British Home Championship

Overview

The first international association football match, between Scotland and England, took place in November 1872. Following that contest, a schedule of international matches between the four home nations gradually developed, the games taking place between January and April of each year. In 1884, for the first time, all six possible matches were played. This schedule (the climax usually being the England v Scotland fixture, the outcome of which was often pivotal in determining the champion) continued without interruption until the First World War.

Development

Recognition of the international season as constituting a single tournament came slowly. Early reports focused on the rivalries between the two teams in each match, rather than any overall title.^[2] Talk of a "championship" began to emerge gradually during the 1890s,^[3][4] with some writers suggesting the use of a league table between the nations, with 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw (as had been in use for the Football League since 1888).^[5][6] By 1908 a list of "International Champions" extending all the way back to 1884 was published.^[7]

The championship, although increasingly recognised as such, had no official prize until 1935 (see below), when a trophy for the "British International Championship" was created in honour of the silver jubilee of King George V.^[8]

The dates of the fixtures varied, but they tended to bunch towards the end of the season (sometimes the entire competition was held in a few days at the end of the season), except between the World Wars, when some fixtures were played before Christmas. The rise of other international competitions, especially the World Cup and European Championships, meant that the British Home Championship lost much of its prestige as the years went on.

However, the new international tournaments meant that the Championship took on added importance in certain years. The 1949–50 and 1953–54 Championships doubled up as qualifying groups for the 1950 and 1954 World Cups respectively, and the results of the 1966–67 and 1967–68 Championships were used to determine which team would progress to the second qualifying round of Euro 1968.

The British Home Championship was discontinued after the 1983–84 competition. There were a number of reasons for the tournament's demise, including it being overshadowed by the World Cup and European Championships, falling attendances at all but the England v Scotland games, fixture congestion, the rise of hooliganism, the Troubles in Northern Ireland (civil unrest led to the 1980–81 competition being abandoned), and England's desire to play against 'stronger' teams. The fate of the competition was settled when the (English) Football Association, swiftly followed by the Scottish Football Association, announced in 1983 that they would not be entering after the 1983–84 Championship. The British Home Championship trophy remains the property of the Irish FA, as Northern Ireland were the most recent champions.

The Championship was replaced by the smaller Rous Cup, which involved just England, Scotland and, in later years, an invited guest team from South America. That competition, however, ended after just five years.

Since then, there have been many proposals to resurrect the British Home Championship, with advocates pointing to rising attendances and a significant downturn in football-related violence. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations are keen on the idea, but the English association are less enthusiastic, claiming that they agree in principle, but that fixture congestion makes a revived tournament impractical.

Therefore, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the Irish Football Association, with the Republic of Ireland's Football Association of Ireland, pressed ahead and organised a tournament similar to the British Home Championship. The Nations Cup, between Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, was launched in Dublin in 2011. It was discontinued after one tournament because of poor attendance.^[9]

Each team played every other team once (making for a total of three matches per team and six matches in total). Generally, each team played either one or two matches at home and the remainder away, with home advantage between two teams alternating each year (so if England played Scotland at home one year, they played them away the next).

A team received two points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. The team with the most points was declared the winner. If two or more teams were equal on points, that position in the league table was shared (as was the Championship if it occurred between the top teams). In 1956, uniquely, all teams finished with the same number of points, leading to the Championship being shared between all four home nations. From the 1978–79 Championship onwards, however, goal difference (total goals scored minus total goals conceded) was used to differentiate between teams level on points. If goal difference was equal, then total goals scored was used.

Early editions of the tournament had no trophy. In 1935, a trophy was presented to King George V by the Football Association in recognition of the monarch's silver jubilee.^[8] It was first awarded, as the "Jubilee Trophy", to Scotland, victors of the 1935–36 competition.^[10] The trophy was of solid silver, consisting of a pedestal supporting a football surmounted by a winged figure. It bore the words "British International Championship".^[8]

As winners of the final tournament, Northern Ireland retained the trophy, but for many years had no suitable venue in which to display it. It was exhibited in the Scottish Football Museum^[11] and then the National Football Museum in Manchester.^[12] In 2018 it was finally put in display at the Northern Ireland Education and Heritage Centre at the National Stadium.^[13]

1902: Tragedy at Ibrox

The Scotland v England match of 5 April 1902 became known as the Ibrox Disaster of 1902. The match took place at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow. During the first half, a section of the terracing in the overcrowded West Stand collapsed, killing 25 and injuring over 500. Play was stopped, but was restarted after 20 minutes, with most of the crowd not knowing what had happened. The match was later declared void and replayed at Villa Park, Birmingham.

1950–54: World Cup qualification

The 1949–50 British Home Championship was used as a qualification group for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, with the teams finishing both first and second qualifying. England and Scotland were guaranteed the top two places and World Cup qualification with one match to go, when the Scottish Football Association declared that it would only go to the 1950 World Cup if they were the British champions. Scotland played England at Hampden Park on 15 April in the final game and lost 1–0 to a goal by Chelsea's Roy Bentley. Scotland finished second and withdrew from what would have been their first-ever World Cup appearance.

The 1953–54 British Home Championship was used as a qualification group for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, with England and Scotland both qualifying.

1967: Scotland become ‘World Champions’

The 1966–67 British Home Championship was the first since England's victory at the World Cup 1966. Naturally, England were favourites for the Championship title. In the end, the outcome of the entire Championship rested on the final game: England v Scotland at Wembley Stadium in London on 15 April. If England won or drew, they would win the Championship; if Scotland won, they would triumph. Scotland beat the World Cup winners 3–2. The match was followed by a large, but relatively harmless, pitch invasion by the jubilant Scottish fans, who were quick to waggishly declare Scotland the 'World Champions', as the game was England's first defeat since winning the World Cup. The Scots' joke ultimately led to the conception of the Unofficial Football World Championships.

1966–68: European Football Championship qualification

One of the qualifying groups for the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship was formed by combining the results of the 1966–67 and 1967–68 editions of the British Home Championship. The group winners were England, who advanced to the UEFA Euro 1968 quarter-finals where they defeated Spain to qualify for the final tournament, hosted by Italy.^[14]

1977: Wembley pitch invasion

Again, the 1976–77 Championship came down to the final game between England and Scotland at Wembley on 4 June. Scotland won the game 2–1, making them champions. As in 1967, a pitch invasion by the overjoyed Scottish fans followed, but this time vandalism ensued: the pitch was ripped up and taken back to Scotland in small pieces,^[15] along with one of the broken crossbars.^[16]

1981: The unfinished Championship

The Troubles in Northern Ireland had affected the British Home Championship before, with things turning so hostile that Northern Ireland often had to play their 'home' games in Liverpool or Glasgow. The entire 1980–81 Championship was held in May 1981, which coincided with a large amount of civil unrest in Northern Ireland surrounding the hunger strike in the Maze Prison. Northern Ireland's two home matches, against England and Wales, were not moved, so both teams refused to travel to Belfast to play. As not all the matches were completed, that year's competition was declared void with no winner; only Scotland completed all their matches. It was the only time in the Championship's history, apart from during World War I and World War II, that it was not awarded.

1984: The final Championship

The Home Championships came to an end, with England and Scotland announcing that the 1983–84 British Home Championship would be their last. They cited waning interest in the games, crowded international fixture lists and a sharp rise in hooliganism for their decision. The final match of the Championship was held at Hampden Park between Scotland and England in which the winners of the game would win the final Championship. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, allowing Northern Ireland to win the Championship on goal difference after all the teams ended on three points each; Wales came second on goals scored.

Where teams finished in a joint position, the level teams are listed in order of better goal difference.

Year	Champions	Second	Third	Fourth	Topscorer	Goals
1883–84	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland	Harry Cursham	3
1884–85	Scotland (2)	England	Wales	Ireland	Joseph Lindsay	4
1885–86	Scotland (3) —  England		Wales	Ireland	Various Charles Heggie Benjamin Spilsbury	4
1886–87	Scotland (4)	England	Ireland	Wales	Tinsley Lindley	6
1887–88	England (2)	Scotland	Wales	Ireland	Jack Doughty	6
1888–89	Scotland (5)	England	Wales	Ireland	Various Willie Groves Jack Yates John Goodall	3
1889–90	England (3) —  Scotland (6)		Wales	Ireland	Willie Paul	4
1890–91	England (4)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Olphert Stanfield	4
1891–92	England (5)	Scotland	Ireland —  Wales	Various Harry Daft John McPherson James Hamilton John Goodall (2)	2
1892–93	England (6)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Fred Spiksley	6
1893–94	Scotland (7)	England	Wales	Ireland	John Veitch	3
1894–95	England (7)	Wales —  Scotland		Ireland	Various Steve Bloomer Harry Trainer Frank Becton William Sherrard John Goodall (3)	2
1895–96	Scotland (8)	England	Wales	Ireland	Steve Bloomer (2)	6
1896–97	Scotland (9)	England	Ireland	Wales	Steve Bloomer (3)	4
1897–98	England (8)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Various Steve Bloomer (4) James Gillespie	3
1898–99	England (9)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Bob McColl	6
1899–1900	Scotland (10)	Wales —  England		Ireland	Bob McColl (2)	6
1900–01	England (10)	Scotland	Wales	Ireland	Various Steve Bloomer (5) Robert Hamilton	5
1901–02	Scotland (11)	England	Ireland	Wales	Various Andrew Gara Jimmy Settle Robert Hamilton (2)	3
1902–03	England (11) —  Ireland —  Scotland (12)			Wales	Vivian Woodward	4
1903–04	England (12)	Ireland	Scotland —  Wales		Various Joe Bache George Davis	2
1904–05	England (13)	Wales	Scotland —  Ireland		Charles Thomson	3
1905–06	England (14) —  Scotland (13)		Wales	Ireland	Various Harold Sloan Arthur Green	3
1906–07	Wales	England	Scotland	Ireland	Lot Jones	2
1907–08	England (15) —  Scotland (14)		Ireland	Wales	Various Jimmy Quinn Vivian Woodward (2)	4
1908–09	England (16)	Wales	Scotland	Ireland	Various William Davies George Wall Harry Paul George Hilsdon Vivian Woodward (3)	2
1909–10	Scotland (15)	England —  Ireland		Wales	Various Robert Evans Grenville Morris	2
1910–11	England (17)	Scotland	Wales	Ireland	Grenville Morris (2)	3
1911–12	England (18) —  Scotland (16)		Ireland	Wales	Various Harold Fleming George Holley	3
1912–13	England (19)	Scotland —  Wales		Ireland	Grenville Morris (3)	3
1913–14	Ireland (2)	Scotland	England	Wales	Billy Gillespie	3
1914–19	Not held due to the First World War.
1919–20	Wales (2)	Scotland —  England		Ireland	Various Stan Davies Bob Kelly Tom Miller	3
1920–21	Scotland (17)	Wales —  England		Ireland	Andrew Wilson	4
1921–22	Scotland (18)	Wales —  England		Ireland	Various Andrew Wilson (2) Billy Gillespie (2)	3
1922–23	Scotland (19)	England	Ireland	Wales	Harry Chambers	3
1923–24	Wales (3)	Scotland	Ireland	England	Willie Davies	2
1924–25	Scotland (20)	England	Wales —  Ireland		Hughie Gallacher	5
1925–26	Scotland (21)	Ireland	Wales	England	Hughie Gallacher (2)	3
1926–27	Scotland (22) —  England (20)		Wales —  Ireland		Dixie Dean	4
1927–28	Wales (4)	Ireland	Scotland	England	Alex Jackson	3
1928–29	Scotland (23)	England	Wales —  Ireland		Hughie Gallacher (3)	7
1929–30	England (21)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Joe Bambrick	6
1930–31	England (22) —  Scotland (24)		Wales	Ireland	Jimmy Hampson	3
1931–32	England (23)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Tom Waring	3
1932–33	Wales (5)	Scotland	England	Ireland	Various Dai Astley Jimmy McGrory	3
1933–34	Wales (6)	England	Ireland	Scotland	Various Dai Astley (2) Boy Martin	2
1934–35	England (24) —  Scotland (25)		Wales —  Ireland		Dally Duncan	3
1935–36	Scotland (26)	Wales —  England		Ireland	Various Dai Astley (3) Fred Tilson Tommy Walker Dally Duncan (2)	2
1936–37	Wales (7)	Scotland	England	Ireland	Pat Glover	4
1937–38	England (25)	Scotland —  Ireland		Wales	George Mills	3
1938–39	England (26) —  Wales (8) —  Scotland (27)			Ireland	Willie Hall	5
1939–45	Not held due to the Second World War.
0 1945–46[b]	Scotland	Ireland —  England —  Wales			Various Davy Walsh Billy Liddell	2
1946–47	England (27)	Ireland	Scotland —  Wales		Wilf Mannion	5
1947–48	England (28)	Wales	Ireland	Scotland	Various Sammy Smyth Stan Mortensen	2
1948–49	Scotland (28)	England	Wales	Ireland	Stan Mortensen (2)	3
1949–50	England (29)	Scotland	Wales —  Ireland		Jack Rowley	4
1950–51	Scotland (29)	England	Wales	Ireland	Billy Steel	4
1951–52	Wales (9) —  England (30)		Scotland	Ireland	Various Nat Lofthouse Bobby Johnstone Stan Pearson Ivor Allchurch	2
1952–53	Scotland (30) —  England (31)		Wales —  Ireland		Various Nat Lofthouse (2) Lawrie Reilly	3
1953–54	England (32)	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	Various Nat Lofthouse (3) John Charles	3
1954–55	England (33)	Scotland	Wales	Ireland	John Charles (2)	5
1955–56	England (34) —  Scotland (31) —  Wales (10) —  Ireland (3)				Various Dennis Wilshaw Bobby Johnstone (2)	2
1956–57	England (35)	Scotland	Wales —  Northern Ireland		Various Johnny Brooks Duncan Edwards Tom Finney Johnny Haynes Derek Kevan Stanley Matthews Jimmy McIlroy Willie Fernie Lawrie Reilly Tommy Ring Alex Scott John Charles Trevor Ford Terry Medwin	1
1957–58	England (36) —  Northern Ireland (4)		Scotland —  Wales		Derek Kevan	2
1958–59	Northern Ireland (5) —  England (37)		Scotland	Wales	Bobby Charlton	3
1959–60	Scotland (32) —  England (38) —  Wales (11)			Northern Ireland (0)	Various Billy Bingham Terry Medwin Graham Leggat	2
1960–61	England (39)	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Jimmy Greaves	7
1961–62	Scotland (33)	Wales	England	Northern Ireland	Alex Scott	3
1962–63	Scotland (34)	England	Wales	Northern Ireland	Denis Law	5
1963–64	England (40) —  Scotland (35) —  Northern Ireland (6)			Wales	Jimmy Greaves (2)	5
1964–65	England (41)	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Jimmy Greaves (3)	4
1965–66	England (42)	Northern Ireland (0)	Scotland	Wales	Various Alan Gilzean Jimmy Johnstone Willie Irvine	2
1966–67	Scotland (36)	England	Wales	Northern Ireland	Various Jack Charlton Geoff Hurst	2
1967–68	England (43)	Scotland	Wales —  Northern Ireland		Various Bobby Charlton (2) Martin Peters	2
1968–69	England (44)	Scotland	Northern Ireland (0)	Wales	Various Colin Stein Geoff Hurst (2) Ron Davies	3
1969–70	England (45) —  Wales (12) —  Scotland (37)			Northern Ireland	Various Bobby Charlton Geoff Hurst Francis Lee Martin Peters George Best John O'Hare Dick Krzywicki Ronnie Rees	1
1970–71	England (46)	Northern Ireland	Wales	Scotland	Martin Chivers	2
1971–72	Scotland (38) —  England (47)		Northern Ireland	Wales	Peter Lorimer	2
1972–73	England (48)	Northern Ireland	Scotland	Wales	Martin Chivers (2)	3
1973–74	Scotland (39) —  England (49)		Wales —  Northern Ireland		Various Stan Bowles Kevin Keegan Keith Weller Tommy Cassidy Kenny Dalglish Sandy Jardine David Smallman	1
1974–75	England (50)	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Wales	David Johnson	3
1975–76	Scotland (40)	England	Wales	Northern Ireland	Mick Channon	3
1976–77	Scotland (41)	Wales	England	Northern Ireland	Kenny Dalglish	3
1977–78	England (51)	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Derek Johnstone	2
1978–79	England (52)	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	John Toshack	3
1979–80	Northern Ireland (7)	England	Wales	Scotland	Noel Brotherston	2
1980–81	Abandoned due to civil unrest in Northern Ireland.
1981–82	England (53)	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Various Trevor Francis Glenn Hoddle Kevin Keegan Paul Mariner Bryan Robson Ray Wilkins Sammy McIlroy Asa Hartford John Wark Alan Curtis Peter Nicholas Ian Rush	1
1982–83	England (54)	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Wales	Various Terry Butcher Gordon Cowans Phil Neal Bryan Robson Alan Brazil Andy Gray Gordon Davies Ian Rush	1
1983–84	Northern Ireland (8)	Wales	England	Scotland	Mark Hughes	2

Exclude 1945–46 British Victory Home Championship and 1980–81 British Home Championship.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	England	54	22	6	82
2	Scotland	41	25	15	81
3	Wales	12	15	33	60
4	Northern Ireland	8	7	31	46
Totals (4 entries)		115	69	85	269

89 editions But have many Shared Medals.

Exclude 1945–46 British Victory Home Championship but Include 1980–81 British Home Championship.

Rank	Team	Part	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Dif	Pts
1	England	89	266	161	56	49	661	282	+379	378
2	Scotland	89	267	141	57	69	574	342	+232	339
3	Wales	89	266	70	62	134	360	545	-185	202
4	Northern Ireland	89	265	48	49	168	284	710	-426	145

All-time top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals
1	Steve Bloomer	England	22
2	Hughie Gallacher	Scotland	21
3	Jimmy Greaves	England	16
4	Robert Hamilton	Scotland	15
5	Vivian Woodward	England	14
6	John Charles	Wales	13
	Andrew Wilson	Scotland	13
8	John Goodall	England	12
9	Martin Peters	England	10
10	Stan Mortensen	England	9
	Billy Meredith	Wales	9
	Grenville Morris	Wales	9
	Dai Astley	Wales	9
14	Nat Lofthouse	England	8
14	Geoff Hurst	England	8

Topscorer wins

Rank	Name	Team	Wins
1	Steve Bloomer	England	5
2	Vivian Woodward	England	3
	Hughie Gallacher	Scotland
	Grenville Morris	Wales
	Dai Astley	Wales
	Jimmy Greaves	England
	John Goodall	England
	Nat Lofthouse	England
9	Geoff Hurst	England	2
	Dally Duncan	Scotland
	Bobby Johnstone	Scotland
	Bob McColl	Scotland
	Robert Hamilton	Scotland
	Martin Chivers	England
	Stan Mortensen	England
	John Charles	Wales
	Bobby Charlton	England

Championship wins

Rank	Manager	Wins	Editions
1	Walter Winterbottom	7	1946–47, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1960–61
2	Alf Ramsey	6	1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968-69, 1970–71, 1972–73
3	Peter Doherty	3	1955–56, 1957–58, 1958–59
	Ron Greenwood	3	1977–78, 1978–79, 1981–82
5	Ian McColl	2	1961–62, 1962–63
	Billy Bingham	2	1979–80, 1983–84

• Football in the United Kingdom (1984–present)
• Victory Shield
• Victory International
• Nations Cup
• Rous Cup
• Home Nations Futsal Championship

• RSSSF: British Home Championship Overview
• England in the British Home Championship England Football Online
• Northern Ireland Football Project BHC Resource
• Northern Ireland – British Champions Our Wee Country
• Wembley 1977 BBC Scotland (requires RealPlayer)
• The British Home Championship at the National Football Museum
• Unofficial British Home Championship compiling ongoing results of games between the home nations.