1972–73 British Home Championship

1972–73 British Home Championship

Tournament details
Dates	12–19 May 1973
Teams	4
Final positions
Champions	England (48th title)
Runners-up	Northern Ireland
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	13 (2.17 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Martin Chivers (3)
← 1971–72 1973–74 →

The 1972–73 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was, like its predecessor in 1972, a victim of The Troubles in Northern Ireland which had erupted following Bloody Sunday the previous year. As with the previous year in the rugby union 1972 Five Nations Championship, threats were made by Republican activists against visiting British teams, which in this year meant England and Wales. To prevent violence but keep the tournament running, Northern Ireland's "home" games were transferred to Goodison Park, the home of Everton F.C. in Liverpool in England. This step meant that Ireland played just a short ferry ride from Belfast (where the match was originally scheduled) in a city with a substantial Irish population, but where the police were able to exercise a greater measure of control over who was able to attend. The shift to England did not substantially hinder the Irish, who claimed a rare and respectable second place behind England, who achieved yet another whitewash of their near neighbours. Beating the Irish in Liverpool to match Scotland's win over Wales, England then inflicted defeat on the same team at Wembley, whilst the Irish recovered from their first game to beat the Scots in Scotland. In the final two games, Northern Ireland beat Wales, setting up a close encounter in the final game, in which the winner would take the tournament but a draw would benefit the Irish. The game was a close encounter, made more interesting by an English 5–0 thrashing of Scotland two months earlier in a testimonial match celebrating one hundred years of international football. England however, eventually triumphed by a single goal from Martin Peters, winning the trophy for another year.

Table

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

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
(C) Champions

Results

12 May 1973

Wales	0–2	Scotland
		Graham File:Soccerball shade.svg 60', 70'

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

Attendance: 18,682

Referee: James Lawther (Northern Ireland)

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12 May 1973

Northern Ireland	1–2	England
Clements File:Soccerball shade.svg 22' (pen.)		Chivers File:Soccerball shade.svg 9', 82'

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Attendance: 29,865

Referee: Clive Thomas (Wales)

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15 May 1973

England	3–0	Wales
Chivers File:Soccerball shade.svg 24' Channon File:Soccerball shade.svg 32' Peters File:Soccerball shade.svg 75'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 38,000

Referee: John Patterson (Scotland)

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16 May 1973

Scotland	1–2	Northern Ireland
Dalglish File:Soccerball shade.svg 89'		O'Neill File:Soccerball shade.svg 3' Anderson File:Soccerball shade.svg 16'

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 39,018

Referee: Ken Burns (England)

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19 May 1973

Northern Ireland	1–0	Wales
Hamilton File:Soccerball shade.svg 14'

Goodison Park, Liverpool

Attendance: 4,946

Referee: Bobby Davidson (Scotland)

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19 May 1973

England	1–0	Scotland
Peters File:Soccerball shade.svg 54'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 95,950

Referee: Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany)

References

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

External links

• Full Results and Line-ups