The
1984 British Home Championship
In
1984, the British Home Championship drew its last breath after a full Century
of annual meetings between the Nations of the British Isles (Not including the
years of the World Wars).
After
years of Governmental Pressure, it was decided to disband the competition.
England and Scotland felt more attractive and competitive opposition was needed
and these annual meetings were unnecessary extra matches in an already crowded
fixture.
Some
crowd trouble along the years had also led to the final decision.
Wales
and Northern Ireland were against abolition of this Tournament, as these
matches helped their coffers.
The
first match of this Final Home Championship was actually played in 1983. On
December 13th, 1983, Northern Ireland hosted Scotland at Windsor
Park.
Northern
Ireland had narrowly missed on the European Championship and were coming off an
impressive away win vs. West Germany the month before.
Scotland had also missed on Euro Qualification (as had all the Home Nations) and were coming off a loss vs. East Germany in the qualifiers.
Scotland had also missed on Euro Qualification (as had all the Home Nations) and were coming off a loss vs. East Germany in the qualifiers.
In
contrast with Scotland, Aberdeen (managed by Alex Ferguson) were dominant and
were to clinch the UEFA Super Cup vs. SV Hamburg the following week.
For
this first match, Scotland Manager Jock Stein started the match with five Aberdeen
players, plus Mark McGhee who came on in the second half.
Aberdeen
defender Doug Rougvie deputizing for the missing Arthur Albiston earned his
only cap.
Scotland
(wearing Red) were also missing John Wark, Kenny Dalglish and Steve Archibald.
Northern
Ireland were clearly in better form at home and scored in the First half. In
the 17th minute, Terry Cochrane passed to Hamilton, who immediately
crossed it across the goalmouth for Whiteside to score.
Graeme
Souness scored a goal for Scotland in the 28th minute that was
disallowed after a Peter Weir’s foul on Mc Elhinney.
In
the 56th minute, Cochrane was involved again; his cross into the box
from the left side was met by McIlroy who volleyed it home.
The
next match took place on February 28, 1984 at Glasgow between Scotland and
Wales.
Scotland
were once again missing Dalglish, as well as Gordon Strachan, Archibald and
McGhee. In a poor and uninspiring match Scotland came out winners and went
ahead first in the 37th minute from a penalty kick by Davie Cooper.
Wales tied up the match early in the second half through Robbie James. Maurice
Johnston made his debut for Scotland in the second half and scored his first
goal as well and the match winner in the 78th minute.
The
third match in the series took place at Wembley between England and Northern
Ireland on April 4, 1984. This was in fact the last ever Home International at
Wembley.
The
absence of Kenny Sansom paved the way for Liverpool defender Alan Kennedy to
earn his first cap for England. Northern Ireland’s Pat Jennings was also
missing and Jim Platt earned a rare cap in the process.
Photo
From: England, The Complete Post-War Record, Author Mike Payne
(Woodcock scoring England’s winner past Jim
Platt, April 4, 1984, Home Championship, England 1-Northern Ireland 0) |
In
another poor match in the series, Ray Wilkins was the pick of the bunch.
England
scored the winner in the 40th minute. Viv Anderson took a hard shot
that Platt could not hold onto and Woodcock headed into an empty net.
Billy
Hamilton had a couple of chances to tie the match but was unsuccessful.
Photo
From: Goal, February 1998
(Alan
Kennedy, April 4, 1984, Home Championship, England 1-Northern Ireland 0)
|
On
May 2nd, Wales hosted England at Wrexham. England were missing nine
regulars that included Captain Bryan Robson, Kenny Sansom and Terry Butcher.
In
the process, Alan Kenendy earned his second (and final) cap. Defenders Mark
Wright and substitute Terry Fenwick also made their debuts. For Wales, Mark
Hughes made his debut for his nation.
The
more determined Welsh were rewarded in the 19th minute. Ian Rush was
brought down, the late Alan Davies took the free kick and his Manchester United
club mate Mark Hughes headed the winner. While Welsh goalkeeper Neville
Southall was almost a spectator, his opposite Shilton saw most of the action and
was England’s best on the field. The debutant Hughes scored another goal that
was called off.
Photo
From: Shoot, Issue November 17, 1984
(Mark Hughes scoring the winner , May 2, 1984,
Home Championship, Wales 1-England 0) |
On
May 22nd, Wales hosted Northern Ireland in their respective Final
ever Home Championship matches at Swansea. The honors were shared with Mark
Hughes scoring once again for Wales and Gerry Armstrong replying for the Irish.
Four
days later at Glasgow, the stage was set for the Final ever match of the oldest
ever rivalry: England and Scotland (102nd meeting).
Scotland
were once again missing Kenny Dalglish. England welcomed back Kenny Sansom, but
were missing Terry Butcher.
Bobby
Robson opted for a 4-2-4 formation and England were stronger in the early
going.
Surprisingly,
Scotland scored first against the run of the play in the 13th
minute.
Davie
Cooper took a corner that Shilton punched clear; Strachan took possession and
sent it into the box, where the unmarked McGhee headed it home.
England
continued to press and in the 37th minute tied up the match. Mark
Chamberlain saved a ball that was about to go out and passed to Woodcock on the
right side touchline. Tony Woodcock
went around Miller and blasted with his left foot from edge of the box.
Scotland
improved in the second half after Mo’ Johnton and McStay came on. Ten minutes
later, Gary Lineker made his debut for England by replacing the injured
Woodcock. Substitute Stephen Hunt earned his first cap for England as well.
Scotland
finished stronger and had chances to win.
Photo
From: England v Scotland, The Auld Enemy, Author: Dean Hayes
(May
26, 1984, Home Championship, Scotland 1-England 1)
|
The
final whistle brought an end to the oldest ever Soccer Tournament.
In
the following years, England and Scotland tried to at least maintain their
annual meetings by playing each other in the Stanley Rous Cup. This in itself
was disbanded in 1989 due to continuous crowd trouble.
As
far as this Final Tournament, Northern Ireland was victorious by goal
difference as all the teams had identical record and points. In a way it was
fitting that the two nations who wanted to retain this competition the most
ended up at the top.
Home
Championship Squads
England:
Players
who took part in the matches:
Goalkeepers:
Peter
Leslie Shilton (Southampton
Football Club)
Defenders:
Vivian Alexander Anderson (Nottingham Forest Football Club)
Alan Phillip Kennedy (Liverpool Football Club)
Graham Paul Roberts (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London)
Terence Ian Butcher (Ipswich Town Football Club)
Vivian Alexander Anderson (Nottingham Forest Football Club)
Alan Phillip Kennedy (Liverpool Football Club)
Graham Paul Roberts (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London)
Terence Ian Butcher (Ipswich Town Football Club)
Michael
Duxburry (Manchester
United Football Club)
Alvin
Edward Martin (West
Ham United Football Club-London)
Terence
William Fenwick (Queens Park Rangers Football Club-London)
Mark Wright (Southampton Football Club)
Mark Wright (Southampton Football Club)
Kenneth
Graham Sansom (Arsenal
Football Club-London)
Midfielders
/ Forwards:
Samuel
Lee (Liverpool
Football Club)
Bryan Robson (Manchester United Football Club)
Raymond Colin Wilkins (Manchester United Football Club)
Graeme Rix (Arsenal Football Club-London)
Bryan Robson (Manchester United Football Club)
Raymond Colin Wilkins (Manchester United Football Club)
Graeme Rix (Arsenal Football Club-London)
John
Charles Gregory (Queens Park Rangers Football Club-London)
Mark
Valentine Chamberlain (Stoke City Football Club)
Stephen
Kenneth Hunt (West Bromwich Albion Football Club)
John Charles Bryan Barnes (Watford Football Club)
Gary Winston Lineker (Leicester City Football Club)
Anthony Stewart Woodcock (Arsenal Football Club-London)
Trevor John Francis (Unione Calcio Sampdoria –Genova / Italy)
John Charles Bryan Barnes (Watford Football Club)
Gary Winston Lineker (Leicester City Football Club)
Anthony Stewart Woodcock (Arsenal Football Club-London)
Trevor John Francis (Unione Calcio Sampdoria –Genova / Italy)
Paul
Anthony Walsh (Luton
Town Football Club)
David Armstrong (Southampton Football Club)
David Armstrong (Southampton Football Club)
Luther
Loide Blissett (Associazione
Calcio Milan / Italy)
Coach:
Robert William Robson
Scotland:
Players
who took part in the matches:
Goalkeepers:
James Leighton (Aberdeen Football Club
Limited)
Defenders:
Charles
‘Richard’ Gough (Dundee United Football Club)
Douglas
Rougvie (Aberdeen Football Club Limited)
Alexander
McLeish (Aberdeen Football Club Limited)
Robert
Sime ‘Roy’ Aitken (The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow)
Arthur
Richard Albiston (Manchester United Football Club / England)
William
Fergus Miller (Aberdeen Football Club Limited)
Midfielders
/ Forwards:
Graeme
James Souness (Liverpool Football Club
/ England)
Gordon
David Strachan (Aberdeen Football Club Limited)
Paul
Michael Lyons McStay (The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow)
Francis
Peter McGarvey (The Celtic Football Club-Glasgow)
Mark
Edward McGhee (Aberdeen Football Club Limited)
David
Dodds (Dundee United Football Club)
Peter
Russell Weir (Aberdeen Football Club Limited)
Paul
Whitehead Sturrock (Dundee United Football Club)
Maurice
Johnston (Watford Football Club / England)
James
Bett (Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren / Belgium)
David
Cooper (Rangers Football Club -Glasgow)
John
Wark (Liverpool Football Club / England)
Steven
Archibald (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London / England)
Coach:
John ‘Jock’ Stein
Northern
Ireland:
Players
who took part in the matches:
Goalkeepers:
Patrick
Anthony Jennings (Arsenal Football Club-London / England)
James
Archibald Platt (Ballymena United Football Club)
Defenders:
James
Michael Nicholl (Rangers Football Club-Glasgow / Scotland)
Malachy
Martin Donaghy (Luton Town Football Club / England)
John
McClelland (Rangers Football Club-Glasgow / Scotland)
Gerard
M.A. McElhinney (Bolton Wanderers Football Club / England)
Nigel
Worthington (Sheffield Wednesday Football Club / England)
Colin
Frederick Hill (Arsenal Football Club-London / England) (non-playing substitute)
Midfielders
/ Forwards:
Paul
Christopher Ramsey (Leicester City Football Club / England)
George
‘Terence’ Cochrane (Gillingham Football Club / England)
John
Patrick O'Neill (Leicester City Football Club / England)
Samuel
Baxter McIlroy (Stoke City Football Club / England)
William
Robert Hamilton (Burnley Football Club / England)
Norman
Whiteside (Manchester United Football Club / England)
Ian
Edwin Stewart (Queens Park Rangers Football Club-London / England)
Martin
Hugh Michael O'Neill (Notts County
Football Club-Nottingham / England)
Gerard
Joseph Armstrong (Real
Club Deportivo Mallorca / Spain)
James
Martin Quinn (Swindon Town Football Club / England) (non-playing substitute)
Coach:
William Laurence Bingham
Wales:
Players
who took part in the matches:
Goalkeepers:
Neville
Southall (Everton
Football Club-Liverpool / England)
Andrew
Gerald Dibble (Cardiff
City Football Club / Wales, registered in
English League) (non-playing substitute)
Defenders:
Jeffrey
Hopkins (Fulham Football
Club-London / England)
Joseph
Patrick Jones (Chelsea Football Club-London / England)
Kevin
Ratcliffe (Everton
Football Club-Liverpool / England)
Robert
Mark James (Stoke City Football Club / England)
Paul
Terence Price (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club-London / England)
David
Owen Phillips (Plymouth Argyle Football Club / England)
Neil
John Slatter (Bristol Rovers Football Club / England) (non-playing substitute)
Midfielders
/ Forwards:
Jeremy
Melvyn Charles (Queens Park Rangers Football Club-London / England)
Kenneth Francis Jackett (Watford Football Club / England)
Brian
Flynn (Burnley Football
Club / England)
Michael
Reginald ‘Mickey’ Thomas (Chelsea Football Club-London / England)
Alan
Thomas Curtis (Southampton Football Club / England)
Ian
James Rush (Liverpool Football Club / England)
Gordon
John Davies (Fulham Football Club-London / England)
Alan
Davies (Manchester United Football Club / England)
Mark
Leslie Hughes (Manchester United Football Club / England)
Nigel
Mark Vaughan (Cardiff City Football Club / Wales, registered in English League)
Glyn Peter Hodges (Wimbledon Football Club-London / England) (non-playing substitute)
Peter
Nicholas (Arsenal Football
Club-London / England) (non-playing substitute)
Coach: Harold Michael England
1984
Home Championship Matches:
December
13, 1983- Belfast -Windsor Park
Referee: Neil Midgley (England)
Northern Ireland : Pat Jennings, Jimmy Nicholl, Mal
Donaghy, John McClelland, Gerard McElhinney, Paul Ramsey, Terry Cochrane (John
O'Neill 86th) , Sammy McIlroy, Billy
Hamilton, Norman
Whiteside, Ian Stewart
Scotland: Jim Leighton, Richard Gough, Doug Rougvie, Graeme
Souness (Captain), Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan, Paul McStay, Frank McGarvey
(Mark McGhee 60th), Davie Dodds, Peter Weir
February
28, 1984- Glasgow - Hampden Park
Referee: Jack Poucher (Northern Ireland)
Scotland 2-Wales 1 (David Cooper 37pen, Maurice Johnston 78 /
Robbie James 47)
Scotland: 1-Jim Leighton, 2-Richard Gough, 3-Arthur Albiston, 4-Graeme Souness (Captain), 5-Alex McLeish, 6-Willie Miller, 7-Paul Sturrock, 8-Paul McStay (14-Roy Aitken 64th), 9-Frank
McGarvey (15-Maurice Johnston 46th), 10-Jim Bett, 11-Davie Cooper
Wales: 1-Neville Southall, 2-Jeff Hopkins, 3-Joey Jones, 5-Jeremy Charles, 6-Kevin
Ratcliffe (captain), 7-Robbie James, 4-Kenny Jackett, 8-Brian Flynn, 10-Mickey Thomas, 11-Alan
Curtis (13-Paul Price 84th), 9-Ian Rush (16-Gordon
Davies 64th)
April
4, 1984- Wembley Stadium
Referee: Ronald Bridges (Wales)
England 1-Northern Ireland 0 (Tony Woodcock 49)
England: Peter Shilton, Viv Anderson, Alan Kennedy, Sammy
Lee, Graham Roberts, Terry Butcher, Bryan Robson (captain) , Ray Wilkins, Trevor John Francis, Tony
Woodcock, Graeme Rix
Northern Ireland: Jim Platt, Jimmy Nicholl, Mal Donaghy, John
McClelland, Gerard McElhinney, Martin O'Neill (captain), Gerry Armstrong , Sammy
McIlroy, Billy Hamilton, Norman Whiteside, Ian Stewart
May
2, 1984- Wrexham -Racecourse Ground
Referee: David Syme (Scotland)
Wales 1-England 0 (Mark Hughes 17)
Wales: Neville Southall, David Phillips, Joey Jones, Robbie
James, Jeff Hopkins, Kevin Ratcliffe, Gordon
Davies, Alan Davies, Ian Rush, Mickey Thomas,
Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes
England: Peter Shilton, Mike Duxburry, Alan Kennedy, Sammy
Lee, Alvin Martin (Terry Fenwick 81st), Mark Wright, John Gregory, Ray Wilkins
(Captain), Paul Walsh, Tony Woodcock,
David Armstrong (Luther Blissett 77th)
May
22, 1984- Swansea-Vetch Field
Referee: Brian McGinlay (Scotland)
Wales 1- Northern Ireland 1 (Mark Hughes 51 / Gerry
Armstrong 71)
Wales: Neville Southall,
Kevin Ratcliffe, David
Phillips, Joey Jones, Alan Davies, Jeff Hopkins, Robbie James,
Gordon John Davies (Nigel Vaughan 75th), Kenny Jackett,
Ian Rush, Mark Hughes
Other
Subs: Andy Dibble, Neil Slatter,
Glyn Hodges, Peter Nicholas
Northern Ireland : Pat Jennings (Jim Platt 38th), Mal Donaghy, Nigel
Worthington, Gerard McElhinney, John McClelland, Sammy McIlroy, Martin Hugh
O'Neill (captain), Ian Stewart, Gerry
Armstrong, Billy Hamilton, Norman Whiteside
Other
Subs: Colin Hill, Paul Ramsey, Jimmy Quinn, Terry Cochrane
May
26, 1984- Glasgow - Hampden Park
Referee: Paolo Casarin (Italy)
Scotland: 1-Jim
Leighton, 2-Richard Gough, 3- Arthur Albiston, 4-John Wark, 5-Alex McLeish, 6- Willie Miller (captain), 7- Gordon Strachan (14- Paul McStay
63rd), 8- Steven Archibald, 9-Mark McGhee (16-Maurice Johnston 63rd
), 10- Jim Bett, 11-Davie Cooper
England :1- Peter Shilton, 2- Mike Duxburry, 3- Kenny Sansom,
4- Ray Wilkins, 5- Graham Roberts, 6- Terry Fenwick, 7- Mark Chamberlain
(15-Stephen Hunt 75th ), 8- Bryan Robson (captain), 9- Tony Woodcock (16-Gary Lineker 73rd ), 10-
Luther Blissett, 11- John Barnes
Final
table P W
D L GF GA GD
Pts
1-Northern
Ireland 3 1 1 1 3
2 +1 3
2-Wales 3
1 1 1 3 3
0 3
3-England 3 1 1
1 2 2 0 3
4-Scotland 3
1 1 1 3 4
–1 3
P-Played,
W-Win, D-Draw, L-Loss, GF-Goals For, GA-Goals Against, GD-Goal Difference,
Pts-Points
Top
Goalscorer-Mark Hughes (Wales), Tony Woodcock (England) 2 goals
Hello my friend
ReplyDeletefirst of all congratulations for this blog
I really enjoy reading your posts
my question is:
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the same for the magazines that you have ( I want those of 1992 and 1993 )
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greeting
Interesting to note that the England v Scotland match at Hampden Park featured an Italian referee. I wonder if this was the only Home Championships match to feature a non-British referee?
ReplyDeletei believe going back to teh 50s , all england and scotland matchups had foreign non-british referees
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