Match Summary

England Team

Scotland Team

DISAPPOINTMENTS AT MANCHESTER

Scotland again won the International Championship, unbeaten, when they beat England at Manchester on Saturday by one goal to none. England, on the other hand, suffered the additional aggravation of having to accept the " wooden spoon," the result of two defeats, one drawn match, and not a single victory.

In searching for reasons for the rather humiliating position occupied by England, in spite of all her apparent wealth of first-class League clubs, one noted two outstanding facts. One of these was painfully apparent at Glasgow last year, when the slightly slower but vastly more efficient conception of the dribbling game held by Scotsmen enabled their national side not only to score two goals to none, but to outplay their opponents in the process. On Saturday much the same thing happened, although the victory, as shown in goals, was the smallest possible. One might add, perhaps, that Scottish Association football also has its faults ; and over-elaboration and mere trickiness at times are two of them. Hence, to some extent, the lowness of the scoring, though one also must not forget the craft and skill--not always according to the rules--of the modern defence.

The second fact noted was the difference in the mental attitude of the general public, and, one is inclined to think, of the players as well. In Scotland, a crowd of 100,000 at the great match of the year is commonplace. And if one of the English strongholds, like Lancashire, has to be invaded, there are thousands ready to carry the necessary Scottish atmosphere, garments, and sounds into the enemy's camp. A stranger in Manchester on Saturday night might well have fancied himself in Glasgow. The long trek out to Old Trafford was covered by numerous small bands of be-tartaned individuals, complete with bagpipes and boundless optimism, in spite of the repeated drenching showers of rain and muddy roads. It was much the same in the hundreds of tramcar specials. Inside the ground of the Manchester United Club there was the same impression of Scottish enthusiasm and comparative indifference on the part of the English spectators. These, admittedly, were in a considerable majority ; but, allowing for the bad weather and the increased price of admission, it was significant that a ground that has held over 70,000 people at a Cup-tie had room for another 20,000 at least on Saturday. Nor must one forget the neutralizing of the home brass band by a smaller but much more shrill and insistent Scottish pipe band. In the battle of discords, the pipe band won every time. This was a detail, no doubt, but the obvious indifference on the part of the general public could hardly have failed to have its effect upon the players, and the writer, at any rate, does not hesitate to attribute some of the feebleness of the English attacks in the second half to the individual feeling that, after all, a national defeat would not matter so much as, say, the respective joys and horrors of promotion or relegation--blessed words both...

It was in the perfect positioning and backing up of their players that Scotland achieved victory. The winning goal came about in this way, after about half an hour's play. Gallacher this time slipped away towards the right, and a brilliantly clever piece of inter-passing with Jackson ended in Gallacher obtaining the ball for a second time, and in sending the ball across the goal-mouth to Jackson. The latter's shot was at close range, but the ball hit a goal-post before rebounding into the net. - The Times - Monday 19th April, 1926

Football League Division One 17 April 1926
Team	P	Pts
Huddersfield Town	41	57
Arsenal	39	49
Sunderland	40	46
Aston Villa	40	43
Bury	40	43
Liverpool	40	42
Bolton Wanderers	39	42
Sheffield United	39	41
Newcastle United	40	40
Blackburn Rovers	41	39
Tottenham Hotspur	40	39
West Bromwich Albion	40	38
Everton	40	38
Leicester City	41	38
Manchester United	37	38
Cardiff City	39	38
West Ham United	40	37
Birmingham	39	36
Leeds United	40	34
Manchester City	40	33
Burnley	39	32
Notts County	40	31

 

Division One matches played on 17 April 1926:

ARSENAL 3-1 HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
Hulme, Lawson, Parker pen. (Devlin)
34,110 (Highbury, London)

Arsenal were without Butler, who was a reserve against Scotland at Manchester, and Harper, who was keeping a clean sheet in goal for Scotland, whilst Huddersfield were without Goodall, who was making his international debut, and Taylor, who were playing against Scotland, and Jackson, who scored the only goal of the game, for Scotland. 

ASTON VILLA 3-0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Capewell 2, Stephenson
11,774 (Villa Park, Birmingham)

Villa were without Mort, Walker (who was captain) and York, who were playing against Scotland at Manchester, whilst Tottenham were without Jack Elkes, who was a reserve against Scotland.

BOLTON WANDERERS 2-1 SHEFFIELD UNITED
Butler, J.Smith pen. (Tunstall)
13,133 (Burnden Park, Bolton)

United were without George Green, who was playing against Scotland at Manchester.

BURNLEY 2-2 BURY
Parkin, Page (Bullock 2)
15,787 (Turf Moor, Burnley)

Burnley were without Jack Hill, who was playing against Scotland at Manchester.

LEEDS UNITED 0-0 BIRMINGHAM
12,186 (Elland Road, Leeds)

Leeds were without Willis Edwards, who was playing against Scotland at Manchester.

LEICESTER CITY 2-3 MANCHESTER CITY
Hine, Chandler (Browell, Roberts 2)
17,702 (Filbert Street, Leicester)

Manchester City were without Jimmy McMullan, who was playing for Scotland against England at Manchester.

LIVERPOOL 2-2 BLACKBURN ROVERS
Chambers, Forshaw (Holland 2)
14,699 (Anfield, Liverpool)

Blackburn were without Harper, making his only international appearance, and Puddefoot, who were playing against Scotland at Manchester.

NEWCASTLE UNITED 3-0 WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Loughlin, Urwin, Hudspeth pen.
13,084 (St James' Park, Newcastle)

Newcastle were without Gallacher, who was playing for Scotland against England at Manchester, and McDonald, who was a reserve for Scotland.

NOTTS COUNTY 2-4 CARDIFF CITY
Staniforth, Davis (Ferguson 3, Keenor)
8,712 (Meadow Lane, Nottingham)

WEST HAM UNITED 1-0 EVERTON
Campbell
15,866 (Upton Park, London)

West Ham were without Jimmy Ruffell, who was making his international debut, against Scotland at Manchester, whilst Everton were without Alex Troup, who was playing for Scotland.

Five days earlier, Huddersfield had become the first club to win three successive league championships, the first two of which were won with Herbert Chapman as manager, but their defeat at Arsenal, Chapman's new club, was a glimpse of the future, as their former boss would set the Gunners on their way to dominating the next decade, surpassing even Huddersfield's achievements.

Football League Division Two 17 April 1926
Team	P	Pts
The Wednesday	40	56
Derby County	39	55
Chelsea	39	50
Swansea Town	39	47
Port Vale	40	44
Blackpool	40	44
Wolverhampton Wanderers	39	43
Oldham Athletic	39	42
Middlesbrough	40	42
South Shields	40	42
Portsmouth	40	42
Preston North End	40	40
Hull City	38	37
Southampton	40	37
Darlington	40	37
Bradford City	39	35
Nottingham Forest	39	34
Barnsley	38	33
Fulham	39	29
Clapton Orient	39	28
Stoke City	39	27
Stockport County	40	22

 

Division Two matches played on 17 April 1926:

DARLINGTON 3-2 STOCKPORT COUNTY
Dickson, Little, W.Hooper (Scurr, Jones)
5,464 (Feethams, Darlington)

FULHAM 1-1 BLACKPOOL
Craig (Butler)
14,682 (Craven Cottage, London)

MIDDLESBROUGH 1-2 DERBY COUNTY
McClelland pen. (Bedford, Thornewell)
9,462 (Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough)

OLDHAM ATHLETIC 2-1 HULL CITY
Kirkpatrick, Watson (Whitworth)
5,626 (Boundary Park, Oldham)

PORTSMOUTH 3-1 BRADFORD CITY
Mackie, Haines, Martin (Gallacher pen.)
11,743 (Fratton Park, Portsmouth)

PRESTON NORTH END 2-0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Aitken 2
8,450 (Deepdale, Preston)

STOKE CITY 1-3 CHELSEA
Wilson (Turnbull 2, McNeil)
10,268 (Victoria Ground, Stoke)

SWANSEA TOWN 3-0 BARNSLEY
Nicholas, Thompson, Deacon
10,343 (Vetch Field, Swansea)

THE WEDNESDAY 3-0 CLAPTON ORIENT
Wilkinson, Williams, Trotter
21,277 (Hillsborough, Sheffield)

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 3-1 PORT VALE
Mitton, Phillipson 2 (Briscoe)
10,549 (Molineux, Wolverhampton)

 

Whilst Derby and The Wednesday were just seven days away from securing their respective returns to the first division, Stockport's four-year stay in the second division was brought to an end with their defeat at Darlington.

Division Three on 17 April 1926:

Bradford led the northern section by a point from Grimsby Town, who had played a game fewer and were to pip them to the title and promotion, after winning twenty of their 21 home games. Reading led the southern section by two points from Plymouth Argyle, who had played a game fewer, but it was to be a fifth successive runners-up placing for the Pilgrims, with Reading promoted as champions for the first time, following five seasons in the bottom half of the table.

IN OTHER NEWS...

It was on 17 April 1926 that twenty-thousand women marched through London in protest against industrial strike actions and lockouts that were doomed to failure. The Trades Union Congress would organise a General Strike in support of the intended reduction of miners' wages and increased hours, in the following month. It would last for nine days, but it was, ultimately, unsuccessful.

Source Notes

Scottish Football Association
Scotland - The Complete International Record: Richard Keir
London Hearts
original newspaper reports
FA Yearbooks 1950-60
____________________

CG