England Match No. 56 - Ireland - 7 March 1896

England Football Online
	Page Last Updated 13 October 2020	Éireann

55 vs. Scotland 56 57 vs. Wales	Saturday, 7 March 1896 Home International Championship 1895-96 (13th) Match Ireland 0 England 2 [0-1]		Match Summary Ireland Party England Party Team Records
		Cliftonville Gardens, Cliftonville, Belfast, County Antrim Attendance: 12,000; Kick-off: 3.30pm GMT
		England - Gilbert Smith ('put the ball into the Irish net...following a breakaway by the visitors' 40), Steve Bloomer ('scored a fine goal from a swift low shot out of a scrimmage' 75)
Results 1891-1900		Ireland won the toss, England kicked-off.

Match Summary

Officials	Ireland	Type	England
Referee - James H. Robertson Dundee, Scotland Football Association Linesmen - John James Bentley, 35 (June 1860), Chapeltown, Bolton Wanderers FC & Mr. Thomas		Goal Attempts
		Attempts on Target
		Hit Bar/Post
		Corner Kicks Won
The 1895 IFAB Proposals: The 1895 International Football Association Board Meeting: goal nets to be used, and eligibility The 1895 International Football Association Board Joint Circular:		Offside Calls Against
		Fouls Conceded
		Possession

Ireland Team

Rank:	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 6th	Colours:		Probably blue jerseys and white shorts
Capt:	James Fitzpatrick, aged 20 years 79 days	Selectors:		Team chosen by Committee, on Tuesday, 3 March 1896;
Ireland Lineup
	Scott, Thomas M.	22	9 August 1873	G	Cliftonville FAC	6	17 GA
	Ponsonby, John	19	May 1876 born in Dumbarton, Scotland	RB	Distillery FC	4	0
	Torrans, Samuel	26	27 October 1869	LB	Linfield FAC	16	0
	Fitzpatrick, C. James	20	19 December 1875	RH	Bohemians FC	1	0
	Milne, Robert G.	25	1 October 1870 born in Inverarity, Scotland	CH	Linfield FAC	7	0
	Gordon, Hugh	22	17 May 1873	LH	Linfield FAC	2	0
	Baird, Gideon	18	1 June 1877	OR	Distillery FC	2	0
	Turner, Edward	nk	not known	IR	Cliftonville FAC	1	0
	Stanfield, Olphert M.	27	26 February 1869	CF	Distillery FC	26	10
	Peden, John	32	12 July 1863	IL	Distillery FC	16	5
	Miskelly, James	25	1 December 1870	OL	Glentoran FC	1	0
reserves:		reserves not known
team notes:		Olphie Stanfield extends his tally as Ireland's record appearance holder. He is already their record goalscorer. Fitzpatrick is the second youngest player to captain a side against England.

2-3-5		Scott - Ponsoby, Torrans - Fitzpatrick, Milne, Gordon - Baird, Turner, Stanfield, Peden, Miskelly.
Averages:		Age	23.6	Appearances/Goals		7.5	1.4

England Team

Rank:	No official ranking system established; ELO rating 1st	Colours:		White jerseys and navy blue knickerbockers
Capt:	Not known with any certainty.	Selectors:		The seven-man FA International Selection Committee, on Thursday, 20 February 1896 in Manchester. 25th match, W 20 - D 4 - L 1 - F 101 - A 21.
	The captaincy was probably given to George Raikes, at least according to Irish Saturday Night and The Irish Times. The London Times gives a first captaincy to Gilbert Smith, yet, Vaughan Lodge is also a possibility. Most sources do not specify any captain.
England Lineup
	Raikes, George B.	22	14 March 1873	G	Oxford University AFC & Corinthians FC	2	1 GA
	Lodge, L. Vaughan	23	21 December 1872	RB	Cambridge University AFC & Corinthians FC	4	0
	Oakley, William J.	22	27 April 1873	LB	Oxford University AFC & Corinthians FC	2	0
	Crabtree, James W.	24	23 December 1871	RH	Aston Villa FC	4	0
	Crawshaw, Thomas H.	23	28 December 1872	CH	Wednesday FC	2	0
	Kinsey, George	29	20 June 1866	LH	Derby County FC	3	0
	Bassett, William I.	27	27 January 1869	OR	West Bromwich Albion FC	14	4 or 5
	Bloomer, Stephen	22	20 January 1874	IR	Derby County FC	3	4
	Smith, Gilbert O.	23	25 November 1872	CF	Oxford University AFC, Old Carthusians AFC & Corinthians FC	5	2
	Chadwick, Edgar W.	26	14 June 1869	IL	Everton FC	6	3
	Spiksley, Frederick	26	25 January 1870	OL	Wednesday FC	5	7
reserves:		reserves not known
team notes:		England's unbeaten run has now reached a record nineteen matches, lasting six years.

2-3-5		Raikes - Lodge, Oakley - Crabtree, Crawshaw, Kinsey - Bassett, Bloomer, Smith, Chadwick, Spiksley.
Averages:		Age	24.3	Appearances/Goals		4.6	1.6-1.7

Match Report

The success of England by two goals to none was not the decisive thing that most football people had expected from the material of the brilliant side that was chosen to represent the Football Association against Ireland at Belfast on Saturday. But the weather and the ground had most to do with the rather ordinary nature of the match. The English, although here and there brilliant, never got thoroughly into their game, and their football near goal often lacked precision. Ireland played far better than they had done against Wales, who had beaten them by six goals to one in the previous week, and the changes in their half-back line seemed to be very beneficial. Association football in Ireland makes slow progress, and the executive have only a small field for selection as compared with the widespread excellence existing among English clubs...

In the closing minutes of the first half the English right wings--Bassett and Bloomer--got the ball up the ground, and Smith was able to place the lead with England...

Eventually Bloomer obtained a second goal, and England, beating off a sharp home attack, were left with the victory by two goals to none.

Of the 15 matches now played England have won 14, while the game in 1894 was drawn. The goal aggregate is--England, 91 goals ; Ireland, nine. - The Times - Monday 9th March, 1896

Football League

Football League Division One
7 March 1896

Team P Pts

Aston Villa 26 39

Derby County 24 36

Everton 26 35

Sunderland 26 31

Bolton Wanderers 24 28

The Wednesday 25 25

Stoke 23 24

Blackburn Rovers 23 24

Preston North End 25 24

Nottingham Forest 24 21

Sheffield United 25 21

Burnley 25 20

Bury 22 18

Small Heath 24 16

Wolverhampton Wanderers 25 15

West Bromwich Albion 25 15

Division One matches played on 7 March 1896:

BOLTON WANDERERS 2-2 ASTON VILLA
Wright, Cassidy (Devey 2)
15,000 (Burnden Park, Bolton)

Villa were without Jimmy Crabtree, who was playing for England in Belfast.

EVERTON 3-2 PRESTON NORTH END
Boyle, Milward, Hartley (Stevenson, Blyth)
12,000 (Goodison Parl, Liverpool)

Everton were without Edgar Chadwick, who was playing for England in Belfast.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2-1 BURNLEY
Richards, Carnelly (Nicol)
5,000 (Town Ground, Nottingham)

SHEFFIELD UNITED 1-1 BLACKBURN ROVERS
Hammond (Turnbull)
5,000 (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)

SMALL HEATH 1-0 BURY
Haddon
5,000 (Coventry Road, Birmingham)

SUNDERLAND 2-1 THE WEDNESDAY
Cowan, Hannah (Langley)
6,000 (Newcastle Road, Sunderland)

Wednesday were without Crawshaw and Spiksley, who were playing for England in Belfast.

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1-2 WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Malpass (W.Richards, Flewitt)
8,114 (Molineux, Wolverhampton)

West Brom were without Billy Bassett, who was playing for England in Belfast.

Aston Villa fought back from a two-goal deficit at Bolton to maintain their slender lead at the top of the Championship, but the dropped point gave Derby renewed hope that they could catch them.

Football League Division Two
7 March 1896

Team P Pts

Liverpool 27 41

Manchester City 25 39

Burton Wanderers 25 36

Grimsby Town 24 31

Newton Heath 23 27

Newcastle United 23 26

Woolwich Arsenal 25 26

Leicester Fosse 23 24

Darwen 24 23

Burton Swifts 25 22

Notts County 24 20

Lincoln City 23 17

Rotherham Town 25 14

Burslem Port Vale 20 13

Loughborough 22 12

Crewe Alexandra 24 11

Division Two matches played on 7 March 1896:

BURSLEM PORT VALE 1-1 LEICESTER FOSSE
Beckett (Morse o.g.)
1,500 (Athletic Ground, Stoke)

BURTON WANDERERS 2-1 LIVERPOOL
Devey, Capes (Allan)
2,000 (Derby Turn, Burton)

CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GRIMSBY TOWN
(Higgins)
4,000 (Alexandra Recreation Ground, Crewe)

LINCOLN CITY 1-0 DARWEN
Burke
3,000 (Sincil Bank, Lincoln)

LOUGHBOROUGH 1-0 NEWCASTLE UNITED
Rose
2,000 (Athletic Ground, Loughborough)

MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 BURTON SWIFTS
Robertson (Dewey)
9,000 (Hyde Road, Manchester)

ROTHERHAM TOWN 2-3 NEWTON HEATH
Cutts, McCormick (Smith, Donaldson, Kennedy)
3,000 (Clifton Grove, Rotherham)

WOOLWICH ARSENAL 2-0 NOTTS COUNTY
Jenkyns, Haywood
5,000 (Manor Ground, London)

Manchester City failed to take full advantage of Liverpool's slip-up, but they still closed the gap at the top to two points, with two games in hand.

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 7 March 1896 that two people were killed when a train carriage was derailed as it approached Little Bytham Station in Lincolnshire. The subsequent inquiry was presided over by Major Francis Marandin, who had played in the first FA Cup Final, then refereed eight finals whilst President of the Football Association and was now the Senior Inspector of Railways. His report into the tragedy recommended the introduction of a number of safety features, such as delaying the re-opening of the track to express trains following its relaying, until it had been fully ballasted, or to open it under restrictive conditions using flagmen until the completion of the work.

Source Notes

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
Original Newspaper Reports
TheFA.com
Rothman's Yearbooks
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
Ancestry.com
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CG