England Match No. 14 - Ireland - 18 February 1882

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Page Last Updated 16 May 2024

Éireann

FIRST MEETING vs. IRELAND
Ireland are the third different opposition

previous match (343 days)
13 vs. Scotland

next match (21 days)
15 vs. Scotland

18 vs. Ireland

Admission—6d;
Schoolboys. 3d; Ladies free.

Saturday, 18 February 1882
Association Friendly Match

Ireland 0 England 13 [0-5]

Ireland is the third nation visited by England

Player lost since last match

Claud Wilson (29 June 1881) 23

third player to die

We know that the first goal was scored after just three minutes. After that, Arthur Brown scored his first in 'the succeeding 15 minutes', that is, the 18th min. Jimmy B. scored his first before that point, timing not reported.

Knock Ground, Bloomfield, Belfast, County Antrim
Kick-off (DMT): 'kick-off at 2.45'...'a few minutes after the advertised hour'; 2.20pm GMT;
Attendance: 'large attendance';
Receipts: £9 19s. 7d.

England's first visit to Bloomfield, to Belfast, and to Ireland

Ireland kicked-off

Charlie Bambridge won the toss

Because it has been impossible to find a complete report for this match, it is not known whose hat-trick was completed first, Vaughton's or Brown's.

Howard Vaughton five goals MULTIPLE
Jimmy Brown two goals BRACE
Arthur Brown four goals MULTIPLE
Charlie Bambridge
Harry Cursham
most goal times unknown.

new record established of most goals scored in a half - now at eight goals

"Weather being bitterly cold, a gale blowing, accompanied at times by showers of rain and hail."

Played according to IFA rules.

Match Summary

Officials [umpires and referees are of equal relevance]		Ireland	Team Records	England Party
Umpires		An experimental law is introduced, that empowers the referee to award a goal in cases where, in his opinion, a goal has been prevented from a deliberate handball by the defending team. It lasts one season only, and it is unknown as to whether it resulted in any England goals in 1881-82.
Samuel Sinclair Distillery FC	William Peirce Dix 28 (winter 1853), Eccleshall (Sheffield FA Hon. secretary) (replaced Charlie Alcock)
Referee Robert M. Kennedy Hon.assistant secretary of Irish FA

Ireland Team

Rank		No official ranking system established; ELO rating 4th	Colours		'the costume of the Irish team consisted of royal blue jersey and hose, with white knickers, each player wearing his international badge on left breast, consisting of an Irish cross, with harp in centre, surrounded with a wreath of shamrocks, the whole embroidered with golden floss on a blue silk ground'
Captain		John McAlery	Selection		The Ireland Selection Committee
		P 1 of 2, W 0 - D 0 - L 1 - F 0 - A 13.
					the team chosen following the trial match on Saturday, 11 February 1882
Ireland Lineup
one		Hamilton, James Henry	22/23	1859	G	Knock FC	1	13ᵍᵃ
two		McAlery, John McCredy	32 91 days	19 November 1849	RB	Cliftonville FAC	1	0
	will be an umpire in 1883 & 1885 fixtures
three		Rattray, David	nk	not known	LB	Avoniel FC	1	0
four		Martin, Donald Cargill	23 21 days	28 January 1859	Half back	Cliftonville FAC	1	0
five		Hastings, John	23/24	1858		Knock FC	1	0
six		Buckle, James	27/28	1854	OR	Cliftonville FAC	1	0
							only app 1882
seven		McWha, William Barrie Ritchie	19/20	1862	IR	Knock FC	1	0
eight		Davison, Dr. John Robert	21 299 days	25 April 1860 in Hunslet, England	Centre Forward	Cliftonville FAC	1	0
nine		Sinclair, John	26 175 days	27 August 1855		Knock FC	1	0
	will officate in the 1883-89 fixtures
ten		Dill, Alexander Harrison	18 236 days	27 June 1863	IL	Knock FC	1	0
eleven		Johnston, Samuel James	15 154 days	18 September 1866	OL	Distillery FC	1	0
			the youngest international debutant
reserves:			not known
team changes:			Some sources list David McCaw as starting, but he started the trial match the previous week. John Waring (Cliftonville) was named in the original line-up, but following a 'misdemeanor', his place went to Buckle.
team notes:			Confusion surrounds the birthdate of the Father of Irish Football, John McAlery. A date of 9 September 1858 and 19 November 1848 persist. He has a plaque in his honour stating 1849, and two Irish census entries stating he was born 1850ish. The five Knock FC players were all playing on their home ground.

2-2-6			Hamilton - McAlery, Rattray - Martin, Hastings - Buckle, McWha, Davison, Sinclair, Dill, Johnston.
Averages:			Age	22 years 337 days- 23 years 117 days¹⁰	Appearances/Goals		1.0	0.0

England Team

Rank		No official ranking system established; ELO rating 2nd			Colours		'the English team being arrayed in white, with the usual international badge on the left breast'.
Captain		Charlie Bambridge			Selection		The Football Association Committee, with Secretary Charles W. Alcock having the primary influence
		P 1 of 2, W 1 - D 0 - L 0 - F 13 - A 0.					P 14 of 31, W 5 - D 2 - L 7 - F 38 - A 38.
		twelfth player to captain England ¹					the team chosen on Tuesday, 7 February 1882.
England Lineup (a record-equalling high ten changes to the previous match)
14		Rawlinson, John F.P.			21 59 days	21 December 1860	G	Cambridge University AFC & Old Etonians AFC	1	0ᵍᵃ
90									only app 1882
91		Dobson, Alfred T.C.			22 327 days	28 March 1859	RB	Notts County FC & Corinthians FC	1	0
92		Greenwood, Doctor H.			21 110 days	31 October 1860	LB	Blackburn Rovers FC	1	0
		Hargreaves, Frederick W.			23 186 days	16 August 1858	Half back	Blackburn Rovers FC	3	0
									final app 1880-82
93		King, Robert S.			19 320 days	4 April 1862		Oxford University AFC	1	0
									only app 1882
		Bambridge, E. Charles			23 203 days	30 July 1858	OR	Swifts FC	4	6
										most gls
94		Barnet, Horace H.			25 349 days	6 March 1856	IR	Royal Engineers FC & Corinthians FC	1	0
									only app 1882
95			Brown, Arthur		23 77 days	3 December 1858	Centre Forward	Aston Villa FC	1	4
	fifth-seventh brace scored, first/second hattrick scored, first/second four goals							first/second Villan to represent England
		Brown, James			19 202 days	31 July 1862		Blackburn Rovers FC	2	2
		fifth-seventh brace scored - youngest goalscorer so far (first teenager)
96				Vaughton, O. Howard	21 40 days	9 January 1861	IL	Aston Villa FC	1	5
	fifth-seventh brace scored, first/second hattrick, first/second scoring four, first five							first/second Villan to represent England
		Cursham, Henry A.			22 83 days	27 November 1859	OL	Notts County FC & Corinthians FC	2	1

reserves:					Arthur Mallinson (Barnsley Wanderers FC & Heeley FC, goal), Arthur Bambridge (Swifts FC, full-back), Walter Norris (full-back), Elliot Colvin (both Old Carthusians AFC, half-back), Record appearance holder Billy Mosforth (Wednesday FC, left wing), William Page (Old Carthusians AFC, centre), Percivall Parr (Oxford University AFC, centre), Edward Hansell (Old Carthusians AFC, right wing).
team changes:					Norman Bailey (Old Westminsters AFC) was the original Captain and half-back. His place went to King. Vaughton also replaced George Holden (Wednesbury Old Athletic FC, right wing). Barnet replaced Ernest Wilson (Old Carthusians AFC, right wing).
team notes:					Arthur and Charlie Bambridge's brother, Ernest, played for England in 1876. Harry Cursham's brother, Arthur, also played for England 1876-79.
appearance notes:					Charlie Bambridge is the seventh player to have made four England appearances, whereas Fred Hargreaves becomes the twelfth to have made three appearances. Jimmy Brown and Harry Cursham are the 32nd and 33rd players to have made a second appearance.
records:					This is the first match, since the very first that England have not conceded a goal. The first time two hat-tricks have been scored in a single match. The first time England have scored more than eight goals in a season, ending the first match with 13. Charlie Bambridge becomes the first player to score in their first (& any) four England matches, and having already scored against Scotland in his previous three appearances, he becomes the first player to also then score against Ireland, and thus the second to score against two different countries, after Francis Sparks did so in 1880.
'The English team stayed at the Queen's Hotel, York Street, under the hospitable roof of Mr. Shorthouse'

2-2-6					Rawlinson - Dobson, Greenwood - Hargreaves, King - Bambridge, Barnet, A.Brown, J.Brown, Vaughton, Cursham.
Averages:					Age	22 years 78 days	Appearances/Goals		1.6	0.5
						youngest team until 1886
"After the match the two teams dined together at the Castle Restaurant, Donegall Place, where Mr. Fisher catered for their creature comforts in excellent style, and a very enjoyable evening was spent under the presidency of Colonel Chichester, of Moyola Park, Castledawson, the President of the Irish Football Association'. - Belfast news-letter, Monday, 20 February 1882.

Match Report Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Monday, 20 February 1882

The first International (Association) match in Ireland was played at Bloomfield, Belfast, on Saturday. The attendance of spectators was very large, the weather bitterly cold, a gale blowing, accompanied at times by showers of rain and hail. The result of the match was an easy victory for England by 13 goals to nil. England won the toss. Ireland kicked off against a perfect hurricane. The ball was driven up to the Irish goal, and within a few minutes from the start Vaughton scored a goal for England, and two others were obtained in the succeeding 15 minutes. Towards the conclusion of the game Cursham made some splendid runs on the left, for which he was loudly cheered. Bambridge also played in fine form, and his neat dribbling and passing tended considerably to the number of goals in the latter half of the game. In the centre the two Brown's played an excellent game throughout, but the Blackburn man was scarcely so effective as usual when near goal. All the English backs performed remarkably well, but Hargreaves and Greenwood were best of the quartet. As to the Irish team, it may be said they played fairly well all round, but as the majority of them have only had two seasons' practise it could scarcely be expected that they would show to advantage when pitted against such a strong team as that which represented England.

Match Report The Times, Monday, 20 February 1882

On Saturday last for the first time an Irish Association team met a picked eleven of English players, at Bloomfield, Belfast. England won the toss and chose to play with a strong wind at their backs. Ireland set the ball rolling: it was soon returned and in a few minutes England forced the ball underneath the crossbar. In the result, England were pronounced victorious by 13 goals to none.

In Other News....

It was on 17 February 1882 that Lord Donoughmore's motion was passed for a Select Committee to be set up to investigate the inefficiencies of the previous year's Irish Land Act.

Other Football Results (18 February 1882)

Football Association Challenge Cup Fifth Round replay:

Great Marlow 0 Old Foresters 1
Dolphin Ground, Slough (tbc)
Shaw

Great Marlow beat the Old Foresters 1-0 to reach the F.A. Cup semi-finals for the only time, where they were beaten 5-0 by the eventual winners, Old Etonians.

Source Notes

TheFA
Jonny Dewart at Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
Cris Freddi's England Football Factbook
Official matchday programme April 1970

The Football Association Yearbook
James Corbett's England Expects
Original Newspaper Reports