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63 vs. Wales
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65 vs. Ireland

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67 vs. Scotland



Admission to Ground, 1s. Covered Stand, 5s extra. Track seats and Covered Stand Reserved Terracing, 2s extra. Reserved portion on South Side of Field, 1s extra. A number of Tickets admitting to Ground and Reserved Seats on Covered Stand to be had from W. MALEY, 30 Saltmarket, Glasgow; price, 10s each.
Saturday, 2 April 1898
Home International Championship 1897-98 (15th) Match


Scotland 1 England 3
[0-2]
 



Celtic Park, Janefield Street, Parkhead, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Kick-off (GMT): '3.30pm'; 'prompt to time';

Attendance: '37,000 to 38,000 spectators'; '36,850 passed through the turnstiles, 2000 free admissions, 1000 entering whose admission is already included'; 'about 40,000'; '55,000 people' reports of crowds of 60,000 were duly dismissed.
Receipts: 'The officials returned the gate drawings at £1829 10s 6d and the stands at £1400.'









Football League Record
England's third visit to Parkhead; fourteenth visit to Glasgow, to Lanarkshire and to Scotland
Jimmy Cowan won the toss Gilbert Smith kicked-off

[0-2] Roberston scores from indirect freekick:disallowed [0-1] Fred Wheldon 3
'getting into position to send in a low, fast, oblique shot which sailed passed Drummond and Anderson.''
[0-2] Steve Bloomer 23
'a capital pass from Spiksley enabled Bloomer to beat Anderson hitting the cross-bar and bounding through out of Anderson's reach'
[1-2] Jimmy Millar 46
 'Robinson saved brilliantly from a low lunge by Campbell, rebounded off William's back into the path Millar and quietly put the ball through.'


[1-3] Steve Bloomer 70
'a Spiksley centre gave Bloomer what was practically an open goal'
appeals for offside dismissed
Season Record
 
"A large steel girder stand, capable of accommodating 9,000, and built up to a height of 38ft, was erected at the east end of the field. Seats of eight rows at both ends were provided in the cycle track, to hold over 5,000, the whole of the alterations costing the Celtic Club £2,000. The ground gave accommodation for 60,000. Twenty mounted police patrolled outside the barricade round the ground, forty policemen manned the entrances, and a detachment of 100 of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders paraded on the pedestrian track between the field of play and the cycle track."
 

"BLOOMER IN FULL BLOOM" Scottish Referee

Officials       

Scotland Team Records England
Referee
Thomas Robertson
34 (9 December 1863), Baldernock, Stirlingshire, Scotland FA
P 6th of 20 - W 5 - D 0 - L 1 - F 23 - A 6. played against England in 1890
STATISTICS according to The Scottish Refereex
first half
2
...corners...0
11...goal kicks...4
16...shies...16
13...free kicks...4
second half
2...corners...3
8...goal kicks...13
14...shies...14
6...free kicks...7
Linesmen
Percy Alexander Timbs
32 (13 June 1865), St. Giles,
London
Dugald McKenzie
Scotltish FA President
The Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders not only provided the pre-match entertainment, but also added as extra security to assist the large staff of policemen already assembled.
 

Scotland Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 2nd
Colours "The Scotchmen wore dark blue jerseys and white knickers..."
"W. G. Hay, who supplied the caps for the Irish and Welsh Internationals, will also supply the headgear for the players."
Captain James Cowan
The first Anglo-Scot to captain
Selection
Trainer: Danny Friel (The Celtic FC)
The Scottish Football Association Selection Committee, of seven members, following the Ireland match.
only, W 0 - D 0 - L 1 - F 1 - A 3. after a discussion in Belfast, chosen in Glasgow on Tuesday, 29 March 1898
Scotland Lineup
  Anderson, Kenneth 22
253 days
23 July 1875 G Queen's Park FC 3 6ᵍᵃ
final app 1896-98
  Drummond, John 27
354 days
13 April 1870 RB Rangers FC 8 0
  Doyle, Daniel 33
198 days
16 September 1864 LB The Celtic FC 8 0
final app 1892-98
  Gibson, Neil 25
38 days
23 February 1873 RH Rangers FC 7 1
  Cowan, James 29
167 days
17 October 1868 CH Aston Villa FC, England 3 0
final app 1896-98
291   Robertson, John Tait 21
36 days
25 February 1877 LH Everton FC, England 1 0
  Bell, John Watson 29
178 days
6 October 1868 OR Everton FC, England 5 2
Campbell, John 25
226 days
19 August 1872 IR The Celtic FC 4 0
292   Maxwell, William Sturrock 22
193 days
21 September 1875 CF Stoke FC, England 1 0
only app 1898
Millar, James 27
51 days
10 February 1871 IL Rangers FC 3 2
final app 1897-98
293   Smith, Alexander 22
146 days
7 November 1875 OL Rangers FC 1 0
reserves: 'Before the start some dubiety existed as to Cowan's fitness owing to indisposition, and Aleck King was in readiness to take the field in case of emergency.'
 
2-3-5 Anderson -
Drummond, Doyle -
Gibson, Cowan, Robertson -
Bell, Campbell, Maxwell, Millar, Smith.
For the second half, Campbell went centre, Maxwell partnered Smith on the left, and Millar joined Bell on the right.
Averages: Age 26 years 35 days Appearances/Goals 4.0 0.4

 

England Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 1st
Colours "...while the English team wore white with the rose on the left breast."
"in their clean white jerseys and dark knickers."
Captain Charles Wreford-Brown Selection
in charge: John James Bentley
assistant: William McGregor (Aston Villa)
The five-man FA International Selection Committee
P 2/3 of 2/3, W 1 - D 1 - L 0 - F 4 - A 2. P 33rd of 195, W 26 - D 4 - L 3 - F 131 - A 31.
second certain captaincy, possible third team chosen at the Queen's Hotel, Chester on Monday, 28 March 1898, following the Wales match.
England Lineup
  three changes to the previous match (Perry, Booth & Goodall out) league position (28th March) ave lge pos: 5th
  Robinson, John W. 27
345 days
22 April 1870 G New Brighton Tower FC 5 5ᵍᵃ
  Williams, William 22
72 days
20 January 1876 RB West Bromwich Albion FC (FL1 4th) 4 0
  Oakley, William J. 24
340 days
27 April 1873 LB Corinthians FC 10 0
  Forman, Frank 22
314 days
23 May 1875 RH Nottingham Forest FC (FL1 7th) 2 0
  Wreford-Brown, Charles 31
175 days
9 October 1866 CH Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 4 0
final app 1889-98
  Needham, Ernest 25
71 days
21 January 1873 LH Sheffield United FC (FL1 TOP) 7 1
  Athersmith Harper, W. Charles 25
327 days
10 May 1872 OR Aston Villa FC (FL1 5th) 7 2
Bloomer, Stephen 24
72 days
20 January 1874 IR Derby County FC (FL1 9th) 8 15
the 43rd brace scored mst gls
  Smith, Gilbert O. 25
128 days
25 November 1872 CF Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 13 5
Wheldon, G. Frederick 28
151 days
2 November 1869 IL Aston Villa FC (FL1 5th) 4 6
final app 1897-98
  Spiksley, Frederick 28
67 days
25 January 1870 OL Wednesday FC (FL1 3rd) 7 7
final app 1893-98
travelling reserves: forward Jack Goodall (Derby County FC (FL1 9th)) and half-back Jimmy Crabtree (Aston Villa FC (FL1 5th))
other reserves: back Ambrose Langley (Wednesday FC (FL1 3rd)), and forwards Charles Alexander (Corinthians FC) and Cuthbert James Burnup (Cambridge University AFC, Old Malvernians AFC & Corinthians FC).
'As a matter of fact, it took the Selection Committee far longer to choose the reserves than the actual team.'
team notes: Tommy Morren (Sheffield United FC (FL1 TOP)) was initially selected to play as the centre-half, but due to an ankle injury 'in consequence, he could not accept an invitation to play against Scotland.'
appearance notes: Gilbert Smith is the seventh player to have made thirteen England appearances, whereas Bill Oakley is the ninth to have made ten.
Steve Bloomer is the seventeenth player to have made eight appearances. 27 players have now made seven and Jack Robinson is 35th to have made five. 59 players have now made four, whilst Frank Forman is the 135th player to have made than one appearance for England,
Smith is the third player to make thirteen appearances under the guidance of the ISC, and Oakley is the fourth to make ten.
records: The fifth time England have won all three games in one season.
goalscoring records: Steve Bloomer, with his first goal in the match, becomes England's outright top goalscorer, ahead of Tinsley Lindley, and with his second, he extends his record, and becomes the first player to score two goals at Celtic Park and the fifth different England player to score at the venue.
"There will be a large turnout of English legislators which foregathers at Preston Station on Friday afternoon. Lunch will be provided in the dining-room there, and the party will proceed to Glasgow, where they arrive at 6.45 and afterwards attend the Empire Theatre."..."reached Glasgow Central Station at 7.30, over forty-five minutes late due to an accident in Preston. Needham, Forman, and Spikesley, arrived at eleven o'clock."..."The Central Hotel is to be their headquarters. Smith and Oakley arrived on Thursday evening."
 
2-3-5 Robinson -
Oakley, Williams -
Forman, Wreford-Brown, Needham -
Athersmith, Bloomer, Smith, Wheldon, Spiksley
.
Averages: Age 26 years 22 days Appearances/Goals 6.5 3.0
"After the match the players drove to their respective hotels—the Englishmen to the Central, and the Scotsmen to the Bath Hotel. On the way from the field the English conveyance was nearly overturned through the driver taking one of the corners too sharply. The English team had dinner privately, while the Scots made merry over tea. Needless to say the best of good fellowship prevailed at the English table. The team left Glasgow at 10.45, a considerable crowd giving them a hearty send-off."
 
England teams v. Scotland:
1897: Robinson Oakley Spencer Reynolds Crawshaw Needham Athersmith Bloomer Smith Chadwick Milward
1898: Williams Oakley Forman Wreford-Brown Wheldon Spiksley
       Match Report The Sporting Life, Monday, 4 April 1898

Punctual to the advertised time—in fact, quite four minutes before 3.30—the English team, in their clean white jerseys and dark knickers, trotted down the steps of the pavilion, and the men were received with hearty cheering. They quickly set to work with the ball, and, after a kick or two, the more sombre-looking Scots in dark jerseys and white knickers, ran nimbly on to the field. Needless to say they had a hearty ovation. The home captain won toss, and opened by defending the West-End goal. The first send-off by the visitors was momentarily stopped, and a little scrambling in mid-field set every one's teeth on edge. All were watching Cowan, upon whom many Scottish hopes were set. Promptly the Aston Villain was there. In an instant almost, at all events in less than three minutes from the start, the English forwards had a great chance, and lightning-like the ball was sent into the Scottish net, and Wheldon had the credit of first blood, thereby gaining the splendid bicycle offered by an enterprising firm to the scorer of the first goal. Play changed ends, and quite an unearthly howl went up as the Scottish forwards ran up abreast of Robinson. Relief came, however, and the attack was lost. Wreford-Brown in his own quarter skied a ball which was caught and run ahead by Gibson. This was stopped, and a great rush up was beautifully stopped by Drummond. The English division were at this juncture full of energy, bordering almost on nervousness. And were brought up again by the Rangers' man on the right wing. He had a splendid try, but the leather went sailing over. The play went to mid-field, and the English players combining well, got to the front of Anderson sent in a strong message, but Drummond was ready and cleverly nullified the attack. Williams close to the touch line, had a back heel kick that was caught by Campbell, who ran up and sent it over, Bell, too, had a run all to himself, and the ball was looking dangerous. When its progress was stopped a close mid-field play was again the order of the day. Several fouls were now failing to Scotland's lot, but the Northern men did not have the luck to profit thereby, and rushing up the English forwards beat the opposing backs, and sent in a message that was cleverly accounted for by Anderson, the Scots custodian. The somewhat wafery and glaring sun now shone for a little, and the Englishmen had it all in their eyes. Nevertheless, they worked smartly and well, Wheldon, Bloomer, and Needham putting in splendid efforts in saving, running up, and placing individually, and in combination. The strongholds were in turn visited by each forward division, but the back defence was in each instance equal to the attack, and so the game was carried forth and back again, testing the pace and power of each man, and putting to the test the resource of almost every player on the field. A great bit of open play resulted in all moving up to the front of the Scottish stronghold, when Bloomer with a splendid open chance sent the ball into the net, thus scoring goal number two for England. Nervously speedy play ensued, and it was apparent that the visitors were the quickest on the ball; their passing was also good, but the Scottish lot seemed to have more weight and power. They did not score, however, nor could they in any particular break down the opposing backs. Half-time score—ENGLAND Two goals SCOTLAND Nil.
  Captain Cowan had transposed his men for the concluding portion of play, Maxwell took inside left, Miller outside left, and Campbell centre. This looked better, although many would have wished that Drummond had been in his favourite place. He, however, had been doing as much and perhaps more than was expected of him. The home men had apparently made up their minds to force the play, and this they did to no little purpose. They rushed up, and the forwards were soon in possession, but the ball was sent past. Another attack was made in turn by the Englishmen, but Robertson was ready. Play veered from end to end, and after no little manœuvring Miller got up, and sent through a low, swift shot that beat Robinson, and put Scotland within one of the rival team. Immediately afterwards the Scottish forwards were on the ball, made another rush up, shot, but the leather went past amid cries of 'Hard lines!' Goal kick and corner for Scotland followed, but nothing came of the chance. Bell, Williams, Gibson, and Robertson were conspicuous at this juncture, each putting in good hard work, but the back division of each team was fast, firm, nimble, sure, and determinedly successful in repelling the advances of the opposing forwards. It was now apparent that Scotland was to drop for the year, and although her sons made grand efforts and endeavoured to confuse the English lot, it was to no purpose. The wings worked neatly, and there was some very fine passing that at some times was taken advantage of, and at others was woefully lost. After some earnest give and take work, G. O. Smith passed to Bloomer and the Derby County man put in goal number three for England. In no wise shaken off, the Scots pied themselves to the task in hand, and were playing neatly and well, but not to the same purpose as the more nimble representatives of England, who now acting on the defensive, stopped all further advances, and managed to score the eighth win to the credit of Old England.
   

       Match Report The Times, Monday, 4 April 1898
Never in the history of Association football in Scotland has a match aroused such interest as the 27th encounter between Scotland and England on Saturday. Celtic-park, Glasgow, had undergone radical alterations with a view to accommodating an exceptionally large crowd, and events proved that the executive were fairly accurate in their estimate. It was stated that the holding capacity of the ground was 60,000, and in that case the attendance must have been close upon that number, as to all appearances all available space was occupied. The ground was opened at 11 o'clock, and at that early hour the crowd began to assemble. When a start was made at half-past 3 the lofty and capacious terraces at each end and the various stands and enclosures were crowded. The scene was a remarkable one, and it says a good deal for the foresight of the management that, despite the presence of so great a throng, the match passed off without the least disturbance. With regard to the contest it may at once be said that the Englishmen for the first time for two years defeated their opponents over the border by three goals to one, and, as they had previously disposed of Ireland and Wales, became the winners of the international championship. The result was, of course, a great disappointment to the great majority of those present, and the closing stages of the match, when England's victory was assured, passed off very quietly. At the finish there was very little cheering, the thousands of spectators dispersing rapidly.
...within three minutes of the start Wheldon kicked a goal for England, and 20 minutes later Bloomer added another...
...the Scotch forwards opened the second half in a very spirited manner, Miller heading a goal within five minutes of the restart... ...During that period the result hung in the balance, but gradually the English team pulled themselves together, and when Bloomer kicked the third goal 20 minutes from the finish England had the game safe... On all hands it was freely admitted that the Englishmen were the better side and thoroughly deserved their success. The record between the two countries now stands ;--Scotland, 13 wins ; England, eight wins ; and seven drawn games.
 
       In Other News....
It was on 2 April 1898 that an inquest delivered its verdict of the suicide of Eleanor Marx, youngest daughter of the great German philosopher, Karl Marx. She had drunk hydrogen cyanide on discovering that her terminally-ill partner of 15 years, the playwright, Edward Aveling had secretly married a young actress, the previous year, under his pen name. Aveling died, just four months later, from kidney disease.   Middlesbrough beat Thornaby, 2-1 in the FA Amateur Cup semi-final at Brotton, in a game played behind closed doors due to the smallpox epidemic in Middlesbrough.
”””””
Teams in a silver box denotes a player representing England
Domestic Football Results (2 April 1898)
The Football League Division One:
Aston Villa 1 Stoke 1
   Lower Grounds, Aston (8,000)
Harvey ~ Molyneux
Villa were without Charlie Athersmith, Fred Wheldon, Jimmy Crabrtree and Jimmy Cowan
Stoke were without Billy Maxwell, but started with Joe Schofield
 
Bolton Wanderers 2 West Bromwich Albion 0
   Burnden Park, Bolton (3,650)
Fitchett, Nicoll
Wanderers started with Jack Sutcliffe
Albion were without Bill Williams, but started with Joe Reader, Tom Perry, Billy Bassett and Ben Garfield
 
Everton 2 Nottingham Forest 0
   Goodison Park, Liverpool (10,000)
L.Bell, Divers
Everton were without Jack Bell and Jack Robertson, but did start with Johnny Holt
Forest were without Frank Forman
 
Notts County 3 Liverpool 2
   Trentbridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham (8,000)
Boucher (2), Leonard ~ McCowie, Becton
County started with George Toone
Liverpool started with Fred Geary, Frank Becton and and Harry Bradshaw

Sheffield United 1 Sunderland 0
   Bramall Lane, Sheffield (20,000)
Johnson
United were without Ernest Needham, but started with Willie Foulke and Tom Morren

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Blackburn Rovers 2
   Molineux, Wolverhampton (4,000)
Beats, Wood (
2 (1 pen)) ~ Booth, Proudfoot
Wolves started with Harry Wood
   

Division One Table
Team P
Sheffield United 28 38
Sunderland 27 35
West Bromwich Albion 27 32
Wednesday 27 31
Aston Villa 27 31
Everton 27 31
Wolverhampton Wanderers 26 28
Nottingham Forest 24 27
Bolton Wanderers 27 26
Derby County 26 24
Liverpool 27 24
Blackburn Rovers 26 21
Stoke 28 21
Notts County 27 20
Preston North End 28 20
Bury 26 19
Sunderland travelled to Sheffield in the hope that they could dislodge the leaders, and even prevented two of their team (goalkeeper, Doig, and Wilson) from playing for Scotland on the same day, whilst their hosts allowed Needham to play for England. It was not enough, however, and United increased their lead to three points, with two games remaining (Sunderland had three to play). Six days later, on Good Friday, Sheffield United clinched their one and only Championship title with a victory at Bolton, as Sunderland lost at Bury.

     
   
The Football League Division Two:

Blackpool 1 Walsall 1
   Athletic Grounds, Blacpool (1,200)
Martin ~ Griffin
  
Grimsby Town 1 Newton Heath 3
   Abbey Park, Grimsby (3,000)
Blythe ~ Cassidy (2), Boyd
 
Leicester Fosse 0 Manchester City FC 0
   Filbert Street, Leicester (6,000)
 
Luton Town 1 Small Heath 2
   Dunstable Road, Luton (3,000)
Couper ~ Dunlop, Inglis
 
 
Newcastle United 5 Gainsborough Trinity 2
   St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne (12,000)
Peddie (3), Smith (2) ~ Morris, Scott (pen)
Trinity started with Jimmy Bagshaw
 
Woolwich Arsenal 1 Burnley 1
   Manor Ground, London (12,000)
Hunt ~ McInnes
 
Newcastle secured their place in the end-of-season test matches. As events transpired, they had actually done enough already to secure promotion, but they would not know that until the Football League agreed to extend the First Division to 18 clubs, the following month, and Newcastle were voted into it, even though they had failed to win promotion via the test matches.

Division Two Table
Team P
Burnley 28 46
Newcastle United 27 42
Manchester City 27 35
Woolwich Arsenal 27 33
Newton Heath 26 31
Small Heath 25 29
Luton Town 28 28
Gainsborough Trinity 25 28
Leicester Fosse 26 26
Walsall 28 25
Grimsby Town 27 23
Blackpool 27 20
Burton Swifts 25 17
Lincoln City 27 16
Darwen 26 14
Loughborough 25 11
   
   
       Source Notes
TheFA
Scottish FA
England Football Factbook
Richard Keir's Scotland - The Complete International Record
Scottish Sport History
Rothman's Yearbooks
The Football Association Yearbooks
Original Newspaper Reports
Ancestry.com
London Hearts
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