Match Summary

England Team

Ireland Team

A POOR MATCH

England beat Ireland by two goals to none at West Bromwich on Saturday, and played well enough for the occasion. Higher praise for the successful side in a poor game is impossible.

A high wind, blowing almost straight down the ground, seriously handicapped the players, but better turf than that at the Hawthorns could not be desired, and England had so much of the play that they would have overcome that one difficulty and become a great side if they had possessed the individual ability looked for in men chosen for representative matches.

Strong sunshine, which they faced in the first half, would not have worried them if they had kept the ball low and under control, and failure to do this accounted for the disappointing nature of the football.

England did much of the attacking that their forwards must bear the blame for an inability to attack with the method that leaves a man with a certain goal if he shoots straight...

The forwards caused Harland more anxiety, and he was well beaten by Chambers, to whom the ball came out after a corner, taken by Mercer. The second goal was scored as the result of really good football five minutes from the end. Williams, receiving a pass, ran almost to the goal-line before centring. Seed returned the pass, and Chambers shot immediately and accurately.

Nearly 20,000 people watched the game without becoming enthusiastic. There was no reason why they should do so. - The Times - Monday 23rd October, 1922

Football League Division One 21 October 1922
Team	P	Pts
Liverpool	11	16
Middlesbrough	11	15
Sunderland	11	15
Burnley	11	14
Nottingham Forest	12	14
Chelsea	11	13
Manchester City	11	13
Sheffield United	12	12
Aston Villa	11	12
Newcastle United	11	11
Tottenham Hotspur	10	11
Huddersfield Town	11	11
Bolton Wanderers	12	11
West Bromwich Albion	11	10
Blackburn Rovers	11	10
Oldham Athletic	11	10
Birmingham	12	10
Arsenal	12	10
Everton	10	8
Preston North End	11	8
Cardiff City	11	7
Stoke	12	5

 

Division One matches played on 21 October 1922:

ASTON VILLA 2-0 BOLTON WANDERERS
Walker Pen. 33, York 34
27,000 (Villa Park, Birmingham)

Villa were without Frank Moss, who was playing against Ireland at West Bromwich.

BURNLEY 3-1 BLACKBURN ROVERS
Kelly Pen. 29, 82, Cross 36 (McIntyre 60)
30,000 (Turf Moor, Burnley)

Burnley were without William Emerson, who was playing for Ireland against England at West Bromwich, as was Blackburn's David Rollo.

CHELSEA 1-3 SUNDERLAND
Meehan pen. 60 (Buchan 7, 23, Paterson 55)
38,000 (Stamford Bridge, London)

Chelsea were without Jack Harrow, who was making his international debut against Ireland at West Bromwich.

LIVERPOOL 3-1 CARDIFF CITY
Gilhespy 60, Forshaw 65, Wadsworth 80 (Clennell pen. 68)
35,000 (Anfield, Liverpool)

Liverpool were without Harry Chambers, who scored both goals against Ireland at West Bromwich, whilst Cardiff were without Bert Smith, who was playing for Ireland.

MIDDLESBROUGH 2-1 BIRMINGHAM
Wilson pen. 5, 47 (Whitehouse 65)
18,000 (Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough)

Middlesbrough were without George Elliott, who was a reserve against Ireland at West Bromwich.

NEWCASTLE UNITED 1-1 ARSENAL
J.Low 2 (Hopkins 70)
30,000 (St James' Park, Newcastle)

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2-1 EVERTON
Spaven 28, 43 (Chadwick pen. 60)
15,000 (City Ground, Nottingham)

Forest were without Pat Nelis, who was making his only international appearance, for Ireland against England at West Bromwich, whilst Everton were without Bobby Irvine, who was also playing for Ireland.

OLDHAM ATHLETIC 0-3 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
(Mann 35, Wadsworth pen. 75, Smith)
16,828 (Boundary Park, Oldham)

Huddersfield were without Ted Taylor, who kept a clean sheet on his international debut against Ireland at West Bromwich.

PRESTON NORTH END 0-2 MANCHESTER CITY
(Barnes 7, 18)
15,656 (Deepdale, Preston)

SHEFFIELD UNITED 2-0 STOKE
Menlove 24, Johnson 82
10,000 (Bramall Lane, Sheffield)

United were without Mercer, who was making his international debut against Ireland at West Bromwich, and Gillespie, who was playing for Ireland.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3-1 WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Brooks 9, Walden 22, Skinner (Gregory)
26,188 (White Hart Lane, London)

Tottenham were without Grimsdell and Seed, who were playing against Ireland at West Bromwich, as was West Brom's Joe Smith.

With seven wins in their last eight games, defending champions, Liverpool were looking strong enough to mount a serious challenge to retain their title.

Football League Division Two 21 October 1922
Team	P	Pts
Leicester City	11	17
Notts County	11	15
Barnsley	11	15
Bury	11	15
Fulham	11	13
Blackpool	11	13
Leeds United	11	13
Port Vale	11	13
Manchester United	11	13
Coventry City	11	12
Hull City	11	12
South Shields	11	11
The Wednesday	11	11
Stockport County	11	11
Derby County	11	10
West Ham United	11	9
Southampton	11	9
Clapton Orient	11	8
Rotherham County	11	6
Wolverhampton Wanderers	11	6
Bradford City	11	6
Crystal Palace	11	4

 

Division Two matches played on 21 October 1922:

BURY 2-1 CRYSTAL PALACE
Stage 2 (Whitworth)
9,121 (Gigg Lane, Bury)

CLAPTON ORIENT 2-2 THE WEDNESDAY
J.Tonner, Jacques (Binks, Smailes)
16,000 (Millfields Road, London)

Orient were without Owen Williams, who was making his international debut against Ireland at West Bromwich, whilst the Wednesday were without George Wilson, who was also playing against Ireland.

COVENTRY CITY 1-0 DERBY COUNTY
Toms
17,000 (Highfield Road, Coventry)

LEEDS UNITED 0-0 LEICESTER CITY
12,000 (Elland Road, Leeds)

MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 FULHAM
Myerscough (Shea)
18,000 (Old Trafford, Manchester)

United were without David Lynar, who was playing for Ireland against England at West Bromwich, whilst Fulham were without Frank Osborne, who was making his international debut against Ireland.

PORT VALE 0-0 NOTTS COUNTY
15,055 (Old Recreation Ground, Stoke)

ROTHERHAM COUNTY 0-1 HULL CITY
(Thom)
8,000 (Millmoor, Rotherham)

SOUTH SHIELDS 0-0 BRADFORD CITY
8,000 (Horsley Hill, South Shields)

STOCKPORT COUNTY 3-1 BARNSLEY
Wilson, Green 2 (Wainscoat)
15,000 (Edgeley Park, Stockport)

WEST HAM UNITED 2-0 BLACKPOOL
Watson 2
16,000 (Upton Park, London)

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0-0 SOUTHAMPTON
15,107 (Molineux, Wolverhampton)

Leicester were aiming to return to the top flight that they had last experienced in 1909, but they were to be pipped to promotion by FA Cup finalists, West Ham United, on goal average.

Division Three on 21 October 1922:

Plymouth Argyle led the southern section by a point from Portsmouth, and also Swansea Town and Watford, both of whom had played a game more. Nelson led the northern section by a point from Wigan Borough, Grimsby Town, Rochdale, Halifax Town and Chesterfield. All, with the exception of Halifax, had a game in hand on the leaders.

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 22 October 1922 that David Lloyd George was preparing to leave Downing Street having resigned as Prime Minister, three days earlier. He would be succeeded the following day by Andrew Bonar Law, who would lead the Conservatives to a majority in the following month's election after the party had withdrawn its support for Lloyd George's Coalition government. Bonar Law would die from throat cancer just over a year later, however.

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