British Home Championship

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British Home Championship

Founded	1884
Abolished	1984
Region	United Kingdom
Number of teams	4
Last champions	Northern Ireland (1983–84)
Most successful team(s)	England (54 titles)

The British Home Championship^[a] was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (the last of whom competed as Ireland for most of the competition's history). Starting during the 1883–84 season, it is the oldest international football tournament and it was contested until the 1983–84 season, when it was abolished after 100 years.

Overview[edit]

By the early 1880s, the development of football in the United Kingdom was gathering pace and the four national football teams of the UK were playing regular friendlies against each other, with nearly every team playing all the others annually. At the time, the football associations of each Home Nation (The Football Association (England), the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales and the Irish Football Association) had slightly different rules for football, and when matches were played the rules of whoever was the home team were used. While this solution was workable, it was hardly ideal. To remedy this, the four associations met in Manchester on 6 December 1882 and agreed on one uniform set of worldwide rules. They also established the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to approve changes to the rules (a task that it still performs).

The new rules meant that formal international competitions could now easily be devised. Thus, at the same meeting, the associations formalised the annual friendlies and the British Home Championship – the world's first international football competition – was born.

The Championship was held every football season, starting with the 1883–84 season (the first ever match seeing eventual winners Scotland beat Ireland 5–0 away on 24 January 1884). 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 a lot 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 who went forward to the second qualifying round of Euro '68.

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.^[1]

Format and rules[edit]

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. From these points, a league table was constructed and whoever was top at the end of the competition 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, all four teams finished level on points and for the only time the Championship was shared four ways. 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 could still not separate them, then total goals scored was used.

Notable moments[edit]

1902: Tragedy at Ibrox[edit]

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 26 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: World Cup qualification[edit]

The 1950 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.

1967: Scotland become 'Unofficial World Champions'[edit]

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.

1977: Wembley pitch invasion[edit]

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 extensive damage ensued: the pitch was ripped up (although it was going to be relaid after the game) and taken back to Scotland in small pieces to be laid in back gardens, along with one of the broken crossbars.^[2]

1981: the unfinished Championship[edit]

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[edit]

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.

List of winners[edit]

Year	Champions	Second	Third	Fourth
1883–84	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1884–85	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1885–86	Scotland /  England		Wales	Ireland
1886–87	Scotland	England	Ireland	Wales
1887–88	England	Scotland	Wales	Ireland
1888–89	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1889–90	England /  Scotland		Wales	Ireland
1890–91	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1891–92	England	Scotland	Ireland /  Wales
1892–93	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1893–94	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1894–95	England	Wales /  Scotland		Ireland
1895–96	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1896–97	Scotland	England	Ireland	Wales
1897–98	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1898–99	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1899–1900	Scotland	Wales /  England		Ireland
1900–01	England	Scotland	Wales	Ireland
1901–02	Scotland	England	Ireland	Wales
1902–03	England /  Ireland /  Scotland			Wales
1903–04	England	Ireland	Scotland /  Wales
1904–05	England	Wales	Scotland /  Ireland
1905–06	England /  Scotland		Wales	Ireland
1906–07	Wales	England	Scotland	Ireland
1907–08	England /  Scotland		Ireland	Wales
1908–09	England	Wales	Scotland	Ireland
1909–10	Scotland	England /  Ireland		Wales
1910–11	England	Scotland	Wales	Ireland
1911–12	England /  Scotland		Ireland	Wales
1912–13	England	Scotland /  Wales		Ireland
1913–14	Ireland	Scotland	England	Wales
1914–19	Not held due to the First World War
1919–20	Wales	Scotland /  England		Ireland
1920–21	Scotland	Wales /  England		Ireland
1921–22	Scotland	Wales /  England		Ireland
1922–23	Scotland	England	Ireland	Wales
1923–24	Wales	Scotland	Ireland	England
1924–25	Scotland	England	Wales /  Ireland
1925–26	Scotland	Ireland	Wales	England
1926–27	Scotland /  England		Wales /  Ireland
1927–28	Wales	Ireland	Scotland	England
1928–29	Scotland	England	Wales /  Ireland
1929–30	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1930–31	England /  Scotland		Wales	Ireland
1931–32	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1932–33	Wales	Scotland	England	Ireland
1933–34	Wales	England	Ireland	Scotland
1934–35	Scotland /  England		Wales /  Ireland
1935–36	Scotland	Wales /  England		Ireland
1936–37	Wales	Scotland	England	Ireland
1937–38	England	Scotland /  Ireland		Wales
1938–39	England /  Wales /  Scotland			Ireland
1939–45	Not held due to the Second World War
(1945–46 unofficial)	Scotland	Ireland /  England /  Wales
1946–47	England	Ireland	Scotland /  Wales
1947–48	England	Wales	Ireland	Scotland
1948–49	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1949–50	England	Scotland	Wales /  Ireland
1950–51	Scotland	England	Wales	Ireland
1951–52	Wales /  England		Scotland	Ireland
1952–53	Scotland /  England		Wales /  Ireland
1953–54	England	Scotland	Ireland	Wales
1954–55	England	Scotland	Wales	Ireland
1955–56	England /  Scotland /  Wales /  Ireland
1956–57	England	Scotland	Wales /  Northern Ireland
1957–58	England /  Northern Ireland		Scotland /  Wales
1958–59	Northern Ireland /  England		Scotland	Wales
1959–60	Scotland /  England /  Wales			Northern Ireland
1960–61	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
1961–62	Scotland	Wales	England	Northern Ireland
1962–63	Scotland	England	Wales	Northern Ireland
1963–64	England /  Scotland /  Northern Ireland			Wales
1964–65	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
1965–66	England	Northern Ireland	Scotland	Wales
1966–67	Scotland	England	Wales	Northern Ireland
1967–68	England	Scotland	Wales /  Northern Ireland
1968–69	England	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Wales
1969–70	England /  Wales /  Scotland			Northern Ireland
1970–71	England	Northern Ireland	Wales	Scotland
1971–72	Scotland /  England		Northern Ireland	Wales
1972–73	England	Northern Ireland	Scotland	Wales
1973–74	Scotland /  England		Wales /  Northern Ireland
1974–75	England	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Wales
1975–76	Scotland	England	Wales	Northern Ireland
1976–77	Scotland	Wales	England	Northern Ireland
1977–78	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
1978–79	England	Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
1979–80	Northern Ireland	England	Wales	Scotland
1980–81	Abandoned due to civil unrest in Northern Ireland
1981–82	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland
1982–83	England	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Wales
1983–84	Northern Ireland	Wales	England	Scotland

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

Total wins[edit]

Team	Wins total	Wins outright	Shared wins
England	54	34	20
Scotland	41	24*	17
Wales	12	7	5
Ireland  Northern Ireland	8	3	5

* Does not include the Home Victory Championship 1945–1946 & 1980–81 championship where Scotland was on top when tournament was cancelled because of Northern Ireland civil unrest.

See also[edit]

• Football in the United Kingdom: Matches between the UK teams since 1984
• Nations Cup
• Victory Shield

References[edit]

Notes[edit]