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Results 1891-1900
Page Last Updated 17 February 2024 Éireann
 
 
59 vs. Ireland
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61 vs. Scotland
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next match (23 days)
63 vs. Wales

64 vs. Scotland
 
65 vs. Ireland
Saturday, 5 March 1898
Home International Championship 1897-98 (15th) Match


Ireland 2 England 3
[1-2]
 









two players lost since last match
Fred Hargreaves (5 April 1897) 38
Joe Beverley (21 May) 40







Football League Record

Cliftonville Gardens, Cliftonville, Belfast, County Antrim
Kick-off (GMT): 'at half-past three'
Attendance: 'over 10,000'; upwards of 12,000 people'; 'close upon 12,000'; '15,000';
Receipt: 'something like £500.'
England's fourth visit to Cliftonville, ninth visit to Belfast, and Ireland; eighth victory
Jim Pyper kicked-off Gilbert Smith won the toss

[1-0] Jim Pyper 18
 'Mercer sent a timely pass to Pyper, who fired straight into the net before Oakley or Williams could reach him; Oakley slipped.'


England's 100th goal against Ireland>
also fiftieth first half goal scored at away venue


[1-1] Charlie Richards 35
'Smith fired a shot that seemed a certainty, but it struck Torrans and rebounded. Driven in again fast by Scott, who had no chance of saving.'
[1-2] Charlie Athersmith 43
Smith dribbled timely from half-way, passed out to Garfield, sent a lovely centre right across the goal, where Athersmith popped the ball in.'
"both teams retired for about five minutes"
Prices of Admission:—Covered Stand, 2s (Entrance by Gate A); Reserved Enclosure, 1s 6d (Entrance by Gate B); Unreserved, 1s, Boys Half-price to all parts.
Tickets for Reserved Enclosure and Unreserved 1s 3d and 9d if purchased on or before Thursday, 2nd March.







[2-3] Joe McAllen c.70
 'Mercer with a good centre from the corner flag, placed the ball at M'Allen's toe, who tipped neatly into the goal.; Robinson ran out to the halfway line for a ball which the backs could easily have got to, and picking it up, held it for some seconds while two or three of the Irishmen were hustling him. He threw it away and made tracks for the posts, but he hardly got back...'
[1-3] Tom Morren 50
'passing forward to Richards, gave to Athersmith, who nicely centred, Morren was well up, and taking the kick, shot a beauty, bounded strongly into the corner of the net.'
Frank Forman injured: ten men c.50
returned to full compliment c.60
[1-3] Charlie Athersmith scores disallowed:offside
<England's fiftieth away goal conceded
  "in the midst of a storm of wet driving snow"
The Dundee Courier, The Scottish Referee and Bristol Mirror states that Athersmith also scored the first and equalising goal, as does a paragraph in the Sporting Life, after its match report gave it to Richards. The Belfast news-letter had a different tale.... Smith, then Richards, then Morren. Northern Whig states the first goal for England came from Smith. The Daily's Telegraph & Express, Daily Nation and The Scottish Referee although confirming Richards, Athersmith and Morren, as does Daily Sketch and Morning Post, also state that Peden scored Ireland's first.

"THE MATCH PLAYED IN A SNOWSTORM" Sporting Life

Officials       

Ireland Team Records England
Referee
Thomas Robertson
34 (9 December 1863), Baldernock, Stirlingshire, Scotland FA
P 4th of 20 - W 3 - D 0 - L 1 - F 17 - A 5. played against England in 1890
"By kind permission of the Colonel and Officers North Staffordshire Regiment, the Band of the Regiment will perform from Two o'clock."
Linesmen
Percy Alexander Timbs
32 (13 June 1865), St. Giles, London
William John Clugston
28 (11 August 1869), Belfast, Ireland
also played against England 1889-93

Ireland Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 6th
Colours "The Irishmen came next, clad in blue shirts and white pants..."
"...to the tune of 'St. Patrick's Day'."
Captain Jimmy Campbell Selection 'Irish Association Selection Committee'
P 1 of 2 - W 0 - D 0 - L 1 - F 2 - A 3. team chosen in Belfast, on Wednesday evening, 22 February 1898
Ireland Lineup
  Scott, Thomas McComb 24
208 days
9 August 1873 G Cliftonville FAC 11 32ᵍᵃ
  Gibson, William Kennedy 21
155 days
1 October 1876
in Crosshill, Scotland
RB Cliftonville FAC 7 1
  Torrans, Samuel 29
29 days
4 February 1869 LB Linfield FAC 21 0
  Anderson, William John Stewart 21
19 days
14 February 1877 RH Linfield FAC 2 0
  Milne, Robert George 27
155 days
1 October 1870
in Inverarity, Scotland
CH Linfield FAC 12 1
  Cochrane, Michael 24
6 days
27 February 1874 LH Distillery FC 2 0
  Campbell, James Caughley 22
181 days
5 September 1875 OR Cliftonville FAC 5 0
  Mercer, John Thomas 20
343 days
27 March 1877 IR Distillery FC 2 0
Pyper, James 21
321 days
18 April 1876 CF Cliftonville FAC 4 2
  Peden, John 34
236 days
12 July 1863 IL Distillery FC 22 7
139 McAllen, Joseph Croft 23
359 days
11 March 1874 OL Linfield FAC 1 1
reserves: not known
team notes: Jim Pyper's brother, Jack, also plays for Ireland.
 
2-3-5 Scott -
Gibson, Torrans -
Anderson, Milne, Cochrane -
Mercer, Campbell, Pyper, Peden, McAllen
Averages: Age 24 years 250 days Appearances/Goals 8.1 0.9

 

England Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 1st
Colours "The English team, wearing white shirts and black pants, were first on the field..."
"...the lively strains of 'The British Grenadiers' heralding their appearance."
Captain Gilbert Smith Selection
Member in charge: Richard Gregson, also in attendance: George Sherrington, Percy Timbs and Charlie Hughes
The five-man FA International Selection Committee
P 5 of 13, W 3 - D 0 - L 2 - F 15 - A 6. P 31st of 195, W 24 - D 4 - L 3 - F 125 - A 30.
fifth, sixth or seventh captaincy team chosen at 61 Chancery Lane, London, on Monday, 14 February 1898.
England Lineup
  seven changes to the previous match (Robinson, Oakley, Athersmith & Smith remain) league position (14th February) ave lge pos: 5th
  Robinson, John W. 27
317 days
22 April 1870 G New Brighton Tower FC 3 4ᵍᵃ
the only Tower player to represent England
  Oakley, William J. 24
312 days
27 April 1873 RB Corinthians FC 8 0
  Williams, William 22
44 days
20 January 1876 LB West Bromwich Albion FC (FL1 3rd) 2 0
236   Forman, Frank, injured off 50th; on 60th min 22
286 days
23 May 1875 RH Nottingham Forest FC (FL1 8th) 1 0
the tenth/eleventh Forester to represent England
237 Morren, Thomas 27
343 days
27 March 1871 CH Sheffield United FC (FL1 TOP) 1 1
the sixth United player to represent England only app 1898
  Turner, James 31
150 days
6 October 1866 LH Derby County FC (FL1 9th) 3 0
the seventh County player to represent England final app 1893-98
Athersmith Harper, W. Charles 25
299 days
10 May 1872 OR Aston Villa FC (FL1 4th) 5 2
238 Richards, Charles H. 22
208 days
9 August 1875 IR Nottingham Forest FC (FL1 8th) 1 1
the tenth/eleventh Forester to represent England only app 1898
  Smith, Gilbert O. 25
100 days
25 November 1872 CF Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 11 4
239   Garfield, Benjamin 26
321 days
21 May 1871 IL West Bromwich Albion FC (FL1 3rd) 1 0
the tenth Albionite to represent England only app 1898
  Wheldon, G. Frederick 28
123 days
2 November 1869 OL Aston Villa FC (FL1 4th) 2 3
reserves: not known
team notes: As England scored their third goal, Frank Forman was injured in the leg after being hacked by Peden and had to leave the field for treatment, but returned after ten minutes.
appearance notes: Gilbert Smith is the eighth player to have made eleven England appearances, whereas Bill Oakley, is the sixteenth to have made eight.
Charlie Athersmith is the 34th England player to have made five appearances. 84 have now made three and 134 have played for England more than once.
Smith is the third to have made eleven appearances under the guidance of the ISC, whereas Oakley is the sixth to have made six.
debut goal notes: Charlie Richards and Tommy Morren are the 42nd-43rd England players to score on their debuts, 26th-27th in a competitive match. The first time for three years two-or-more players have scored on their debut. The first time since 1879 neither will star for England again.
"The English team, under the charge of Mr. R. P. Gregson, journeyed from Fleetwood, on Thursday, and had a good passage. Arrived in Belfast early on Friday morning, and stayed at the Royal Avenue Hotel. The Englishmen spent Friday in visiting the Empire Music Hall, accompanied by the Irish eleven and their officials."
"We may mention that on Friday the members of the English team and their friends were shown over the distilleries and offices of Messrs. Dunville & Co., Limited, by the Secretary, Mr. M'Dowell. They expressed themselves much pleased with what they saw."
"...while they were also the recipients of a 'shamrock' pendant from Mr. David Wightman, as a souvenir of their visit."
 
2-3-5 Robinson -
Oakley, Williams -
Forman, Morren, Turner -
Athersmith, Richards, Smith, Garfield, Wheldon.
Averages: Age 25 years 324 days Appearances/Goals 3.5 0.7
       Match Report Northern Whig, Monday, 7 March 1898

The seventeenth match under Association rules between Ireland and England took place at Cliftonville on Saturday in the presence of 10,000 people. The English players, who arrived in Belfast on Friday morning, were esteemed a fairly strong eleven, though certainly not the strongest available. The Irish team was composed exclusively of Belfast players—four from Cliftonville, four from Linfield, and three from Distillery. The ground as the result of te heavy rains of the early part of the week and the subsequent frost was in a horrible state to begin with, and a heavy snowstorm coming on just before the start lasted through the greater part of the game, making the playing surface still worse, and interfering greatly with the accuracy of the play. A poor game, in which the home side showed up far better that had been hoped or expected, ended in a win for the Englishmen by three to two.
  Pyper started the game towards the pavilion goal, and the English left half missing, the ball came to Oakley, who in clearing handled the ball and got penalised. From the free the English forwards got away, Smith being prominent thus early for some tricky work. Gibson returned finely, and Foreman in tackling received a nasty kick from Peden, which caused play to be stopped for a few minutes. On resuming Wheldon and his partner got away, and Garfield headed into goal. Torrans clearing at the expense of a corner. Scott next kicked away a tame shot from Smith, and, Gibson sending well down the field, the ball was passed to Mercer, who was lying well up, and who, weathering Turner, centred well. Oakley slipped up in attempting to kick, and Pyper rushing up had no difficulty in shooting through, registering the first score for Ireland after fifteen minutes' play. Up to this time the English forwards had been shaping very indifferently, slipping about sadly on the greasy ground, and mispassing frequently. The Irish were playing the rushing game, and playing it very well indeed, being far more at home on the miry ground. England attacked, and for ten minutes held the homesters pinned inside their half, shots being sent over the bar and outside the post, while Scott got rid of one or two dangerous ones from Athersmith, who was fed persistently, and given any number of chances. Ireland at length got away, and Peden and his partner had a good run, the former sending the ball tamely into Robinson's hands. The snow now ceased, and the English play improved considerably, some nice pieces of close passing and dribbling being displayed. Still the defence of the Irish backs was remarkably sound and the game was thirty-five minutes old before Athersmith gave Smith a nice pass, which enabled the English centre to equalise the score. Still attacking and putting a little more life into their play, the English forwards gave the Irish defence a warm time of it, and three minutes before the interval a pretty dribble by Smith ended in his passing out to Garfield. The latter, though, pressed, got in a lovely centre from the corner flag right across the mouth of goal, and Athersmith, timing the ball nicely, banged it past Scott in the net. Half-time found the score—England, 2 goals; Ireland, 1 goal.
   Smith restarted, tipping the ball to the inside right, and the ball was dribbled down on the left, where a corner was forced from Torrans. From some smart play about the home goal, the ball came out to Morren, who finding an opening, beat Scott for the third time five minutes after the restart. Pyper restarted, and was mainly responsible for an incursion into English territory, where the ball was sent behind. The snow now recommenced, ultimately changing to a drizzling rain. The Irishmen now pulled themselves together finely, and for ten minutes the ball was kept in the English half, several long shots being tried with poor success by Milne, Mercer, and M'Allen. One of J. Campbell's, however, gave Robinson enough to do. At last Athersmith, who played finely in this half, got away, and, beating Cochrane, forced a corner from Torrans. It was badly placed, and Peden, getting away, kicked hard past Foreman. The English goalkeeper ran nearly to the half-way to meet the ball, and, handling it, was charged by three of the Irishmen while holding it. Ultimately he got rid of it, but barely had he reached his posts again when Mercer shot in from his right, and M'Allen, catching the pass neatly, tipped the leather softly enough past the unfortunate Robinson into the net. A tremendous cheer greeted this second score for Ireland. The remaining twenty minutes' play was largely a promiscuous scramble in the mud, of which one side had as much as the other. Scott made one or two good saves—notably one from Smith, which he just reached by falling across the goal. Scott had more to do than the English goalkeeper, but proved equal to the occasion, and let no more past him. Try as they would, the Englishmen could not beat the defence, nor could the Irish forwards beat the visiting backs. When the time whistle sounded a hard but scientifically speaking, poor game had resulted in a win for England by 3 goals to 2 goals.
   

       Match Report The Times, Monday, 7 March 1898
The Association game in Ireland has not advanced in skill in the same degree as that of the Rugby Union and in most points of play it ill compares with the form of a picked English side. In the 17 years of the match between England and Ireland the Englishmen have not known defeat, and the only instance of anything approaching a check was in 1894 when a tie of two goals occurred. England's victory at Belfast on Saturday was gained by three goals to two, and had the conditions been less unkind--the snow and rain quickly ruined the surface of the field of play--the Englishmen would no doubt have done much better. As it was they could never thoroughly develop their game, such was the bad state of the turf. Sufficient was, however, seen of the relative merits of the teams to stamp England as much the better, particularly as regards the half-back and forward work. Ireland were strong at full-back, and in goal for them Scott was very good, while now and again their forwards put in some skilful individual work. James Pyper actually scored the first point for Ireland ; but the visitors generally had more of the game, and goals by Richards and Athersmith gave England a half-time lead of two to one. Subsequently each side scored once, and England won by three to two. Such has been the triumph of English football in the Irish matches that in addition to winning 16 out of 17 England's aggregate of goals has now reached 101 to Ireland's 11. There were over 10,000 spectators of Saturday's game.
 
       In Other News....
It was on 6 March 1898 that Felice Cavallotti, the 55-year-old leader of the Italian Extreme Radical party was killed in a duel with the 36-year-old editor of a newspaper, Count Ferruccio Macola in Rome, when the sword was thrust into his mouth and throat. It was Cavallotti's 33rd duel and he had never killed anyone himself. Macola was sentenced to 13 months in prison. He was said to have been full of remorse and committed suicide in 1910.
”””””
Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England
Domestic Football Results (5 March 1898)
The Football League Division One:
Aston Villa 4 Derby County 1
   Lower Grounds, Aston (11,900)
Smith, Fisher, Sharp (2) ~ Boag
Villa were without Charlie Athersmith and Fred Wheldon, but did have Jimmy Crabrtree and Steve Smith
County were without Jimmy Turner, but did have Jack Cox and Jack Goodall
 
Everton 4 Bury 2
   Goodison Park, Liverpool (12,000)
Divers, L.Bell, Chadwick, J.Bell ~ Cust, Settle
 
Notts County 0 Blackburn Rovers 0
   Trentbridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham (6,000)
County started with George Toone

Preston North End 0 Stoke 0
   Deepdale, Preston (6,000)
North End started with Bob Holmes
Stoke started with Joe Schofield

Sunderland 3 Sheffield United 1
   Newcastle Road, Sunderland (24,000)
Howell OG, Wilson, Leslie ~ Cunningham
United were without Tom Morren but did start with Willie Foulke, Rabi Howell and Ernest Needham

Wednesday 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
   Olive Grove, Sheffield (5,000)
Brady (
2)
Wednesday started with Tom Crawshaw and Fred Spiksley
Wolves started with Harry Wood
   

Division One Table
Team P
Sheffield United 26 36
Sunderland 25 33
Wednesday 25 29
Aston Villa 24 28
West Bromwich Albion 22 28
Everton 23 27
Wolverhampton Wanderers 24 26
Nottingham Forest 21 24
Derby County 24 22
Blackburn Rovers 23 20
Bolton Wanderers 23 19
Liverpool 22 18
Preston North End 25 18
Stoke 26 18
Notts County 24 17
Bury 21 15
All eyes were on Sunderland, where a capacity crowd saw the hosts close the gap on their opponents to three points, with a game in hand. Sunderland were forced to switch to white shirts when Sheffield United turned up in red and white stripes, and then Sunderland had to lend their own red and white stripes to them, so that United could wear dry shirts for the second half.
     
   
The Football League Division Two:

Burton Swifts 0 Burnley 2
   Peel Croft, Burton (4,000)
Toman, Ross
&  
Darwen 1 Newcastle United 3
   Barley Bank, Darwen (2,000)
Sugden ~ Peddie (3)
 
Gainsborough Trinity 4 Loughborough 0
   The Northolme, Gainsborough (3,500)
Raby (2), Scott, Wigmore
 
Grimsby Town 2 Walsall 1
   Abbey Park, Grimsby (2,000)
Goldie ~ nk. Griffin
 
Lincoln City 1 Leicester Fosse 4
   Sincil Bank, Lincoln (2,000)
Fletcher ~ McLeod, McMillan, Dorrell, Keech
 
Woolwich Arsenal 4 Small Heath 2
   Manor Ground, London (8,000)
Hannah (3 (1 pen)), White ~ Hare, Oakes
 
Burnley maintained their six-point cushion at the top and were closing in on a test match place in their attempt to win promotion straight back to the First Division, following the previous year's relegation.

Division Two Table
Team P
Burnley 23 40
Newcastle United 23 34
Manchester City 22 31
Woolwich Arsenal 23 28
Small Heath 22 27
Luton Town 22 25
Newton Heath 21 24
Leicester Fosse 22 22
Walsall 26 22
Gainsborough Trinity 20 21
Grimsby Town 23 19
Blackpool 22 14
Burton Swifts 22 14
Lincoln City 25 14
Darwen 23 14
Loughborough 21 11
   
   
       Source Notes
TheFA
England Football Factbook
Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
Rothman's Yearbooks
The Football Association Yearbooks
Original Newspaper Reports
Ancestry.com
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