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  Page Last Updated 18 February 2018

Éireann
 

 
 177 vs. Belgium
 178
179 vs. Wales

Saturday, 17 October 1931
Home International Championship 1931-32 (44th) Match

Ireland 2 England 6 [1-3]
 

 Match Summary
Ireland Party
England Party

Windsor Park, Donegall Avenue, Belfast, county Antrim
Attendance: 40,000; Kick-off: 3.00pm GMT
 Live on National Radio, commentator: George Allison

England - Jack Smith (from a Crooks cross 10), Tom Waring (12, from a Crooks pass 50), Ernie Hine (a rebound after Gardiner saved a Crooks shot 30), Eric Houghton (low drive 60, 85)
Ireland - Jimmy Dunne (free-kick 40), Jimmy Kelly (89)
Results 1930-39

? won the toss, ? kicked-off.
 

Match Summary

Officials

Ireland

Type

England
Referee - Hugh Watson
Scotland

Linesmen - not known

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

Ireland Team
 

Rank:

 No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 28th to 31st		 Colours: Green jerseys with white white winged collars, white shorts.
Capt: tbc Selectors: Team Selection by Committee, on Tuesday, 6 October 1931;
Ireland Lineup
  Gardiner, Alfred nk not known G Cliftonville FC 5 12 GA
  Russell, Samuel R. 31 2 January 1900 RB Derry City FC 3 0
  Fulton, Robert P. 24 6 November 1906 LB Belfast Celtic FC 6 0
  McDonald, Robert L. 29 11 August 1902 RH Rangers FC, Scotland 2 0
  Jones, John 24 3 April 1907 CH Linfield FAC 7 0
  Mitchell, William 20 22 November 1910 LH Distillery FC 1 0
  Chambers, R. James 23 26 July 1908 OR Nottingham Forest FC, England 11 2
  McConnell, Patrick 31 5 February 1900 IR Southport FC, England 2 0
Dunne, James 26 3 September 1905 CF Sheffield United FC, England 5 4
  McCambridge, James 26 23 September 1905 IL Cardiff City FC, Wales 4 0
Kelly, James 19/20 1911 OL Derry City FC 1 1

reserves:

 reserves not known

team notes:

 The original left-half was Linfield FAC's Billy McCleery, his place going to Mitchell.
Jimmy Dunne's goal is the first free-kick scored against England since 1897, although the Belgium goal in 1928 must be a consideration. Third overall.
 
2-3-5 Gardiner -
Russell, Fulton -
McDonald, Jones, Mitchell -
Chambers, McConnell, Dunne, McCambridge, Kelly

Averages:

 Age 25.3/4 Appearances/Goals 4.3 0.4

 

England Team
 

Rank:

 No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 7th to 6th		 Colours: The 1923 uniform - White collared jerseys and dark club shorts
Capt: Roy Goodall, seventh captaincy Selectors: The fourteen-man FA International Selection Committee, following a trial match, on Wednesday, 7 October 1931.
145th match, W 93 - D 27 - L 25 - F 445 - A 165.
England Lineup
  Hibbs, E. Henry 25 27 May 1906 G Birmingham FC 8 10 GA
  Goodall, F. Roy 28 31 December 1902 RB Huddersfield Town AFC 17 0
  Blenkinsop, Ernest 29 20 April 1902 LB Sheffield Wednesday FC 19 0
  Strange, Alfred H. 31 2 April 1900 RH Sheffield Wednesday FC 9 0
  Graham, Thomas 26 12 March 1905 CH Nottingham Forest FC 2 0
  Campbell, Austen F. 30 5 May 1901 LH Huddersfield Town AFC 6 1
  Crooks, Samuel D. 23 16 January 1908 OR Derby County FC 9 2
Smith, John W. 32 28 October 1898 IR Portsmouth FC 1 1
Waring, Thomas 25 12 October 1906 CF Aston Villa FC 3 3
Hine, Ernest W. 30 9 April 1901 IL Leicester City FC 5 3
Houghton, W. Eric 21 29 June 1910 OL Aston Villa FC 5 4

reserves:

 Ernie Hine (Leicester City FC) and Willis Edwards (Leeds United AFC)

team notes:

 Birmingham FC's Joe Bradford was the original named inside-left, his place going to reserve Hine..
 
2-3-5 Hibbs -
Goodall, Blenkinsop -
Strange, Graham, Campbell -
Crooks, Smith, Waring, Hine, Houghton

Averages:

 Age 27.3 Appearances/Goals 7.6 0.7

 

    Match Report

The side selected to represent England in the first of her international matches this year gained a convincing victory at Windsor Park, Belfast, on Saturday, when Ireland were beaten before about 40,000 spectators by six goals to two...

From the start the Englishmen played the more methodical football on a pitch that was in excellent order, and within 11 minutes they had obtained a lead of two goals. An attack by Chambers and Dunne was beaten off, and then Crooks put over a fine centre from the right wing and Smith promptly scored. A minute later Waring also kicked through...

England took up the attack again, and Gardiner, after clearing well from Crooks, was beaten a third time by Hine. The superiority of the English team was always most marked, but towards the interval Dunne succeeded in scoring from a free kick for Ireland...

A pass from Crooks paved the way for a fourth goal. When he centred a misunderstanding between Gardiner and Russell occurred, and Waring seized the opening, rushing up and kicking through. Houghton added a fifth goal, a brilliant low drive going well out of Gardiner's reach...

Though in complete control of the game during the last half-hour, England failed to score again until near the end, when Houghton increased the advantage with a sixth goal. In the last minute Kelly scored Ireland's second goal. - The Times - Monday 19th October, 1931

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