1971–72 British Home Championship

The 1971–72 British Home Championship was the first such Home Nations football tournament (although not the last), to suffer during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, when death threats from the Provisional Irish Republican Army were sent to the Scottish Football Association and Scottish players who were scheduled to play at Windsor Park. The surge in anti-British feeling which prompted these threats followed Bloody Sunday in January, and also resulted in the cancellation of the rugby union 1972 Five Nations Championship. As a result, Northern Ireland's home fixture was rescheduled to Hampden Park, effectively granting the Scottish team an extra home match. This was not the last time that The Troubles would interfere with the Home Championship; the 1981 British Home Championship would have to be abandoned following similar heightened tension after the death of Bobby Sands.

1971–72 British Home Championship
Tournament details
Dates20–27 May 1972
Teams4
Final positions
Champions England (47th title)
 Scotland (38th title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played6
Goals scored8 (1.33 per match)
Top scorer(s)Scotland Peter Lorimer (2)

Scotland used their home advantage well, securing victory over the Irish and Welsh to take a major points advantage into the final match against England, who had lost at home to Northern Ireland following a heavy defeat of Wales. In the last match however, England gained a slight advantage over their old rivals, winning 1–0 and thus equalling the tournament on points and resulting in a shared victory (goal difference was not at this stage used to differentiate between teams). The Welsh salvaged a point in their final home game to Northern Ireland, but still finished bottom of the table.

Table

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  England (C) 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 4
  Scotland (C) 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 4
  Northern Ireland 3 1 1 1 1 2 −1 3
  Wales 3 0 1 2 0 4 −4 1
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
(C) Co-champions

Results

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Wales  0–3  England
Hughes   25'
Marsh   60'
Bell   61'
Attendance: 34,000
Referee: William Mullan (Scotland)

Scotland  2–0  Northern Ireland
Law   86'
Lorimer   89'
Attendance: 39,710
Referee: Clive Thomas (Wales)

England  0–1  Northern Ireland
Neill   33'
Attendance: 64,000
Referee: John Gow (Wales)

Scotland  1–0  Wales
Lorimer   78'
Attendance: 21,332
Referee: James Lawther (Northern Ireland)

Wales  0–0  Northern Ireland
Attendance: 15,647
Referee: Jack Taylor (England)

Scotland  0–1  England
Ball   28'
Attendance: 119,325

References

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  • Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.
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