1901–02 British Home Championship

The collapsed Western Tribune Stand

The 1901-02 British Home Championship was an international football tournament between the British Home Nations which was meant to herald the arrival of the full professional game of football as both England and Scotland fielded fully professional teams for the first time. The championship was however dominated and overshadowed by a disaster during the final deciding match between England and Scotland at Ibrox Park, which claimed 25 lives.^[1] Six minutes into the game, a section of the wooden West Tribune Stand suddenly collapsed due to heavy rainfall the night before.^[2] Over 500 people were injured as the stadium was packed to its 68,000 capacity for the match. Although play was stopped in the immediate aftermath of the disaster as players, police and stewards rushed to aid the injured, it was later continued. The continued match finished 1–1 despite the players' reluctance and repeated pauses to allow police and injured spectators to cross the pitch. After the match the Scottish and English Football Associations decided to void the result, and the match was replayed at Villa Park.^[3] All proceeds from the replay were contributed to the Disaster Fund set up to aid victims of the accident.^[4]

Ireland kicked off the tournament in fine style, beating Wales 3–0 in Cardiff with a good performance. Their luck didn't hold out in their second game however, thumped 5–1 by an impressive Scottish side in Greenock. Scotland continued their run of good form against Wales, with another 5–1 victory, setting them up as tournament favourites going into the final games. England had played poorly in their opening matches, drawing 0–0 with Wales and scrambling a 1–0 victory over the Irish. The final match up was marred by tragedy and the game was eventually relocated to England due to the turmoil in the Scottish football community as a result of the disaster. The match was fiercely fought and ended with a 2–2 draw, sharing the points but giving the trophy to the Scots.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Scotland	5	3	2	1	0	12	4	+8
England	4	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1
Ireland	2	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2
Wales	1	3	0	1	2	1	8	−7

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Results

Wales v Ireland

22 February 1902

Wales	0 – 3	Ireland
		Andy Gara 3

Ninian Park, Cardiff

Ireland v Scotland

1 March 1902

Ireland	1 – 5	Scotland
Robert Milne 88'		43', 70', 74' RC Hamilton 49' Bobby Walker 76' Albert Buick

Grosvenor Park, Belfast
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Frederick Bye (England)

Wales v England

3 March 1902

Wales	0 – 0	England

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Scotland v Wales

15 March 1902

Scotland	5 – 1	Wales
John Robertson 38' Albert Buick 47' Alec Smith 50' Bobby Walker 55' John Campbell 88'		Hugh Morgan-Owen

Cappielow Park, Greenock
Attendance: 5,284
Referee: Joseph McBride (Ireland)

Ireland v England

22 March 1902

Ireland	0 – 1	England
		Jimmy Settle

Balmoral Showgrounds, Belfast

Scotland v England

5 April 1902

Scotland	Result Void 1–1	England
Sandy Brown		Jimmy Settle

Ibrox Park, Glasgow

England v Scotland

Replay
3 May 1902

England	2 – 2	Scotland
Jimmy Settle 65' Albert Wilkes 67'		3' Bobby Templeton 28' Ronald Orr

Villa Park, Birmingham
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: James Torrans (Ireland)

Notes

↑ Ibrox Park and the greatest loss of all, scotsman.com Heritage & Culture, Retrieved 1 June 2007
↑ The Fatalities of the Ibrox Disaster of 1902, Robert Shields, The Sports Historian 1998, Retrieved on 1 June 2007
↑ The Scotland Match at Ibrox Park in 1902, England Football Online, Peter Young, Retrieved 1 June 2007
↑ 1902 Newspaper Report, Scotland: The complete record 1872 to 2005, Retrieved 1 June 2007

References

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

British Home Championship

Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Competitors	England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Seasons	1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 First World War 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 Second World War 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84

Rous Cup Nations Cup Matches outside the British Home Championship

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