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28 vs. Wales
    
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32 vs. Wales



Admission to Ground, One Shilling		 Saturday, 26 February 1887
 British International Championship 1886-87 (4th) Match
  
England 4 Wales 0 [1-0]
   		 

The Surrey Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington, London, Surrey, SE
Kick-off (GMT): 'shortly after three o'clock'; 'at five minutes past 3'; 'at 3.10'.
Attendance: 'about four thousand people were present'; 'about four thousand people witnessed'; 'numbered well over 4,000'; 'estimated between 5,000 and 6,000'.
England's ninth visit to The Oval, to London, and to Surrey, fifth victory
Norman Bailey won the toss Job Wilding kicked-off
[1-0] Jack Powell own goal 14
 'Cobbold headed the ball, it going through off [Powell]' 		some sources state that the first goal was a Nevill Cobbold goal.
[2-0] Tinsley Lindley 55
 'Cobbold ran down very cleverly and gave Lindley a chance'
[3-0] Nevill Cobbold 75
 'from a splendid centre by Lofthouse'
[4-0] Tinsley Lindley 80
 'after some pretty play between Lofthouse and Dewhurst'.		 <25th goal scored against Wales
<25th second half goal at home
 

"The weather was delightfully fine with a light wind."

Match Summary

Officials [umpires and referees are of equal relevance]

 England Team Records Wales
Umpires "He [Mills-Roberts], probably, had nearly 50 shots to save".
Morton Peto Betts
 39 (30 August 1847)
Old Harrovians FC		 Richard Thomas Gough
 27 (mid-1859), Oswestry
(Welsh FA)		 South Wales Daily News state J.Armstrong (Union) & A.H.Hunter (Welsh FA)and state Thomas Gough (Welsh FA) as referee
played for England in 1871-77
Referee
 Thomas Devlin
 29 (11 July 1857), Dairymple, Ayrshire, Scotland
  

England Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 2nd		 Colours White shirts, navy blue knickerbockers

Captain		 Norman Bailey Selection The Football Association Committee, with Secretary Charles W. Alcock having the primary influence.
P 14 of 15, W 6 - D 3 - L 5 - F 38 - A 25. P 30 of 31, W 14 - D 5 - L 11 - F 95 - A 58
most captaincies so far ¹ team chosen at 51 Holborn Viaduct, on Monday afternoon, 21 February 1887
England Lineup
 (four changes to the previous match)
  Arthur, W.J. Herbert 24
12 days		 14 February 1863 G Blackburn Rovers FC 7 4ᵍᵃ
most gk apps
  Walters, Percy M. 23
149 days		 30 September 1863 RB Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 6 0
  Walters, Arthur M. 22
31 days		 26 January 1865 LB Cambridge University AFC, Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 4 0
  Haworth, George 22
132 days		 17 October 1864 RHB Accrington FC 2 0
  Bailey, Norman C. 29
218 days		 23 July 1857 CHB Clapham Rovers FC & Corinthians FC 18 1
oldest player to represent England competitively until his next appearance most experienced captain & most apps
  Forrest, James H. 22
247 day		 24 June 1864 LHB Blackburn Rovers FC 8 0
Lofthouse, Joseph M. 21
318 days		 14 April 1865 OR Blackburn Rovers FC 4 0
  Dewhurst, Frederick 23
72 days		 16 December 1863 IR Preston North End FC & Corinthians FC 4 4
Lindley, Tinsley 21
122 days		 27 October 1865 CF Nottingham Forest FC, Cambridge University AFC & Corinthians FC 5 7
nineteenth brace scored
Cobbold, W. Nevill 24
22 days		 4 February 1863 IL Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC 8 6
  Bambridge, E. Charles 28
211 days		 30 July 1858 OL Swifts FC & Corinthians FC 17 12
most gls
reserves: Bob Roberts (West Bromwich Albion FC, goal), Bob Howarth (Preston North End FC) and Charlie Mason (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, back), Cecil Holden-White (Swifts FC) Charlie Shelton (Notts Rangers) and Andrew Amos (Old Carthusians AFC, half-backs), George Woodhall (West Bromwich Albion FC) and Kenny Davenport (Bolton Wanderers FC, right forwards) Jem Bayliss (West Bromwich Albion FC, centre forward), George Farmer (Everton FC and ex-Wales forward) and John Goodall (Preston North End FC, left forwards).
team notes: Arthur and Percy Walters are the first set of brothers to play in the same team four times.
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 seventeen appearances, whereas James Forrest and Nevill Cobbold are the fifth/sixth to make eight and Herby Arthur is the eighth to make seven appearances.
Percy Walters is the eleventh player to make six appearances and Tinsley Lindley is the seventeenth player to make five.
Only 24 players have made four or more England appearances, whereas 38 players have done so for more than three, only 68 have done so more than once.
records: It is also only the third match in 14½ years that there has been no debutants, ensuring that they have now topped the seven appearances per player ratio.
This is the first time England have won three matches in a row, but, they have gone on a record unbeaten sequence of nine matches, lasting nearly three years. Their 'Home' record is now at a record five matches unbeaten.
In the 66th minute of this match, both England and Herby Arthur broke the clean sheet record of 203 minutes. The match ended with the record of going 228 minutes without conceding a goal.
Arthur is the first England goalkeeper to keep three clean sheets.
Norman Bailey continues to hold on to and extend the world appearance record.
 
2-3-5 Arthur -
P.Walters, A.Walters -
Haworth, Bailey, Forrest -
Lofthouse, Dewhurst, Lindley, Cobbold, Bambridge
Averages: Age 23 years 339 days Appearances/Goals 7.5 2.4
most experienced team until next match

 

Wales Team
 
Rank No official ranking system established;
ELO rating 5th		 Colours Red collared shirts, white shorts, black socks
Captain Humphrey Jones Selection The Welsh Selection Committee, following a series of trial matches.
P 6 of 11, W 2 - D 0 - L 4 - F 16 - A 21.
 
Wales Lineup
  Mills Roberts, Dr Robert Herbert 24
205 days		 5 August 1862 G St. Thomas' Hospital FC, London & Corinthians FC, England 5 24ᵍᵃ
  Davies, Alfred Owen 24
83 days		 5 December 1862 RB Swifts FC, England & Corinthians FC, England 4 0
will referee the 1889 Ireland match
  Powell, John 27
338 days		 25 March 1859 LB Newton Heath LYR FC, England 11 0
the fourth own goal scored for England
   
  Burke, Thomas 23/24 1863 RHB Newton Heath LYR FC, England 6 0
  Jones, Humphrey 21
81 days		 7 December 1862 CHB Queen's Park FC, Scotland & East Stirlingshire FC, Scotland 7 1
will referee the 1896 Scotland match
92   Evelyn, Edward Clement 24
100 days		 18 November 1862 LHB Crusaders FC, England 1 0
  Owen, William 25
200 days		 10 August 1861 OR Chirk AAA FC 3 1
93   Challen, John Bonamy 23
337 days		 26 March 1863 IR Swifts FC, England & Corinthians FC, England 1 0
  Wilding, Job 21
137 days		 12 October 1865 CF Bootle FC, England 6 1
  Lewis, William 20/21 1864 IL Bangor FC 4 2
94   Turner, William Haighton 19
298 days		 4 May 1867 OL Wrexham AFC 1 0
reserves: not known
team changes: Wales had lost four players before the match. Jack Powell replaced his brother Albert (Druids FC), Tom Burke replaced Bob Roberts (Bolton Wanderers FC, England), Bill Turner replaced Tom Bryan (Oswestry FC) and Joby Wilding replaced Tommy Britten (Crusaders FC, England).
team notes: Dr. Robert Mills Roberts apparently played in this match with both his wrists in plaster and splints up to his elbows after he had sprained them in the London vs. Staffordshire match a week earlier. He was club secretary of St. Thomas Hospital.
Alf Davies is the uncle (by marriage) to the Walter brothers, Arthur and Percy.
records: Wales suffer a third straight defeat for the first time since 1883.
 
2-3-5 Mills Roberts -
Davies, Powell -
Burke, Jones, Evelyn -
Owen, Challen, Wilding, Lewis, Turner
Averages: Age 23 years 272-338 days Appearances/Goals 4.4 0.5

 

       Match Report London Evening Standard, Monday, 28 February 1887

About four thousand people were present at Kennington Oval on Saturday to witness the ninth annual match between England and Wales under Association rules. The weather was delightfully fine, and a most enjoyable game was witnessed. The Football Association had got together a very powerful team to represent England, with the result that Wales suffered a severe defeat. Successful in the toss, the Englishmen selected the western goal, and shortly after three o'clock Wales kicked off with a light wind in their faces. Not many minutes elapsed before the ball was taken close up to the Welsh goal, and Bambridge made an unsuccessful shot. Again the visitors were severely pressed, and Mills-Roberts stopped shots by Lofthouse, Cobbold, and Bambridge. A quarter of an hour from the start England obtained their first goal, the ball going through of the defending backs. On play being resumed England again asserted their superiority. Their combination was remarkably good, while the defence of their backs prevented the visitors' forwards becoming dangerous. The home eleven made several attempts to increase their advantage, but this they had been unable to do up to half-time, when they were leading by one goal to none. Positions having been reversed, the home forwards again forced the play. Cobbold and Bambridge showed brilliant form along the left side. It was after a clever run by the former that Lindley scored a second goal for England. In spite of these losses Wales played in a most spirited manner. Subsequently Cobbold and Lindley each secured a further goal for England, who were declared the winners by four goals to none.
  

       Match Report The Times, Monday, 28 February 1887

The team chosen to represent England in this international match at the Oval on Saturday proved far too powerful for Wales...
 About 4,000 people witnessed the contest. Choice of positions fell to England, who selected the western goal, which gave them the advantage of a light wind, and at five minutes past 3 Wilding kicked off for Wales...
England continued their aggressive tactics, and when rather more than a quarter of an hour had elapsed Cobbold shot the ball between the posts off one of the defending backs...
Ten minutes had elapsed since half-time when a fine middle by Cobbold enabled Lindley to register the second goal for England, who quickly afterwards again pressed their opponents...
Good passing among the forwards ended in Cobbold securing a third point for England, while a fourth resulted from the foot of Lindley.  

  
              In Other News....
It was on 26 February 1887 that southern France and northern Italy were counting the cost of the Mediterranean earthquake, three days earlier. The death toll reached an estimated 2000 people.
  
Other selected Football Results (26 February 1887)
Friendly matches:
Derby County 1 Cambridge University 1
   Derbyshire Cricket Ground, Derby ('large')
 Cooper ~ Newberry
Cambridge were without Arthur Walters and Tinsley Lindley
Although other friendly matches were played on this day, specifically Notts County—Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers—Accrington, Old Harrovians—Old Westminsters and Inter-Association matches between Sheffield—Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire—Kent, none, however, were impacted by the England fixture.
 
Preston North End 8 Blackburn Rovers 2
   North End Ground, Deepdale, Preston (5,000-6,000)
 Thomson (3), Ross (2), Goodall (3)
~ Rushton, Rose OG
North End were without Fred Dewhurst
Rovers were without Herby Arthur, Jimmy Forrest and Joe Lofthouse
Preston North End defeated the F.A. Cup holders, Blackburn Rovers, 8-2, after their fixture with Aston Villa was postponed.
 
     

      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
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