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Match No. 7 vs. Scotland Match No. 9 vs. Scotland Match Results


England National Football Team Match No. 8

England 2 Wales 1 [2-0]
*played for only 60 minutes, 30 minutes per half.

Saturday, 18 January 1879

Match Summary and Report

Match Summary and Report Team Records England Pre-Match Wales Pre-Match

 

Match Summary
Status: Friendly match
Venue: The Surrey Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington, London
Attendance: Anything from 85 to 300.
Notes: The Field on 25 January 1879, reported an attendance of just 85.
Goals: England - Herbert Whitfield, 8th minute;
England - Thomas Heathcote Sorby 20th minute;
Wales - William Henry Davies, 45th-47th minute;
Cautions: None.
Expulsions: None.
Officials: Referee - Segar R. Bastard, 24 (25-Jan-1854), Bow, London;
Umpires -
Notes: Umpires and Referees are of equal relevance.
Conditions: Pitch covered in snow.
Miscellany: Both opposing captains agree to play only 30 minutes per half - due to the atrocious weather conditions.
Notes: England's Reverend W. Blackmore withdrew before the game - Rupert Anderson, a forward, replaced Blackmore in goal.
Notes: Some sources/tales suggest that William Clegg turned up 20 minutes late for the game.  Clegg, a solicitor, was working late on a case (the trial of Charlie Peace, the Banner Cross murderer) and unable to leave Sheffield for London on the Friday night.  The next morning, the southbound train with Clegg on it, was delayed by heavy snow.
Statistics:

Not known.

England Team
Ranking:

No official ranking system established; 2nd in Elo world ranking both before and after this match.

Colours: -
Coach: None; team selection by the Football Association Committee with secretary Charles W. Alcock having the primary influence.
Captain: Not known with any certainty.
Notes: Newspaper reports of the time conflict on who was the actual captain against Wales.  Three reports, The Field, The Sportsman and Football Annual give the captaincy to Arthur Cursham, whilst The London Times, Athletic News and Bell's Life, gives it to Henry Wace.  The fact that Charles Alcock's own Football Annual lists Cursham makes us favour the Notts County forward, but one can never be sure and we will not commit ourselves with any degree of certainty.

England Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
-Anderson, Rupert Darnley 29-Apr-1859 19 G

Old Etonians FC

 1 1 GA 1879
-Bury, Lindsay 09-Jul-1857 21 B Old Etonians FC 2 0 1877-79
-Wilson, Claude W. 09-Sep-1858 20 B

Oxford University FC

 1 0 1879-1881
-Bailey, Norman C. 23-Jul-1857 21 HB

Clapham Rovers FC

 2 0 1878-1887
-Clegg, William E. 21-Apr-1852 20 F

Sheffield Albion FC

 2 0 1873-1879
-Parry, Edward H. 24-Apr-1855 23 F

Old Carthusians FC

 1 0 1879-1882
-Sorby, Thomas Heathcote 16-Feb-1856 22 F

Thursday Wanderers FC

 1 1 1879
-Cursham, Arthur W. 14-Mar-1853 24 F Notts County FC 4 1 1876-1883
-Wace, Henry 21-Sep-1853 25 F

Wanderers FC

 2 0 1878-1879
-Mosforth, William early-1858 20/21 F

Sheffield Albion FC

 3 0 1877-82
-Whitfield, Herbert 25-Nov-1858 20 F

Old Etonians FC

 1 1 1879
Formation:

-

-

Wales Team
Ranking:

No official ranking system established; 3rd in Elo world ranking both before and after this match.

Colours: -
Coach: None;
Captain: Samuel Llewellyn Kenrick.
Notes: Only one source suggests Samuel Llewellyn Kenrick, the rest remain silent. He was, afterall, the founder of the Football of Wales, and the captain in his first two international appearances.

 Wales Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
-Glascodine, George NK NK G

Wrexham AFC

 1 0 1879
-Kenrick, Samuel Llewellyn summer-1847 31 B

Oswestry FC

 3 0 1876-1881
-Higham, George Garnett summer-1855 23 B

Oswestry FC

 2 0 1878-1879
-Williams, William NK NK B

Oswestry FC

 3 0 1876-1883
-Owen, Thomas NK NK B

Oswestry FC

 1 0 1879
-Davies, William Henry NK NK F

Oswestry FC

 3 1 1876-1880
-Shone, Watkin William early-1858 20/21 F

Oswestry FC

 1 0 1879
-Heywood, Dennis, left the field injured. NK NK F

Druids FC

 1 0 1879
-Price, John NK NK F

Wrexham AFC

 3 0 1877-1883
-Owen, William Digby summer-1857 21 F

Oswestry FC

 1 0 1879
-Roberts, William NK NK F

Llangollen FC

 1 0 1879-1883
Formation:

-

-
Notes: Dennis Heywood left the field injured before the end of play.

Match Report

 

Source Notes

 
notes

"Tom" and Digby Owen were not brothers.  Digby Owen, who was a private tutor, died of  pneumonia on June 2, 1901, at the age of only 44.  Thomas Owen, is believed to be the  father of famous wartime poet Wilfred Owen.  He was a railwayman who died on October 17, 1931, at the age of 70. - IFFHS

Sources

Official Programme, England vs. Albania, 26 April 1989.
Cris Freddi: Football Historian
Welsh Football Data Archive
TheFA.com
Wrexham.Gov.uk: The story of Welsh football
IFFHS.de
FreeBMD.org.uk
Rothmans Yearbooks

CG