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31 vs. Scotland
 
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37 vs. Scotland

 
Saturday, 17 March 1888
British International Championship 1887-88 (5th) Match


Scotland 0 England 5 [0-4]
 

Hampden Park, Cathcart Road, Crosshill, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Kick-off (GMT): 'exactly at 3:42'; 'precisely seventeen minutes to four'; 'commenced at 3.44'.

Attendance: 'many thousands'; 'before 14,000 spectators'; 'fully 18,000 spectators'; 'presence of about 20,000'.

England's second visit to this Hampden Park;
ninth visit to Glasgow, to Lanarkshire and to Scotland, first victory
William Sellar kicked-off Tinsley Lindley won the toss









twentieth competitive first half goal>
[0-1] George Haworth header 32
'placing the ball neatly...from a corner'
The Independent states that Howarth (Accrington) placed the ball neatly, following a corner kick. The  Daily Echo states that Howarth scored for England. The Evening Post says that England scored first, by the aid of Howarth.
[0-2]
Dennis Hodgetts 31
'swift low shot from another corner'
[0-3]
Fred Dewhurst header 40
'header...from a Woodhall overhead kick'
[0-4]
John Goodall 43
'from a Dewhurst free-kick'
thirtieth competitive second half goal> [0-5] Fred Dewhurst 49
'an impossible shot to save'
"During the week a large quantity of snow fell, and up till Friday evening, the country was wholly covered. The ground was made all right by this morning."
 
Match Summary
Officials [umpires and referees are of equal relevance]

Scotland

Team Records England
Umpires FATAL ACCIDENT
On Saturday afternoon as the spectators were leaving Hampden Park, Glasgow after the international match between England and Scotland, a hansom conveying a reporter from the field to the telegraph office ran over a gentleman. He was taken in an ambulance waggon to the Royal Infirmary, and died in the evening. It was afterwards ascertained that his name was William M'Millan, aged 57, Florence Street, Glasgow. - Dundee Courier, Monday, 19 March 1888
Alexander Kennedy
35 (13 March 1853)
SFA President
Morton Peto Betts
40 (30 August 1847),
Old Harrovians FC
, Middlesex
played for Scotland in 1875-76, 78 played for England in 1871-77
Referee
John Sinclair

32 (27 August 1855), Belfast (Irish FA) P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 13 A 6
played in the 1882 England-Ireland fixture
 

Scotland Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 1st
Colours Blue shirts, white shorts
Captain Donald Gow Selection The Scottish Football Association Selection Committee, chosen, following a trial match.
only match, W 0 - D 0 - L 1 - F 0 - A 5. team chosen on Friday, 24 February 1888
Scotland Lineup
146   Lindsay, John 26
61 days
16 January 1862 G Renton FC 1 5ᵍᵃ
  Arnott, Walter 26
310 days
12 May 1861 RB Queen's Park FC 9 0
147   Gow, Donald Robertson 20
38 days
8 February 1868 LB Rangers FC 1 0
only app 1888
  Kelso, Robert Robison 22
167 days
2 October 1865 RHB Renton FC 6 0
  Kelly, James 23
52 days
25 January 1865 CHB Renton FC 2 0
  Keir, Leitch 26
269 days
22 June 1861 LHB Dumbarton FC 4 1
final app 1885-88
  Hamilton, Alexander 22
237 days
24 July 1865 OR Queen's Park FC 4 0
final app 1885-88
148   Berry, William Hall 20
210 days
20 August 1867 IR Queen's Park FC 1 0
  Sellar, William 23
148 days
21 October 1864 CF Battlefield FC 5 0
  McCall, James 23
15 days
2 March 1865 IL Renton FC 4 2
  Lambie, John Alexander 19
90 days
18 December 1868 OL Queen's Park FC 2 1
final app 1887-88
reserves: not known
records: Scotland's heaviest defeat, and their first competitive defeat, as well as a first defeat since April 1879, also against England, a run of 22 matches.
It is also Scotland's eighteenth home match, and their first defeat.
 
2-3-5 Lindsay -
Arnott, Gow -
Kelso, Kelly, Keir -
Hamilton, Berry, Sellar, McCall, Lambie
Averages: Age 23 years 45 days Appearances/Goals 3.5 0.4

 

England Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 2nd
Colours White shirts, navy blue knickerbockers

Captain
Tinsley Lindley Selection The seven-man FA International Selection Committee
P 2 of 4, W 2 - D 0 - L 0 - F 10 - A 1. P 2 of 195, W 2 - D 0 - L 0 - F 10 - A 1.
¹ team chosen at The Oval in Kennington on Saturday, 10 March 1888.
England Lineup
(two changes to the previous match)
Moon, William R. 19
290 days
7 June 1868 G Old Westminsters AFC & Corinthians FC 2    1ᵍᵃ
  Walters, Percy M. 24
169 days
30 September 1863 RB

Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC

8 0
  Howarth, Robert H. 22
271 days
20 June 1865 LB Preston North End FC 3 0
Haworth, George 23
152 days
17 October 1864 RHB Accrington FC 4 1
  Allen, Harry 22
58 days
19 January 1866 CHB Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 2 0
  Holden-White, Cecil H.
 
27
135 days
3 November 1860
 
LHB
 
Swifts FC, Clapham Rovers FC & Corinthians FC 2 0
final ever Swift & Clapham player final app 1888
  Woodhall, George 24
194 days
5 September 1863 OR West Bromwich Albion FC 2 1
final app 1888
Goodall, John 24
272 days
19 June 1863 IR Preston North End FC 2 1
  Lindley, Tinsley 22
142 days
27 October 1865 CF Nottingham Forest FC & Corinthians FC 8 9
Dewhurst, Frederick 24
92 days
16 December 1863 IL Preston North End FC & Corinthians FC 7 10
the 21sth brace scored Dewhurst's third
Hodgetts, H. Dennis 24
110 days
28 November 1863 OL Aston Villa FC 2 1

               
reserves: at least Jack Keenan (Burnley FC) and Davie Weir (Bolton Wanderers FC).
team changes: James Forrest (Blackburn Rovers FC) withdrew from the line-up, replaced by Cecil Holden-White.
team notes: Percy Walters' brother, Arthur, also plays for England in 1885-87.
appearance notes: Tinsley Lindley and Percy Walters are the seventh/eighth players to make eight England appearances, whereas Fred Dewhurst is the eleventh player to make seven.
George Haworth is the 25th player to have made four or more England appearances, whereas forty players have done so for more than three, only 76 have done so more than once.
records: For the fourth time in 15½ years, England have started a match without any debutants.
Fred Dewhurst's breaks Charlie Bambridge's record (scoring ten in his first eight appearances), by scoring ten goals in his first seven appearances. His two goals at this venue is also a record.
This is England's first ever away victory over Scotland, and the first clean sheet in the country since the very first visit. It is only their third overall victory at seventeen attempts.
It is also England's first competitive victory over Scotland, and their first competitive clean sheet against Scotland.
 
2-3-5 Moon -
Walters, Howarth -
Haworth, Allen, Holden-White -
Woodhall, Goodall, Lindley, Dewhurst, Hodgetts
Averages: Age 23 years 237 days Appearances/Goals 3.8    1.6
"The teams were entertained after the match, in the George Hotel, by the Scottish Association, and the Englishmen left for home by the 9 5 p.m. train from the Central Station." - Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, Monday, 19 March 1888.
  
England previous teams vs. Scotland:
1887:

Roberts

P.Walters

A.Walters

Haworth Bailey Forrest Lofthouse Dewhurst Lindley

Cobbold

Bambridge

1888: Moon Howarth Allen Holden-White Woodhall Goodall Dewhurst Hodgetts

 

       Match Report Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Monday, 19 March 1888

The Association International match for this year was played on Hampden Park, Glasgow, on Saturday, before 14,000 spectators. Both sides were well represented, the eleven from England being looked upon as the best and strongest combination ever sent over the border to oppose the Scotchmen at what was, not so many years ago, considered their own game. The players that represented Scotland on Saturday were about the best that could have been chosen, but it was conceded that the English eleven were superior men all round, and during the progress of the play the liveliest interest and excitement were evinced by the spectators as their favourites made some good points of play. During the week a large quantity of snow fell, and up till Friday evening, the country was wholly covered. However, the ground was made all right by this morning, and excepting that the going was a little heavy, everything favoured a rattling game. The play for the first quarter of an hour was cautious, but after that the Englishmen put on pressure, and had several shires at the Scotch goal, Lindsay doing immense work of a saving kind. The Englishmen, however, after forty minutes' play, got a corner kick, and Howarth (Accrington) placing the ball neatly, the first goal fell to England. When, two minutes afterwards, from another corner kick, England scored a second goal, consternation was expressed by all, as it seemed all up with Scotland. Yet another point fell to the visitors in about five minutes, the ball being cleverly headed through by Dewhurst (North End). Three goals to none fairly surprised everyone, and it was felt impossible, under the most favouring of circumstances, for Scotland to make up the loss. The fourth point for England was taken from a foul just in front of the Scotch posts, and was easily secured indeed. What a surprise to Scotchmen this was—four goals to none, and half-time near at hand! but so it was, and no mistake. The Englishmen kept at it, and fairly smothered their opponents, who seemed to be perfectly bewildered. Half-time brought no change. The second portion was not very old when Dewhurst put on a fifth goal for England. This was piling on the agony in earnest; but, do all they could, the Scotch were unable to score, although they played up wonderfully well. The second half of the game was only conspicuous in this respect, that the Scotchmen offered a stubborn resistance to the encroachments of their opponents, but they could not make any headway against the Englishmen, who, man for man, were clearly better players than themselves. The spectators seemed also of this opinion, as they derisively called upon the best known of the Scotch team to play up, and at least score a goal. This the Scotchmen could not do, although for the last five minutes of the game they hemmed in their opponents very much. The visitors won the match on their merits, as they were far and away a superior lot to the Scotch eleven.
  

       Match Report The Times, Monday, 19 March 1888

Many thousand spectators were present at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on Saturday, when the international contest was played under Association rules. Hitherto the Scotch have been most fortunate in these engagements, having registered ten victories against two by their opponents. On this occasion, however, England placed a strong eleven in the field, which gained a complete mastery over their rivals...
A further corner kick fell to England; this was well placed by Howarth, and Allen headed the ball between the posts. This was almost immediately supplemented with a second goal, kicked by Dewhurst after a corner, while the same player soon headed a third. Scotland played up very smartly, but before half-time a fourth goal was gained by their rivals after a foul...
A combined run was effected by Dewhurst and Goodall, which ended in the former kicking a fifth goal...
It was generally admitted that the English eleven was one of the best at all points that has visited Scotland.

 

       North British Daily Mail, Monday, 19 March 1888

The great fault, one cannot help designating it defect, in all previous international elevens, was lack of combination and want of staying power among the forwards, but this could not be laid to their charge on Saturday, for their dribbling, passing and general play were splendid, and much admired by all who saw the contest, and we can scarcely single out individual worth...
  

       Daily Mail, Monday, 19 March 1888

The Scottish forwards could not match their English counterparts for speed and fitness...
  
              In Other News....
It was on 16 March 1888 that the first German Emperor, Wilhelm the Great, was buried in Berlin. He had died, seven days earlier, at the age of 90.
  
Other selected Football Results (17 March 1888)
Friendly matches:
Although other friendly matches were played on this day, specifically Derby County—Everton, Grimsby Town—Burton Wanderers and Inter-Association matches between Gloucestershire—Somersetshire and Lincolnshire—Norfolk, none, however, were impacted by, or to, the England fixture.
Nottingham Forest, without Tinsley Lindley, were due to meet Wednesday at Olive Grove in Sheffield, but were unable to fulfill their fixture because of insufficient players.
Blackburn Rovers 4 Aston Villa 6
   Leamington Ground, Blackburn (2,000)
Southworth (2), Walton (2)
~ Burton, Garvey, Green, Brown (2), nk
Villa were without Denny Hodgetts
  
Crewe Alexandra 1 Preston North End 1
   Alexandra Ground, Crewe (3,000)
Ellis ~ Ross
North End were without Bob Howarth, John Goodall and Fred Dewhurst
  

      Source Notes

TheFA
Scottish FA
Cris Freddi's England Football Factbook
ScottishSportHistory: Andy Mitchell (incl. Heritage numbering)
  LondonHearts.com
The Football Association Yearbook
James Corbett's England Expects
Original Newspaper Reports
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