 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was, like its predecessor in 1972, a victim of The Troubles in Northern Ireland which had erupted following Bloody Sunday the previous year. As with the previous year in the rugby union 1972 Five Nations Championship, threats were made by Republican activists against visiting British teams, which in this year meant England and Wales. To prevent violence but keep the tournament running, Northern Ireland's "home" games were transferred to Goodison Park, the home of Everton F.C. in Liverpool in England. This step meant that Ireland played just a short ferry ride from Belfast (where the match was originally scheduled) in a city with a substantial Irish population, but where the police were able to exercise a greater measure of control over who was able to attend.

The shift to England did not substantially hinder the Irish, who claimed a rare and respectable second place behind England, who achieved yet another whitewash of their near neighbours. Beating the Irish in Liverpool to match Scotland's win over Wales, England then inflicted defeat on the same team at Wembley, whilst the Irish recovered from their first game to beat the Scots in Scotland. In the final two games, Northern Ireland beat Wales, setting up a close encounter in the final game, in which the winner would take the tournament but a draw would benefit the Irish. The game was a close encounter, made more interesting by an English 5–0 thrashing of Scotland two months earlier in a testimonial match celebrating one hundred years of international football. England however, eventually triumphed by a single goal from Martin Peters, winning the trophy for another year.

Table

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 England 6330061+5
 Northern Ireland 4320143+1
 Scotland 23102330
 Wales 03003066

The points system worked as follows:

Results

12 May 1973
Wales  0 – 2  Scotland
Graham  60', 70'
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
Attendance: 18,682
Referee: Northern Ireland James Lawther

12 May 1973
Northern Ireland  1 – 2  England
Clements  22' (pen.) Chivers  9', 82'
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Attendance: 29,865
Referee: Wales Clive Thomas

15 May 1973
England  3 – 0  Wales
Chivers  24'
Channon  32'
Peters  75'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 38,000
Referee: Scotland John Patterson

16 May 1973
Scotland  1 – 2  Northern Ireland
Dalglish  89' O'Neill  3'
Anderson  16'
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Attendance: 39,018
Referee: England Ken Burns

19 May 1973
Northern Ireland  1 – 0  Wales
Hamilton  14'
Goodison Park, Liverpool
Attendance: 4,946
Referee: Scotland Bobby Davidson

19 May 1973
England  1 – 0  Scotland
Peters  54'
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 95,950
Referee: West Germany Kurt Tschenscher

References

  • Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4. 
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.