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68 vs. Ireland
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
Kick-off (GMT): 3.05pm

Attendance:
13,000; Receipts: £558 17s 6d;
   
Gilbert Smith won the toss Ireland kicked-off

[1-0] Frank Forman 15
 'Forman sent in a shot, rebounding off Milne's foot'
[2-0] Fred Forman 20
 'long high kick in off the upright'
[3-0] Charlie Athersmith 25
 'kicked'
[4-0] Gilbert Smith 32
 'out of the scrimmage'
[5-0] Steve Bloomer 40
 'kicked'
 
Player lost since last match
Reg Birkett (30 June 1898) 49


Football League Record

[5-0]Jimmy Crabtree missed pen. 46
 'shot outside'; 'the goalkeeper saving'; 'Lewis saved amidst cheering'
[6-0] Fred Forman 52
 'put the ball thro' after Lewis had already cleared one shot'
[7-0] Jimmy Settle 53
 'splendid shot'
[8-0] Jimmy Settle 55
[9-0] Gilbert Smith 59
[10-0] Gilbert Smith 60 HAT-TRICK
[11-0] Gilbert Smith 63



[12-1] Jimmy Settle 80 HAT-TRICK


[13-2] Steve Bloomer 89
<The Referee states Bloomer took the kick










[11-0]Joe McAllen saved penalty 65
[11-1] Joe McAllen rebound
65

 'Kicked the ball through at the second attempt.'
 

[12-2] James Campbell 88
'with only Hillman before, had no difficulty in scoring'
First time that both teams took a penalty-kick each  
 

Match Summary

Officials       

England Team Records Ireland
Referee
Alexander Hamilton
33 (22 July 1865) Queen's Park FC, Scotland FA
 
Linesmen
J. Howcroft
England
Thomas W. Gibson
Ireland

England Team

 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 1st
Colours White jerseys and navy blue knickerbockers
Captain Gilbert Smith
seventh, eighth or ninth captaincy
Selection The seven-man FA International Selection Committee, on Monday, 1 February 1899, at The Crystal Palace, London, following the trial match.
P 7 of 13, W 5 - D 0 - L 2 - F 31 - A 8. P 34th of 195, W 27 - D 4 - L 3 - F 144 - A 33.
England Lineup
  five changes to the previous match (Robinson, Oakley, Wreford-Brown, Wheldon & Spiksley out) league position (1st February) ave lge pos: xth¹⁰
29   Hillman, W. John 28
80 days
30 November 1870 G Burnley FC 1 2ᵍᵃ
242 third keeper to face a penalty kick oldest to face a penalty so far the third Burnley player to represent England only app 1899
243   Bach, Philip 26
163 days
8 September 1872 RB Sunderland AFC 1 0
the second Sunderland player to represent England only app 1899
  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 ¹
England's first penalty kick is missed
     
  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
mst gls

Smith, Gilbert O. 26 25 November 1872 CF Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 14 10
  scorer of England's eighteenth hattrick
244 Settle, James 23
166 days
September 1875 IL Bury FC 1 3
scorer of England's nineteenth hattrick the first Bury player to represent England
245 Forman, Frederick R. 25
102 days
8 November 1873 OL Nottingham Forest FC 1 2
the twelfth Forester to represent England
     
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 are brothers.
records: Third time two hat-tricks have been scored in a single match, all against Ireland (1882 & 1884).
The thirteenth goal is England's 200th goal scored on a Saturday.
 
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
Captain Joe McAllen Selection Team chosen by Committee;
P 1 of 2 - W 0 - D 0 - L 1- F 2 - A 13.
Ireland Lineup
140   Lewis, James 24 4 September 1874 G Glentoran FC 1 13ᵍᵃ
  Pyper, John Stanley 21 9 January 1878 RB Cliftonville FAC 4 1
  Torrans, Samuel 29 4 February 1869 LB Linfield FAC 23 0
  Ponsonby, John 24 9 November 1874
in Old Kilpatrick, Scotland
RH Distillery FC 9 0
final app 1895-99
  Milne, Robert George 28 1 October 1870
in Inverarity, Scotland
CH Linfield FAC 14 1
  Cochrane, Michael 25
9 days
27 February 1874 LH Distillery FC 4 0
Campbell, James Caughley 23 5 September 1875 OR Cliftonville FAC 7 1
  Mercer, John Thomas 21 27 March 1877 IR Distillery FC 4 0
141   Waring, John 24 23 March 1874 CF Distillery FC 1 0
only app 1899
142   Watty, John 20 late 1878
in Liverpool, England
IL Distillery FC 1 0
only app 1899
McAllen, Joseph Croft 23 11 March 1874 OL Linfield FAC 2 2
3rd (& missed) penalty kick against England
     
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.
Jack and Jim Pyper are brothers
missed penalty notes: "The kick was essayed by McAllen, who shot straight to Hillman, who caught the leather, but owing to its greasy condition, dropped. McAllen, however, was on the alert, and, rushing up, put it into the net, thus scoring Ireland's first goal." - Shields Daily News, 20 February 1899.
records: Ireland's fiftieth match is also their third consecutive defeat.
 
2-3-5 Lewis -
Pyper, Torrans -
Ponsonby, Milne, Cochrane -
Campbell, Mercer, Waring, Watty, 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

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