Wales national football team results (1876–1899)

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football and is governed by the Football Association of Wales. The team are the third oldest in international football, behind only Scotland and England and played their first match on 18 March 1876, a 4–0 defeat to Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow.[1] Wales played their first home fixture the following year, which Scotland won 2–0 at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.[a][3] Wales met England for the first time in 1879 and recorded their first victory against them two years later, winning 1–0 at Alexandra Meadows following a goal from John Vaughan.[4] In 1882, Wales played Ireland for the first time, defeating them 7–1 at the Racecourse.[5]

With all four Home Nations playing annual friendly matches, the decision was taken to organise the fixtures into a competition. The British Home Championship, a round-robin tournament, was subsequently formed and the inaugural season was held in 1884.[6] Wales won their opening fixture 6–0 against Ireland but defeats against England and Scotland in their remaining matches led to a third-place finish.[7] In 1888, Wales recorded the largest victory in the team's history by defeating Ireland 11–0; Jack Doughty scored four of his side's goals.[8] It was not until 1895 that Wales finished higher than third in the Championship, claiming a second-place finish after drawing all three fixtures.[7][9]

From the nation's first fixture in 1876 to the end of the century Wales played 63 fixtures, winning 11, drawing 8 and losing the remaining 44. Of the side's victories, 9 were secured over Ireland and 2 over England,[10][11] while they failed to defeat Scotland in 24 attempts during this period.[12] The team's struggles were exacerbated by the reluctance of clubs in the Football League to release Welsh players for international fixtures, which often clashed with league matches.[13] In the 1890s, Wales finished bottom of the British Home Championship in six of the ten tournaments held and lost nine of their final ten matches in the decade.[7]

Results

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Wales' score is shown first in each case. The colours listed below are also used to signify results combined with the scoreline.

Key
Colour (with score) Meaning
Defeat
Draw
Win
Wales national football team results 1876–1899[b]
Match no. Date Venue H/A Opponents Score Competition Wales scorers Att.[c]
1 25 March 1876 Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow A   Scotland 0–4 Friendly 17,000
2 5 March 1877 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–2 Friendly 4,000
3 23 March 1878 Hampden Park, Glasgow A   Scotland 0–9 Friendly 6,000
4 18 January 1879 Kennington Oval, London A   England 1–2 Friendly William Davies 200[d]
5 7 April 1879 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–3 Friendly 2,000
6 15 March 1880 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 2–3 Friendly William Roberts, John Roberts 3,000
7 27 March 1880 Hampden Park, Glasgow A   Scotland 1–5 Friendly William Roberts 2,000
8 26 February 1881 Alexandra Meadows, Blackburn A   England 1–0 Friendly John Vaughan 3,000
9 14 March 1881 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 1–5 Friendly Knyvett Crosse 1,500
10 25 February 1882 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Ireland 7–1 Friendly John Price (4), William Pierce Owen (2), John Morgan 2,000
11 13 March 1882 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 5–3 Friendly William Pierce Owen (2), John Morgan, Alf Jones (og), John Vaughan 5,000
12 25 March 1882 Hampden Park, Glasgow A   Scotland 0–5 Friendly 5,000
13 3 February 1883 Kennington Oval, London A   England 0–5 Friendly 5,000
14 12 March 1883 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–3 Friendly 2,000
15 17 March 1883 Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast A   Ireland 1–1 Friendly Walter Roberts 1,000
16 9 February 1884 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Ireland 6–0 1883–84 British Home Championship William Pierce Owen (2), Edward Shaw (2), John Eyton-Jones, Robert Albert Jones 2,000
17 17 March 1884 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 0–4 1883–84 British Home Championship 4,500
18 29 March 1884 Cathkin Park, Glasgow A   Scotland 1–4 1883–84 British Home Championship Robert Roberts 1,000
19 14 March 1885 Leamington Road, Blackburn A   England 1–1 1884–85 British Home Championship Job Wilding 7,500
20 23 March 1885 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 1–8 1884–85 British Home Championship Robert Albert Jones 2,000
21 11 April 1885 Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast A   Ireland 8–2 1884–85 British Home Championship Herbert Sisson (3), John Roach (2), William Owen, Tom Burke, Humphrey Jones 1,500
22 27 February 1886 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Ireland 5–0 1885–86 British Home Championship Bill Roberts, Job Wilding, Richard Hersee, Thomas Bryan, Herbert Sisson 700
23 29 March 1886 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 1–3 1885–86 British Home Championship Billy Lewis 5,000
24 10 April 1886 Cathkin Park, Glasgow A   Scotland 1–4 1885–86 British Home Championship John Owen Vaughan 5,500
25 28 February 1887 Kennington Oval, London A   England 0–4 1886–87 British Home Championship 4,500
26 12 March 1887 Cliftonville Cricket Ground, Belfast A   Ireland 1–4 1886–87 British Home Championship Henry Sabine 4,000
27 21 March 1887 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–2 1886–87 British Home Championship 2,000
28 4 February 1888 Alexandra Recreation Ground, Crewe A   England 1–5 1887–88 British Home Championship Jack Doughty 6,000
29 3 March 1888 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Ireland 11–0 1887–88 British Home Championship Jack Doughty (4), Roger Doughty (2), Edmund Howell (2), Job Wilding (2), William Pryce-Jones 2,000
30 10 March 1888 Hibernian Park, Edinburgh A   Scotland 1–5 1887–88 British Home Championship Jack Doughty 8,000
31 28 February 1889 Victoria Ground, Stoke A   England 1–4 1888–89 British Home Championship William Owen 6,000
32 15 April 1889 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–0 1888–89 British Home Championship 6,000
33 27 April 1889 Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast A   Ireland 3–1 1888–89 British Home Championship Richard Jarrett 1,500
34 8 February 1890 Old Racecourse, Shrewsbury H [e]   Ireland 5–2 1889–90 British Home Championship William Pryce-Jones (2), William Owen, Dick Wilcock, David Lewis 3,000
35 15 March 1890 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 1–3 1889–90 British Home Championship Billy Lewis 3,000
36 22 March 1890 Underwood Park, Paisley A   Scotland 0–5 1889–90 British Home Championship 5,000
37 7 February 1891 Ulsterville, Belfast A   Ireland 2–7 1890–91 British Home Championship Albert Davies, Jack Bowdler 6,000
38 7 March 1891 Newcastle Road, Sunderland A   England 1–4 1890–91 British Home Championship Albert Davies, Edmund Howell 15,000
39 21 March 1891 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 3–4 1890–91 British Home Championship Albert Davies, Jack Bowdler (2), William Owen 6,000
40 27 February 1892 Penrhyn Park, Bangor H   Ireland 1–1 1891–92 British Home Championship Benjamin Lewis 4,000
41 5 March 1892 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 0–2 1891–92 British Home Championship 4,500
42 26 March 1892 Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh A   Scotland 1–6 1891–92 British Home Championship Benjamin Lewis 6,000
43 13 March 1893 Victoria Ground, Stoke A   England 0–6 1892–93 British Home Championship 10,000
44 18 March 1893 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–8 1892–93 British Home Championship 4,500
45 8 April 1893 Solitude, Belfast A   Ireland 3–4 1892–93 British Home Championship George Owen (2), William Owen 3,000
46 24 February 1894 St. Helen's, Swansea H   Ireland 4–1 1893–94 British Home Championship Billy Lewis (2), Edwin James (2) 7,000
47 12 March 1894 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 1–5 1893–94 British Home Championship Jack Bowdler 5,500
48 24 March 1894 Rugby Park, Kilmarnock A   Scotland 2–5 1893–94 British Home Championship Hugh Morris 10,000
49 16 March 1895 Solitude, Belfast A   Ireland 2–2 1894–95 British Home Championship Harry Trainer (2) 6,000
50 18 March 1895 Queen's Club, London A   England 1–1 1894–95 British Home Championship Billy Lewis 10,000
51 23 March 1895 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 2–2 1894–95 British Home Championship Billy Lewis, Thomas Chapman 4,000
52 29 February 1896 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Ireland 6–1 1895–96 British Home Championship Billy Lewis, Billy Meredith (2), Harry Pugh, Grenville Morris 3,000
53 16 March 1896 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff H   England 1–9 1895–96 British Home Championship Thomas Chapman 10,000
54 21 March 1896 Carolina Port, Dundee A   Scotland 0–4 1895–96 British Home Championship 11,700
55 6 March 1897 Solitude, Belfast A   Ireland 3–4 1896–97 British Home Championship Billy Meredith (2), Caesar Jenkyns 10,000
56 20 March 1897 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 2–2 1896–97 British Home Championship Morgan Morgan-Owen, Harry Pugh 5,000
57 29 March 1897 Bramall Lane, Sheffield A   England 0–4 1896–97 British Home Championship Morgan Morgan-Owen, Harry Pugh 5,000
58 19 February 1898 The Oval, Llandudno H   Ireland 0–1 1897–98 British Home Championship 6,000
59 19 March 1898 Fir Park, Motherwell A   Scotland 2–5 1897–98 British Home Championship Thomas John Thomas, Morgan Morgan-Owen 3,500
60 28 March 1898 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   England 0–3 1897–98 British Home Championship 4,000
61 4 March 1899 Grosvenor Park, Belfast A   Ireland 0–3 1898–99 British Home Championship 6,000
62 18 March 1899 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H   Scotland 0–6 1898–99 British Home Championship 12,000
63 20 March 1899 Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol A   England 0–4 1898–99 British Home Championship 10,000

Head to head records

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Head to head records
Opponent P W D L GF GA W% D% L%
  England 21 2 2 17 18 75 9.52 9.52 80.95
  Ireland 18 9 3 6 70 28 50 16.67 33.33
  Scotland 24 0 3 21 18 106 0 12.50 87.50
Totals 63 11 8 44 106 209 17.46 12.70 69.84

Notes

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  1. ^ Although some sources have credited Acton Park with the first home international, most contemporary sources support the Racecourse.[2]
  2. ^ Table information sourced from the references listed in the statistics section below.
  3. ^ Due to the unavailability of exact figures, attendance numbers are given as recorded estimates.
  4. ^ Reports vary over the exact attendance due to poor weather conditions. Some reports estimate as few as 100 attended, although most sources approximate around 200.[14]
  5. ^ The Football Association of Wales chose to hold a fixture in the English border town of Shrewsbury in the hope of drawing a larger crowd.[15]

References

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Statistics
  • Nygård, Jostein. "Wales – International Results". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  • "Welsh International Matches". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  • Tossani, Gabriele. "Scotland – International Results". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  • Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. pp. 558–559. ISBN 978-0-85112-954-9.
Bibliography
  • Stead, Phil (2013). Red Dragons – The Story of Welsh Football. Ceredigion: Y Lolfa. ISBN 978-1-84771-468-8.
Specific
  1. ^ "On this day in 1876: Wales play first official match". Express & Star. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Is the Racecourse the world's oldest international venue?". Daily Post. 16 June 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  3. ^ Stead 2013, p. 23
  4. ^ "England 0 Wales 1". englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Wales V Ireland". The Times. 27 February 1882. p. 10. Retrieved 18 August 2020 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 32–34
  7. ^ a b c Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil. "British Home Championship 1884–1899". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  8. ^ "The Story of Welsh Football 1880–1914". The Story of Welsh Football. Wrexham County Borough Council. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  9. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 47–48
  10. ^ "Wales national football team: record v Ireland". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Wales national football team: record v England". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Wales national football team: record v Scotland". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  13. ^ Stead 2013, p. 51
  14. ^ "England v Wales, 18 January 1879". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  15. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 40–41