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17 vs. Wales
   
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Monday, 17 March 1884
 British International Championship 1883-84 (1st) Match
 
 Wales 0 England 4 [0-1]
  		  

The Racecourse, Mold Road, Wrexham, Denbighshire
 Kick-off (GMT): 'three minutes past three'
 Attendance: 'only 3,000 spectators present'; 'before nearly 4,000 spectators'; 'there were 6,000 spectators present'.



Season Record
England's third visit to The Racecourse, to Wrexham, to Denbighshire and to Wales
Jack Powell won the toss either William Bromley-Davenport or Norman Bailey kicked-off
  [0-1] William Bromley-Davenport 7
'neat shot from a Bambridge middle'
  [0-2] Norman Bailey 75
 'quickly sent in'
 [0-3] William Bromley-Davenport 85
'sent it thro'
 [0-4] Billy Gunn 90
'sent the ball along the ground but Powell allowed it to pass him without an attempt to arrest its progress, and the goalkeeper adopting similar tactics, the leather rolled in between the posts'
"The weather was lovely, and the ground in grand order"
 
Match Summary
Officials [umpires and referees are of equal relevance] Wales Team Records England

Umpires

  
Charles William Alcock
 41 (2 December 1842)
Sunderland (FA secretary)
(replaced Major Marindin)		 Samuel Llewelyn Kenrick
36 (3 June 1847)
Druids FC (Welsh FA secretary).
played for England in 1875 played against England in 1879 & 1881
Referee
Sydney Broadfoot
27 (24 January 1857), Leith (Scottish F.A. vice-President).
   
Wales Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 3rd		 Colours White shirts, white shorts, white socks
Captain Jack Powell Selection The Welsh Selection Committee
P 4 of 6, W 0 - D 1 - L 3 - F 1 - A 13.
  team chosen on Thursday, 6 March 1884.
Wales Lineup
  Owen, Elias 21
 43 days		 3 February 1863 G Ruthin Grammar School 2 4ᵍᵃ
  Powell, John 23
 358 days		 25 March 1859 RB Druids FC & Bolton Wanderers FC, England 10 0
    Conde, Charles 25
 16 days		 1 March 1859 LB Chirk AAA FC 2 0
65   Evans, Maurice Jones c.25 early 1859 RHB Oswestry FC 1 0
only app 1884
66   Williams, Joseph Henry 26
 186 days		 13 September 1857
 in Oswestry, England		 CHB Oswestry FC 1 0
only app 1884
  Griffiths, Peter 22
 182 days		 17 September 1861 RHB Chirk AAA FC 2 0
  Owen, William Pierce 23
 118 days		 20 November 1860 OR Ruthin FC 11 6
final app 1880-84
67   Owen, William 22
 220 days		 10 August 1861 IR Chirk AAA FC 1 0
  Eyton-Jones, Dr.John Arthur 22
 178 days		 25 September 1862 CF Wrexham AFC & Bootle FC, England 3 1
  Vaughan, John 25/26 1858 IL Bolton Wanderers FC, England 11 2
final app 1879-84
  Jones, Robert Albert 19/20 1864 OL Druids FC 2 1
reserves: not known
team changes: The FA Committee, led by Charles Alcock, objected to the inclusion of Frederick Hughes again, who up until 1883, was believed to be Welsh-born, but this had proven inaccurate. This time, the objection was upheld, Maurice Evans took his place in the team. But a similar objection regarding Dr. Arthur Eyton-Jones was not upheld and he was allowed to play. - The Liverpool Mercury, Monday, March 14 1884.
Wrexham's Bob Davies was the original named outside-left, his place going to Jones.
team notes: Elias and William P. Owen are brothers.
Wrexham AFC's Arthur Eyton-Jones was playing on his home ground.
 
2-3-5 Owen -
Powell, Conde -
Williams, Griffiths, Morris -
W.P.Owen, W.Owen, Eyton-Jones, Vaughan, Jones
Averages: Age 23 years 131-205 days Appearances/Goals 4.2 0.9
 
England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
 ELO rating 22nd		 Colours White shirts, navy blue knickerbockers/a>

Captain		 Norman Bailey Selection The Football Association Committee, with Secretary Charles W. Alcock having the primary influence
P 8 of 15, W 3 - D 0 - L 5 - F 24 - A 21 P 22 of 31, W 9 - D 2 - L 11 - F 68 - A 53.
most captaincies so far ¹ team chosen at The Freemason's Tavern, Thursday evening, 28 February 1884
England Lineup
(a record low one change to the previous match)
  Rose, William C. 22
107 days		 1 December 1861 G Swindon Town FC & Swifts FC 3 2ᵍᵃ
  Dobson, Alfred T.C. 24
355 days		 28 March 1859 RB Notts County FC & Corinthians FC 4 0
final app 1882-84
  Beverley, Joseph 27
126 days		 12 November 1856 LB Blackburn Rovers FC 3 0
final app 1884
Bailey, Norman C. 26
238 days		 23 July 1857 RHB Clapham Rovers FC 12 1
oldest competitive scorer so far most experienced captain & most apps
114   Forrest, James H. 19
267 days		 24 June 1864 CHB Blackburn Rovers FC 1 0
the youngest player to represent England competitively so far the sixth Rover to represent England
  Wilson, Charles P. 24
310 days		 12 May 1859 LHB Hendon FC & Corinthians FC 2 0
final app 1884
  Holden, George H. 24
163 days		 6 October 1859 OR Wednesbury Old Athletic FC 4 1
final app 1881-84
  Vaughton, O. Howard 23
68 days		 9 January 1861 IR Aston Villa FC 5 6
final app 1882-84
Bromley-Davenport, William 22
56 days		 21 January 1862 CF Old Etonians AFC & Oxford University AFC 2 2
fourteenth brace scored by England youngest competitive scorer so far final app 1884
Gunn, William 25
104 days		 4 December 1858 IL Notts County FC 2 1
final app 1884
Bambridge, E. Charles 25
231 days		 30 July 1858 OL Swifts FC 10 10
most gls
reserves: not known
team changes: Jimmy Forrest was a late replacement for Stuart MacRae (Notts County FC). Gunn again, coming in for Harry Cursham (Notts County FC). It prevented England from naming an unchanged side for the first time, instead, they made just the one change to the line-up, still, a first.
team notes: Harry Cursham's brother, Arthur, also played for England 1876-82.
 Charlie Bambridge's brothers, Ernest, played for England in 1876, and Arthur in 1881-84.
appearance notes: Charlie Bambridge is the second England player to make ten appearances, whereas Howard Vaughton is the tenth to make five and Alf Dobson and George Holden the thirteenth/fourteenth to make four appearances.
27 players have now played for England three or more times, and 54 have done so more than once.
This is the first time that England have played with two players who have made appearances into double-figures.
records: England's twelve goals this year/season are scored by record-equalling seven goalscorers.
Norman Bailey on his twelfth outing, becomes the most experienced England player to score a goal. His record appearances is also a World record, shared with Wales' John Price.
Only sixteen different players were used across the 1883-84 season, creating a new record for players used in multiple-match seasons.
 
2-3-5 Rose -
Dobson, Beverley -
Wilson, Forrest, Bailey -
Holden, Vaughton, Bromley-Davenport, Gunn, Bambridge
Averages: Age 24 years 84 days Appearances/Goals 4.4     1.5
youngest competitive XI until next match
 

       Match Report Sporting Life, Tuesday, 18 March 1884
Journeying from Scotland, where they suffered defeat by one goal to nothing, England met Wales on Wrexham Racecourse yesterday (Monday), and defeated them, after a hard fought game, by four goals to nil. Macrae being unable to come South owing to business engagements, his place at half-back was taken by Forrest (Blackburn Rovers), and in the Welsh team the two Owens played on the right wing, and Vaughan and Jones on the left. The weather was lovely, and the ground in grand order, and some 4,000 spectators were present. Wales won the toss, and elected to defend the Crispin lane goal. The ball was started by Bromley-Davenport at three minutes past three, and in six minutes from the commencement the same player scored first goal for England. On the ball being restarted Albert Jones dribbled it up field, and centre to Eyton Jones, the latter heading it just over the bar. Bromley-Davenport and Bambridge were busy soon afterwards, but they were foiled by Powell, who played grandly throughout. After a nice piece of play by Gunn and Bambridge, Eyton Jones ran the ball down the field, and passed to W. P. Owen, who shot it into the goal, but the ball was got safely away. Some most exciting give-and-take play followed, but the score remained unchanged at half-time. After changing ends, and with the wind slightly in their favour, England pressed Wales desperately, but notwithstanding their exertions, the defence of Owen was too good to permit of any addition to the score, until from a foul in dangerous proximity England scored a second goal. Once more in motion the ball was taken up the left wing by Albert Jones and Vaughan, and Jones made a shot which just went over the bar. Three minutes afterwards Bromley-Davenport kicked the third goal for England, and a fourth was added by Gunn. The game thus ended in favour of England by four goals to nil.
  

       Match Report The Times, Tuesday, 18 March 1884
This international contest was played under Association rules yesterday on Wrexham Racecourse, before nearly 4,000 spectators. Wales won the toss, and decided to have the wind in their favour during the early portion of the game. Bromley-Davenport set the ball in motion for the visitors and after about five minutes' play, he scored a goal for them...

 Positions having been exchanged, England played with renewed vigour and secured three additional goals...  
  
              In Other News....
It was on 17 March 1884 that the Prime Minister, William Gladstone was unable to attend the House of Commons as he was suffering from laryngitis.
  

      Source Notes
TheFA
Cris Freddi: Football Historian
Welsh Football Data Archive
Nick Gibbs' England: The Football Facts
Ian Garland & Gareth M. Davies' Sons of Cambria
   FreeBMD.org.uk
Rothmans Yearbooks
 Original newspaper reports
John Treleven
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