| 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) |
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 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 |
 Ireland |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 16 | −14 | 0 |
Results
Winning squad
| Name | Apps/Goals by opponent | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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
- Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.
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