British Home Championship
The British Home Championship was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Beginning during the 1883–84 season, it is the oldest international association football tournament in the world and it was contested until the 1983–84 season, when it was abolished after 100 years.
History
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 continued without interruption until the First World War.| Year | England v Scotland | Scotland v Wales | England v Wales | England v Ireland | Wales v Ireland | Scotland v Ireland |
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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. Talk of a "championship" began to emerge gradually during the 1890s, 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. By 1908 a list of "International Champions" extending all the way back to 1884 was published.The championship, although increasingly recognised as such, had no official prize until 1935, when a trophy for the "British International Championship" was created in honour of the silver jubilee of King George V.
The dates of the fixtures varied, but they tended to bunch towards 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, and England's desire to play against "stronger" teams. The fate of the competition was settled when the 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.
Format and rules
Each team played every other team once. Generally, each team played either one or two matches at home and the remainder away, with home advantage between two teams alternating each year.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. 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 was used to differentiate between teams level on points. If goal difference was equal, then total goals scored was used.
Trophy
For over 50 years 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. It was first awarded, as the "Jubilee Trophy", to Scotland, victors of the 1935–36 competition. 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".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 and then the National Football Museum in Manchester. In 2018 it was finally put in display at the Northern Ireland Education and Heritage Centre at the National Stadium.
Notable moments
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 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.