England Match No. 65 - Ireland - 18 February 1899

England Football Online
	Page Last Updated 14 October 2020	Éireann

64 vs. Scotland 65 66 vs. Wales	Saturday, 18 February 1899 Home International Championship 1898-99 (16th) Match England 13 Ireland 2 [5-0]
		Roker Park Ground, Association Road, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, county Durham Attendance: 13,000; Receipts: £558 17s 6d; Kick-off: 3.05pm GMT
		England - Frank Forman ('Forman sent in a shot, rebounding off Milne's foot' 15), Fred Forman ('long high kick in off the upright' 20, 'put the ball thro' after Lewis had already cleared one shot' 52), Charlie Athersmith ('kicked' 25), Gilbert Smith ('out of the scrimmage' 32, 59, 60, 63), Steve Bloomer ('kicked' 40, 89), Jimmy Settle ('splendid shot' 53, 55, 80) England - Jimmy Crabtree (missed penalty 46) Ireland - Joe McAllen (penalty 65), James Campbell ('with only Hillman before, had no difficulty in scoring' 88)	Match Summary England Party Ireland Party Team Records
Results 1891-1900		England won the toss, Ireland kicked-off.

Match Summary

Officials	England	Type	Ireland
Referee - Allen Hamilton Queen's Park FC, Scotland Linesmen - J. Howcroft, England and Thomas W. Gibson, Ireland		Goal Attempts
		Attempts on Target
		Hit Bar/Post
		Corner Kicks Won
		Offside Calls Against
The 1898 International Football Association Board meeting: Domicile: no action required Descriptive title added to laws		Fouls Conceded
		Possession

England Team

Rank:	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 1st	Colours:		White jerseys and navy blue knickerbockers
Capt:	Gilbert Smith, seventh, eighth or ninth captaincy	Selectors:		The seven-man FA International Selection Committee, on Monday, 1 February 1899, at The Crystal Palace, London, following the trial match. 34th match, W 27 - D 4 - L 3 - F 145 - A 31.
England Lineup
	Hillman, W. John	28	30 November 1870	G	Burnley FC	1	2 GA
	Bach, Philip	26	summer 1872	RB	Sunderland AFC	1	0
	Williams, William	23	20 January 1876	LB	West Bromwich Albion FC	5	0
	Forman, Frank	23	23 May 1875	RH	Nottingham Forest FC	3	1
	Crabtree, James W.	27	23 December 1871	CH	Aston Villa FC	7	0
	Needham, Ernest	26	21 January 1873	LH	Sheffield United FC	8	1
	Athersmith Harper, W. Charles	26	10 May 1872	OR	Aston Villa FC	8	3
	Bloomer, Stephen	25	20 January 1874	IR	Derby County FC	9	17
	Smith, Gilbert O.	26	25 November 1872	CF	Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC	14	10
	Settle, James	23	September 1875	IL	Bury FC	1	3
	Forman, Frederick R.	25	8 November 1873	OL	Nottingham Forest FC	1	2
reserves:		reserves not known
team notes:		On 9 February, it was announced that Charlie Athersmith would take the place of Oxford University AFC's Gilbert Vassall. The Corinthian was needed to take the field as Captain in Oxford's varsity match against Cambridge University AFC. Fred and Frank Forman were brothers. Steve Bloomer extends his tally as England's record goalscorer. Jack Hillman, at 28 years and 304 days, becomes the oldest goalkeeper to face a penalty-kick.

2-3-5		Hillman - Bach, Williams - Fk. Forman, Crabtree, Needham - Athersmith, Bloomer, Smith, Settle, Fd. Forman
Averages:		Age	25.2	Appearances/Goals		5.3	2.2

Ireland Team

Rank:	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 6th	Colours:		Probably blue jerseys and white shorts
Capt:	Joe McAllen	Selectors:		Team chosen by Committee;
Ireland Lineup
	Lewis, James	24	4 September 1874	G	Glentoran FC	1	13 GA
	Pyper, John S.	21	9 January 1878	RB	Cliftonville FAC	4	1
	Torrans, Samuel	29	27 October 1869	LB	Linfield FAC	23	0
	Ponsonby, John	22	May 1876 born in Dumbarton, Scotland	RH	Distillery FC	9	0
	Milne, Robert G.	28	1 October 1870 born in Inverarity, Scotland	CH	Linfield FAC	14	1
	Cochrane, Michael	24/25	circa 1874/75	LH	Distillery FC	4	0
	Campbell, James	23	5 September 1875	OR	Cliftonville FAC	7	1
	Mercer, John Thompson	21	27 March 1877	IR	Distillery FC	4	0
	Waring, R. John	nk	not known	CF	Distillery FC	1	0
	Wattie, John	nk	not known	IL	Distillery FC	1	0
	McAllen, Joseph C.	23	11 March 1874	OL	Linfield FAC	2	2
reserves:		reserves not known
team notes:		Jack Waring, Mick Cochrane and Jack Waring replaced Cliftonville's Jim Pyper, Jack's brother, Glentoran's George McMaster and Distillery FC's John Peden in the side.

2-3-5		Lewis - Pyper, Torrans - Ponsonby, Milne, Cochrane - Campbell, Mercer, Waring, Wattie, McAllen.
Averages:		Age	23.8	Appearances/Goals		6.4	0.3

Match Report

The Irishmen sustained a crushing reverse at Roker-park, Sunderland, on Saturday. Completely overmatched from the start, they had to admit defeat from England by 13 goals to two. So thoroughly did the English team hold the upper hand that it was not until their own score held at 11 that Ireland gained their first point. The ground was a trifle soft and muddy, but was sufficiently firm to afford a fair foothold. The 12,000 spectators who were present were thoroughly rewarded for their attendance, as, though the match was so terribly one-sided, they had the pleasure of witnessing an exceptionally brilliant exposition of the game by the English forwards. The play might well be described as one long series of attacks on the Irish goal, only broken at rare intervals by breaks-away on the part of the Irish forwards, who scarcely ever were really dangerous...
Thanks largely to the skilfulness of Lewis, their goal-keeper, the Irish defence held up for the first quarter of an hour, but afterwards, it broke down entirely. In about 12 minutes four goals were obtained, and a fifth came soon afterwards...

...Then McAllen kicked a penalty goal, and shortly before time Campbell, the best of their forwards, taking advantage of an easy opening, scored their second point...

Of a brilliant front rank G. O. Smith, in the centre, stood out prominently, once more emphasizing the fact that in this position he has no superior in England. His judgment in passing to his wings, whom he kept together admirably, was splendid, while his shooting was hard, low, and frequent. Settle scored three times, Bloomer and Frank Forman twice each, and Athersmith and Fred Forman once each...

It should be stated that Ireland were not quite fully represented, three changes having been made in their side. - The Times - Monday 20th February, 1899

Football League

Football League Division One
18 February 1899

Team P Pts

Aston Villa 23 33

Liverpool 26 33

Everton 24 29

Blackburn Rovers 27 28

Burnley 25 28

West Bromwich Albion 26 27

Notts County 24 27

Derby County 25 26

Bury 26 26

Sheffield United 27 25

Nottingham Forest 26 24

Sunderland 24 24

Preston North End 26 23

Stoke 25 23

Wolverhampton Wanderers 25 22

Newcastle United 25 21

The Wednesday 25 18

Bolton Wanderers 23 15

Division One matches played on 18 February 1899:

BLACKBURN ROVERS 2-2 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Anderson, Booth (Miller 2)
4,500 (Ewood Park, Blackburn)

BOLTON WANDERERS 0-2 STOKE
(Turner 2)
4,000 (Burnden Park, Bolton)

DERBY COUNTY 4-2 NOTTS COUNTY
A.Goodall pen., Oakden 2, Bull o.g. (Hadley, Fletcher)
8,000 (Baseball Ground, Derby)

Derby were without Steve Bloomer, who scored twice for England against Ireland at Sunderland.

LIVERPOOL 2-0 BURNLEY
Allan, Robertson
12,000 (Anfield, Liverpool)

Burnley were without Jack Hillman, who was making his international debut in goal for England against Ireland at Sunderland.

NEWCASTLE UNITED 2-0 BURY
Peddie 2
16,000 (St. James' Park, Newcastle)

Bury were without Jimmy Settle, who scored a hat-trick on his international debut for England against Ireland at Sunderland.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1-0 ASTON VILLA
Morris
11,000 (City Ground, Nottingham)

Forest were without Frank and Fred Forman, who both scored for England against Ireland at Sunderland (they were responsible for the first two goals, with Fred later adding a second), whilst Villa's Athersmith and Crabtree were also playing for England (Athersmith scored, whilst Crabtree missed a penalty).

PRESTON NORTH END 1-0 SHEFFIELD UNITED
Halsall
6,500 (Deepdale, Preston)

Sheffield United were without Ernest Needham, who was playing for England against Ireland at Sunderland.

THE WEDNESDAY 0-1 SUNDERLAND
(Raisbeck)
12,000 (Olive Grove, Sheffield)

Liverpool drew level on points with Aston Villa, but they had played three games more. Preston met Sheffield United for the third time in eight days and for the second time in three days, but took revenge for their FA Cup replay defeat of two days earlier.

Football League Division Two
18 February 1899

Team P Pts

Manchester City 23 34

Leicester Fosse 24 33

Burslem Port Vale 24 32

New Brighton Tower 24 31

Small Heath 22 30

Newton Heath 23 30

Walsall 24 28

Woolwich Arsenal 23 28

Glossop 24 28

Barnsley 22 22

Lincoln City 22 22

Burton Swifts 24 21

Grimsby Town 20 18

Gainsborough Trinity 24 17

Luton Town 22 16

Blackpool 21 8

Loughborough 23 8

Darwen 21 4

Division Two matches played on 18 February 1899:

BLACKPOOL 3-6 GRIMSBY TOWN
Birkett 2, Parkinson (Greenwood 2, Jenkinson 2,1 pen., Richards, Cockshutt)
4,000 (Raikes Hall, Blackpool)

BURSLEM PORT VALE 2-1 LINCOLN CITY
Harvey, Beech (Swann)
3,000 (Athletic Ground, Stoke)

BURTON SWIFTS 1-2 WOOLWICH ARSENAL
Knibbs (Shaw 2)
2,000 (Peel Croft, Burton)

GAINSBOROUGH TRINITY 2-0 BARNSLEY
Spence, Wigmore
3,000 (The Northolme, Gainsborough)

GLOSSOP 1-3 LEICESTER FOSSE
Lumsden (King, Galbraith, Watkins)
1,000 (North Road, Glossop)

LOUGHBOROUGH 0-1 NEWTON HEATH
(Bryant)
1,500 (Athletic Ground, Loughborough)

MANCHESTER CITY 10-0 DARWEN
F.Williams 5, Meredith 3, Dougal, S.Smith
8,000 (Hyde Road, Manchester)

SMALL HEATH 3-2 NEW BRIGHTON TOWER
Abbott 2, Wilcox (Becton, Milward)
9,500 (Coventry Road, Birmingham)

WALSALL 6-0 LUTON TOWN
Dean 2, 1 pen., Aston, Vail 2, Martin
3,000 (Hilary Street, Walsall)

Manchester City maintained their slender advantage at the top (albeit with a game in hand), following an astonishing double-figures scoreline against a hapless Darwen team, who were heading out of the Football League at the end of the season. This was their 13th successive defeat on their way to setting the Football League record of 18 in a row. They would also suffer two more 10-0 defeats before the season was out.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Cambridge University beat Oxford University, 3-1 in the annual varsity match at Queen's Club, in Kensington.
It was on 18 February 1899 that �mile Loubet was elected the new president of the French Republic, following the death of his predecessor, F�lix Faure, just two days earlier, from a brain haemorrhage, whilst 'entertaining' his young mistress.

Source Notes

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
Original Newspaper Reports
TheFA.com
Rothman's Yearbooks
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
Ancestry.com
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CG