1978–79 British Home Championship

The 1978-79 British Home Championship was a British Home Nations competition, won by the English football side and notable for seeing marked increases in hooliganism and falling attendance which would result in its cancellation in 1984. The English started well, beating Northern Ireland to match the heavy Welsh victory over Scotland on the same day, which featured a hat trick by John Toshack. Scotland recovered by beating the Irish in their next match while England and Wales played out a goalless draw, leaving three sides theoretically capable of winning the Championship in the final round. Wales could only manage a draw with the Irish and so in the deciding match between England and Scotland, a 1–1 half time score gave the Scots some hope but a strong second half performance from England was rewarded with a deserved 3–1 win. This result gave England the Championship, with Wales in second place. The tournament also saw the introduction of goal difference to separate teams, although it had no effect on the eventual outcome.

Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
England	5	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4
Wales	4	3	1	2	0	4	1	+3
Scotland	2	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4
Northern Ireland	1	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

For the first time, goal difference was used to divide the teams, although it made no difference to the final outcome at this tournament.

Results

Wales v Scotland

19 May 1979

Wales	3 – 0	Scotland
John Toshack 3	Report

Ninian Park, Cardiff

Northern Ireland v England

19 May 1979

Northern Ireland	0 – 2	England
	Report	David Watson, Steve Coppell

Windsor Park, Belfast

Scotland v Northern Ireland

22 May 1979

Scotland	1 – 0	Northern Ireland
Arthur Graham	Report

Hampden Park, Glasgow

England v Wales

23 May 1979

England	0 – 0	Wales
	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Northern Ireland v Wales

26 May 1979

Northern Ireland	1 – 1	Wales
Derek Spence	Report	Robbie James

Windsor Park, Belfast

England v Scotland

26 May 1979

England	3 – 1	Scotland
Peter Barnes, Steve Coppell, Kevin Keegan	Report	John Wark

Wembley Stadium, London

References

Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.

British Home Championship

Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Competitors	England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Seasons	1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 First World War 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 Second World War 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84

Rous Cup Nations Cup Home Nation matches since 1984

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