England Football Online
  Page Last Updated 16 January 2020

Cymru

 


77 vs. Ireland
78
79 vs. Scotland

Monday, 2 March 1903
Home International Championship 1902-03 (20th) Match

England 2 Wales 1 [1-0]
 

Fratton Park, Frogmore Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire
Attendance: 5,000;
receipts £246; Kick-off 'afternoon'.

Match Summary
England Party

Wales Party
Team Records

England - Joe Bache ('a clever close-range shot from a Davis centre' 12), Vivian Woodward ('Evans saved splendidly from Bache, it fell to Davis who put in another drive, which was saved. Davis got the ball again and centred it, Bache and Woodward both rushed at it, Woodward chested into the back of the net' 78)
Wales - Mart Watkins ('from a fine square pass from the right wing, an oblique drive' 54)
Results 1901-14

Wales won the toss, England kicked-off.

Match Summary

Officials

England

Type

Wa

les
Referee - Thomas Robertson
38 (1 December 1864), Torrance, Stirlingshire, Scotland Football Association

Linesmen - Mr. A Davis & not known

"The ground was in a shocking condition , and at one time, the officials held the opinion that it would be impossible to play, but there was a big gate, and it would have been very disappointing to the enthusiasts if the match had not gone on."

  Goal Attempts  
  Attempts on Target  
  Hit Bar/Post  
  Corner Kicks Won  
  Offside Calls Against  
  Fouls Conceded  
  Possession  

England Team

 

Rank:

No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 1st
Colours: White collared jerseys and navy blue shorts
Capt: Bob Crompton, first captaincy Selectors: The seven-man FA International Selection Committee, on Saturday, 14 February 1903, in Wolverhampton following the Ireland match.
47th match, W 35 - D 8 - L 4 - F 175 - A 42.
England Lineup
  Sutcliffe, John W. 34
324 days
12 April 1868 G Millwall Athletic FC 5 3 GA
  Crompton, Robert 23 26 September 1879 RB Blackburn Rovers FC 4 0
  Molyneux, George 27 24 July 1875 LB Southampton FC 3 0
  Johnson, W. Harrison 27 4 January 1876 RH Sheffield United FC 5 0
  Forman, Frank 27 23 May 1875 CH Nottingham Forest FC 9 1
  Houlker, Albert E. 30 27 April 1872 LH Portsmouth FC 2 0
  Davis, Harry 23 8 November 1879 OR The Wednesday FC 2 1
  Garraty, William 24 6 October 1878 IR Aston Villa FC 1 0
Woodward, Vivian J. 23 3 June 1879 CF Tottenham Hotspur FC 2 3
Bache, Joseph W. 23 8 February 1880 IL Aston Villa FC 1 1
  Corbett, Reginald 23 13 June 1879 OL Old Malvernians AFC & Corinthians FC 1 0

reserves:

Everton FC's Walter Abbott and Portsmouth FC's Daniel Cunliffe. Cunliffe was replaced by Notts County FC's Percy Humphreys.

team notes:

As announced on 28 February, Bache replaced Everton FC's Jimmy Settle who was injured in the Irish match, he was also unable to take his place in his team's cup match with Manchester United FC. Humphreys also replaced Cunliffe as a reserve.
The team were staying at Esplanade Hotel in Southend-on-Sea.
 
2-3-5 Sutcliffe -
Crompton, Molyneux -
Johnson, Forman, Houlker -
David, Garraty, Woodward, Settle, Corbett

Averages:

Age 25.8 Appearances/Goals 3.2 0.4

 

Wales Team

 

Rank:

No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 9th
Colours: "We are asked to publish, for the information of Welsh football enthusiasts who may be at Fratton Park on Monday, that the colours of the representatives of "Gallant Little Wales" will be green and white shirts and black knickers. All Welsh supporters are asked to sport green and white."
Capt: Charlie Morris Selectors: Team selection chosen by Committee, on Monday, 16 February 1903.
Wales Lineup
  Evans, Robert O. 21 August 1881 G Wrexham AFC 2 5 GA
  Blew, Horace E. 25 January 1878 RB Wrexham AFC 6 0
  Morris, Charles R. 22 29 August 1880
Born in Oswestry, Shropshire
LB Derby County FC, England 8 0
  Parry, Maurice P. 25 7 November 1877 RH Liverpool FC, England 7 0
  Morris, Robert 27/28 early 1875
Born in Oswestry, Shropshire
CH Shrewsbury Town FC, England 5 0
  Davies, Thomas 30/31 1872 LH Druids FC 1 0
  Meredith, William H. 28 30 July 1874 OR Manchester City FC, England 17 6
Watkins, W. Martin 22 summer 1880 IR Stoke FC, England 2 1
  Green, A. William 21 5 December 1881 CF Notts County FC, England 2 0
  Atherton, Robert 26 29 July 1876 IL Hibernian FC, Scotland 3 0
  Morris, A. Grenville 25 13 April 1877 OL Nottingham Forest FC, England 8 1

reserves:

reserves not known

team notes:

Stoke FC's Leigh Roose was the original chosen goalkeeper, but after straining his knee in a match the week previous, his place went to Bob Evans. Tottenham Hotspur FC's Edward Hughes was also named for the second year running, and again, he was replaced, this time by Tom Davies.
Charlie and Bobby Morris were brothers, born on the English side of the Welsh border.
 
2-3-5 Evans -
Blew,
C.Morris -
Parry,
R.Morris, Davies -
Meredith, Watkins, Green, Atherton,
G.Morris.

Averages:

Age 24.7-9 Appearances/Goals 5.5 0.6

 

    Match Report

England beat Wales at Portsmouth, yesterday, by two goals to one, but the victory was due rather to the turn of the luck than to any superiority of the Englishmen. As a combined team the Welshmen were undoubtedly better than their opponents. Although having to act chiefly on the defensive during the first half, England scored the only goal. Good play by Davis led up to the point, but had not Blew just touched the ball, Bache, whose shot beat Evans, would have been off-side. The winning point had not quite the same element of chance about it, but the ball was only rushed through from a scrimmage. Davis, after having a shot fisted out, centred nicely, and Corbett headed in, while from the ensuing scramble Woodward scored. The Welshmen's goal was the result of very different play. Davies, the left half-back, passed up the field to Atherton, who made an opening for A. G. Morris, and the outside man, outpacing Crompton, centred beautifully across the goal ; Watkins rushed up and sent in a hard low shot, which Sutcliffe had no chance of stopping...

Heavy rain had left the Fratton Park ground very soft, and it was a matter for regret that such a keen, hard game could not have been fought out under more favourable conditions. No rain fell during the afternoon, but the bad weather had already done much to spoil the football by making the ground so treacherous. - The Times - Tuesday 3rd March, 1903

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 2 March 1903 that an extraordinary case of sheep worrying was reported from Banbury in Oxfordshire. Two dogs caused a flock of 200 sheep to take refuge in a stream huddled together, but this disrupted the water flow and caused 55 of them to die from either drowning, or suffocation from the wet fleeces of other sheep.

Source Notes

Bobby Atherton, the Welsh inside-left, later went on to captain Middlesbrough FC. He was lost at sea on 19 October 1917.  But there seems to be no trace of him after leaving Chelsea FC in 1906.  The 1911 Census Return states that the Bethesda-born player was in fact the Hotel Manager of the Market Hotel in Hartlepool (left).  The same place that English outside-left Alf Priest would also manage and later die in.

 

 
Welsh Football Data Archive
Original newspaper reports 
Rothmans Yearbooks
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
Ancestry.com
____________________

CG