1899–1900 in English football

The 1899–1900 season was the 29th season of competitive football in England.

Events

Chesterfield and Middlesbrough replaced Blackpool and Darwen in the Football League.

Glossop debuted in the First Division, becoming the smallest town ever to compete in the highest English football division. The team finished in bottom place and was relegated, becoming the first of six clubs that so far have only completed one season in the top flight.

Honours

Competition	Winner
First Division	Aston Villa (5*)
Second Division	The Wednesday
FA Cup	Bury (1)
Home Championship	Scotland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

League table

First Division

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Aston Villa	34	22	6	6	77	35	2.200	50
2	Sheffield United	34	18	12	4	63	33	1.909	48
3	Sunderland	34	19	3	12	50	35	1.429	41
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	34	15	9	10	48	37	1.297	39
5	Newcastle United	34	13	10	11	53	43	1.233	36
6	Derby County	34	14	8	12	45	43	1.047	36
7	Manchester City	34	13	8	13	50	44	1.136	34
8	Nottingham Forest	34	13	8	13	56	55	1.018	34
9	Stoke	34	13	8	13	37	45	0.822	34
10	Liverpool	34	14	5	15	49	45	1.089	33
11	Everton	34	13	7	14	47	49	0.959	33
12	Bury	34	13	6	15	40	44	0.909	32
13	West Bromwich Albion	34	11	8	15	43	51	0.843	30
14	Blackburn Rovers	34	13	4	17	49	61	0.803	30
15	Notts County	34	9	11	14	46	60	0.767	29
16	Preston North End	34	12	4	18	38	48	0.792	28
17	Burnley	34	11	5	18	34	54	0.630	27
18	Glossop	34	4	10	20	31	74	0.419	18

Second Division

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	The Wednesday	34	25	4	5	84	22	3.818	54
2	Bolton Wanderers	34	22	8	4	79	25	3.160	52
3	Small Heath	34	20	6	8	78	38	2.053	46
4	Newton Heath	34	20	4	10	63	27	2.333	44
5	Leicester Fosse	34	17	9	8	53	36	1.472	43
6	Grimsby Town	34	17	6	11	67	46	1.457	40
7	Chesterfield	34	16	6	12	65	60	1.083	38
8	Woolwich Arsenal	34	16	4	14	61	43	1.419	36
9	Lincoln City	34	14	8	12	46	43	1.070	36
10	New Brighton Tower	34	13	9	12	66	58	1.138	35
11	Burslem Port Vale	34	14	6	14	39	49	0.796	34
12	Walsall	34	12	8	14	50	55	0.909	32
13	Gainsborough Trinity	34	9	7	18	47	75	0.627	25
14	Middlesbrough	34	8	8	18	39	69	0.565	24
15	Burton Swifts	34	9	6	19	43	84	0.512	24
16	Barnsley	34	8	7	19	46	79	0.582	23
17	Luton Town[1]	34	5	8	21	40	75	0.533	18
18	Loughborough[1]	34	1	6	27	18	100	0.180	8

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

National team

For the last round of international matches in the Victorian era, the England national football team played all three matches in the 1900 British Home Championship away from home.

Ireland

For the match against Ireland, played at Lansdowne Road, Dublin on 17 March 1900, the England team were confidently expecting an easy win after five successive victories, including winning 13–2 the previous year.^[2] The England selectors chose five debutantes, including four of the five forwards. Dan Cunliffe of Southern League Portsmouth, made his solitary England appearance at inside right, with his Portsmouth team-mate Matt Reilly in goal for the Irish. Another Southern League player, Archie Turner of Southampton played the first of his two internationals at outside right, while on the left were Charlie Sagar of Bury and Fred Priest of Sheffield United, with the experienced Gilbert Smith in the centre. Priest's Sheffield United colleague, Harry Johnson played the first of his six internationals at Right-half.

In the event, the game was far more difficult than expected, with England only managing a 2–0 victory,^[2] with goals from debutantes Johnson and Sagar.^[3]

Wales

Nine days later, the England team travelled to Cardiff to compete against Wales with four new players. Arthur Chadwick of Southampton represented the Southern League, playing the first of his two internationals at centre half. The other three debutantes were up front, with Corinthians Geoffrey Plumpton Wilson and Tip Foster, lining up alongside their club captain, G. O. Smith, and Alf Spouncer of Nottingham Forest making his only England appearance on the left wing.

While the visitors were expected to win with ease, the Welsh "fought magnificently"^[2] to hold the English to a draw with Billy Meredith's 55th-minute strike cancelling out Wilson's third-minute goal.^[4]

Scotland

As Scotland had defeated both the Welsh and Irish by large scores, England needed a victory at Celtic Park if they were to retain the British Home Championship. They made only three changes from the side that had defeated the Welsh, bringing in John Plant of Bury to replace Alf Spouncer on the left, and recalling Ernest Needham (replacing Howard Spencer in defence) and Steve Bloomer in place of Tip Foster.

Scotland were "determined to succeed against the visitors"^[2] following defeats in the two previous meetings. In front of a world record crowd of 63000, the Scots did not disappoint their supporters with Robert McColl scoring a hat trick (his third for Scotland), with Bloomer scoring England's consolation.^[5] Scotland thus defeated all three of their competitors, enabling them to take the championship.

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score*	Comp	England scorers
17 March 1900	Lansdowne Road, Dublin (A)	Ireland	2–0[3]	BHC	Harry Johnson (Sheffield United) (12 mins), Charlie Sagar (Bury) (16 mins)
26 March 1900	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	1–1[4]	BHC	Geoffrey Wilson (Corinthian) (3 mins)
7 April 1900	Celtic Park, Glasgow (A)	Scotland	1–4[5]	BHC	Steve Bloomer (Derby County) (35 mins)

* England score given first

Key

• A = Home match
• BHC = British Home Championship

References

1. Failed to be re-elected to the Football League
2. Gibbons, Philip (2001). Association Football in Victorian England – A History of the Game from 1863 to 1900. Upfront Publishing. pp. 462–463. ISBN 1-84426-035-6.
3. "Ireland 0 England 2 (match summary)". www.englandstats.com. 17 March 1900. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
4. "Wales 1 England 1 (match summary)". www.englandstats.com. 26 March 1900. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
5. "Scotland 4 England 1 (match summary)". www.englandstats.com. 7 April 1900. Retrieved 21 January 2009.