1938–39 British Home Championship

The 1938–39 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1938–39 seasons and was the last edition of the tournament to be completed before the outbreak of the Second World War in August 1939 suspended all professional sporting competitions. As a result, this was the final opportunity for many spectators to see their sporting heroes in an international setting, as players such as Wales's Dai Astley or Scotland's Tommy Walker would no longer be young enough to play for their country by the time professional football began again in 1946.

The opening matches saw an immediate advantage for Wales and Scotland who beat England and Northern Ireland respectively. Scotland then followed by beating the Welsh in their second match during a close contest whilst England succeeded in victory over the Irish by a seven-goal margin to bring them into joint second place behind the Scots. During the match, Willie Hall scored five goals, an English record that has been equalled but never broken as of 2007. In the final games, Wales beat the Irish resulting in a whitewash of three defeats for Ireland and joint first place for the Welsh. England joined Wales and Scotland on four points with a 2–1 victory over Scotland in Glasgow to share the title between the three nations, as goal difference was not at this stage used to determine position. The win was sealed by a goal from Tommy Lawton, who scored in all of England's matches

Table[]

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
England (C)	3	2	1	11	5	+6	4
Wales (C)	3	2	1	9	6	+3	4
Scotland (C)	3	2	1	6	4	+2	4
Ireland	3	0	3	1	12	−11	0

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
(C) Co-champions

Results[]

8 October 1938

Ireland	0–2	Scotland
		34' Jimmy Delaney 49' Tommy Walker

Windsor Park, Belfast

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Herbert R. A. Mortimer (England)

22 October 1938

Wales	4–2	England
Dai Astley 2 Barrie Jones Idris Hopkins		Stanley Matthews Tommy Lawton (P)

Ninian Park, Cardiff

9 November 1938

Scotland	3 – 2	Wales
Torrance Gillick 38' Tommy Walker 83', 84'		17' Dai Astley 85' Leslie Jones

Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh

Attendance: 34,810

Referee: Thomas J. Thompson (England)

16 November 1938

England	7–0	Ireland
Willie Hall 5 Stanley Matthews Tommy Lawton

Manchester

15 March 1939

Wales	3 – 1	Ireland
Horace Cumner Pat Glover Les Boulter		Dudley Milligan

Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

15 April 1939

Scotland	1–2	England
Jimmy Dougal 20'		67' Albert Beasley 88' Tommy Lawton

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 149,269

Referee: William R.Hamilton (Ireland)

References[]

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

hide v t British Home Championship
Football in the United Kingdom: England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Competitors	England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland / Ireland
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 Matches outside the British Home Championship