1897–98 British Home Championship

The 1898 British Home Championship was the fifteenth edition of the annual football tournament played between the British Home Nations. England won the trophy after whitewashing all three opponents and taking the maximum six points. Scotland came second after winning two of their games whilst Ireland came third following a close victory over Wales in Llandudno.

Ireland's win over Wales was the first match of the tournament and gave Ireland a short lived advantage in the competition. England ended this advantage in the second game with a close 3–2 win over the Irish in Belfast and Scotland joined the other two on two points with a 5–2 thrashing of the Welsh. Scotland then briefly took the lead with a win over Ireland in Belfast before England joined them by beating Wales by the same scoreline in Wrexham. In the final and deciding match, played at Celtic Park in Glasgow, the Scots were defeated by a fast and powerful England side who ran out 3–1 winners and took the trophy.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
England	6	3	3	0	9	3	+6
Scotland	4	3	2	1	9	5	+4
Ireland	2	3	1	2	3	6	−3
Wales	0	3	0	3	2	9	−7

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

19 February 1898

Wales	0 – 1	Ireland
		John Peden

The Oval, Llandudno

5 March 1898

Ireland	2 – 3	England
John Pyper, Joe McAllen		Gilbert Smith, Charlie Athersmith, Tommy Morren

Solitude Ground, Belfast

19 March 1898

Scotland	5 – 2	Wales
James Gillespie 3, James McKie 2		Thomas Thomas, Morgan Morgan-Owen

Fir Park, Motherwell

26 March 1898

Ireland	0 – 3	Scotland
		William Stewart 2, Bob McColl

Solitude Ground, Belfast

28 March 1898

Wales	0 – 3	England
		Fred Wheldon 2, Gilbert Smith

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

2 April 1898

Scotland	1 – 3	England
Jimmy Millar		Steve Bloomer 2, Fred Wheldon

Celtic Park, Glasgow

References

Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-851129-54-4.

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