1888–89 British Home Championship

1888–89 British Home Championship
Tournament details
Host country	England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
Dates	23 February – 27 April 1889
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	Scotland (5th title)
Runners-up	England
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	28 (4.67 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Willie Groves; Billy Bassett; Richard Jarrett; John Yates (3 goals)
	← 1887–88 1889–90 →

The 1888–89 British Home Championship was the sixth international football tournament between the British Home Nations and as with all but one of the previous tournaments, Scotland won, beating England by one point to take the championship. Wales achieved third place whilst Ireland finished bottom, as they had for five of the previous competitions.

England began the strongest team, scoring ten goals in their first two matches against Wales and Ireland for just two in reply. Scotland then showed their intent with a 7–0 defeat of Ireland at home in their first game. In what would turn out to be the deciding game of the competition, England and Scotland then played out a very fast-paced match which Scotland won 3–2 despite England's home advantage. Only needing a single point against Wales in their last match, Scotland only just achieved it, finishing with a rare scoreless draw. Ireland and Wales then played the decider for last place, Wales comfortably beating the Irish 3–1.

Table

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Scotland	3	2	1	0	10	2	+8	5
England	3	2	0	1	12	5	+7	4
Wales	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	3
Ireland	3	0	0	3	2	16	−14	0

Source: ^[1]^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Results

23 February 1889

England	4–1	Wales
Johnny Goodall Dewhurst Southworth Bassett		Owen

Victoria Ground, Stoke

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: John Campbell(Scotland)

2 March 1889

England	6–1	Ireland
Yates Shelton Lofthouse Brodie		James Wilton

Anfield, Liverpool

Attendance: 6,500

Referee: Alfred Davies(Wales)

9 March 1889

Scotland	7–0	Ireland
Watt 7', 10' Black 25' Groves 32', 50', 70' McInnes 88'

Ibrox Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: William H. Stacey (England)

13 April 1889

England	2–3	Scotland
Billy Bassett 15', 17'		Munro 55' Oswald 82' McLaren 90'

Kennington Oval, London

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: John Sinclair (Ireland)

15 April 1889

Wales	0–0	Scotland

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: John Sinclair (Ireland)

27 April 1889

Ireland	1–3	Wales
Lemon		Jarrett

Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast

Attendance: 1,500

Referee: Thomas Park (Scotland)

Winning squad

Scotland

Name	Apps/Goals by opponent			Total
Name	WAL^[3]	IRE^[4]	ENG^[5]	Apps	Goals
Frank Watt	1	1/2		2	2
Willie Groves		1/3		1	3
James McLaren			1/1	1	1
Jimmy Oswald			1/1	1	1
Neil Munro			1/1	1	1
Tom McInnes		1/1		1	1
David Black		1/1		1	1
Walter Arnott			1	1	0
William Berry			1	1	0
Geordie Dewar			1	1	0
James Kelly			1	1	0
Alex Latta			1	1	0
John McPherson			1	1	0
Bob Smellie			1	1	0
James Wilson			1	1	0
James Adams		1		1	0
Bob Boyd		1		1	0
John Buchanan		1		1	0
David Calderhead		1		1	0
Ned Doig		1		1	0
Thomas McKeown		1		1	0
Thomas Robertson		1		1	0
John Auld	1			1	0
Harry Campbell	1			1	0
Jimmy Hannah	1			1	0
William Johnston	1			1	0
Alexander Lochhead	1			1	0
John McLeod	1			1	0
Willie Paul	1			1	0
John Rae	1			1	0
Allan Stewart	1			1	0
Andrew Thomson	1			1	0

References

^ Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil (1 October 1999). "British Home Championship 1884–1899". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
^ "British Championships 1889". Scotland Football Stats. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
^ Mon 15 Apr 1889 Wales 0 Scotland 0, London Hearts Supporters Club
^ Sat 09 Mar 1889 Scotland 7 Ireland 0, London Hearts Supporters Club
^ Sat 13 Apr 1889 England 2 Scotland 3, London Hearts Supporters Club