1978–79 British Home Championship

The 1978–79 British Home Championship was a British Home Nations competition, won by the English football side and notable for seeing marked increases in hooliganism and falling attendance which would result in its cancellation in 1984. The English started well, beating Northern Ireland to match the heavy Welsh victory over Scotland on the same day, which featured a hat trick by John Toshack. Scotland recovered by beating the Irish in their next match while England and Wales played out a goalless draw, leaving three sides theoretically capable of winning the Championship in the final round. Wales could only manage a draw with the Irish and so in the deciding match between England and Scotland, a 1–1 half time score gave the Scots some hope but a strong second half performance from England was rewarded with a deserved 3–1 win. This result gave England the Championship, with Wales in second place. The tournament also saw the introduction of goal difference to separate teams, although it had no effect on the eventual outcome.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
England	5	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4
Wales	4	3	1	2	0	4	1	+3
Scotland	2	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4
Northern Ireland	1	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

For the first time, goal difference was used to divide the teams, although it made no difference to the final outcome at this tournament.

Results

19 May 1979

Wales	3 – 0	Scotland
Toshack 28', 35', 75'	Report

Ninian Park, Cardiff

Referee:

Pat Partridge

19 May 1979

Northern Ireland	0 – 2	England
	Report	Watson 11' Coppell 14'

Windsor Park, Belfast

Referee:

Ian Foote

22 May 1979

Scotland	1 – 0	Northern Ireland
Graham 76'	Report

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Referee:

Clive Thomas

23 May 1979

England	0 – 0	Wales
	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Referee:

Malcolm Moffatt

26 May 1979

Northern Ireland	1 – 1	Wales
Spence 1'	Report	James 63'

Windsor Park, Belfast

Referee:

John Homewood

26 May 1979

England	3 – 1	Scotland
Barnes 45' Coppell 63' Keegan 70'	Report	Wark 21'

Wembley Stadium, London

Referee:

António Garrido

References

Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.

External links

Full Results and Line-ups

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British Home Championship
Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Competitors	England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland / Ireland
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Rous Cup Nations Cup Matches outside the British Home Championship