1964–65 British Home Championship

September 2020 1964–65 British Home Championship England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales 3 October 1964 – 10 April 1965 4 England Wales 6 29 ENG Jimmy Greaves(4) 1963–64 1965–66 October 2023 The 1964–65 British Home Championship was an outright victory for the English football team in the run up to the 1966 FIFA World Cup which was held in the country. England's preparation for the tournament had included a rare pre-season tour of the Americas, in which they had beaten the USA 10–0 in New York, but crashed to a 1–5 defeat by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and also lost to Argentina. The Home Championship was a close contest however and an unexpected Welsh defeat of Scotland as well as a drubbing of Ireland in their final game helped them to an impressive second. In the end however, none of the other home nations would qualify for the world cup finals, which England would go on to win. The tournament opened with a dramatic match between England and Ireland, in which England went 4–0 up in the first half-hour, but eventually were forced to hold on in the face of an Irish counter-attack which reduced the deficit to 4–3. Fancied Scotland meanwhile began badly with a loss to Wales in Cardiff. In the second games, Ireland again ran a favorite close, eventually succumbing 3–2 to the Scots in a close game in which the lead changed several times. The Welsh too played well, only narrowly losing to eventual champions England. In the final match, the already last-placed Irish were demolished by a more driven Welsh team seeking a rare title, going down 5–0. In London, the Scots and the English fought out a 2–2 draw which put the championship out of Wales' reach by giving England five points. Table main WDL n 2 ENG ENG WAL WAL SCO SCO NIR NIR Ireland 2 1 0 8 6 C 2 0 1 9 4 1 1 1 7 7 0 0 3 5 12 #ccffcc C complete 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Results 3 October 1964 NIR Ireland 3–4 ENG Wilson 52 McLaughlin 55 67 Pickering 7 Greaves 12 16 24 William Brittle (Scotland) Windsor Park, Belfast 58,000 3 October 1964 WAL 3–2 SCO Davies 6 Leek 87 89 Chalmers 28 Gibson 29 Kevin Howley (England) Ninian Park, Cardiff 37,093 18 November 1964 ENG 2–1 WAL Wignall 17 60 Jones 75 Thomas Mitchell (Northern Ireland) Wembley Stadium, London 40,000 25 November 1964 SCO 3–2 NIR Ireland Wilson 10 30 Gilzean 16 Best 9 Irvine 18 George Powell (Wales) Hampden Park, Glasgow 48,752 31 March 1965 NIR Ireland 0–5 WAL Report Jones 20 Vernon 33 48 Williams Allchurch Ken Dagnall (England) Windsor Park, Belfast 15,000 10 April 1965 ENG 2–2 SCO Report (page 4) Charlton 24 Greaves 34 Law 40 St John 59 István Zsolt (Hungary Wembley Stadium, London 98,199 References Guy Oliver The Guinness Record of World Soccer 1992 Guinness 0-85112-954-4 External links Full Results and Line-ups 1964–65 Home Championship Category:1964–65 in European men's international football Category:1964–65 in Scottish football Category:1964–65 in Welsh football Category:1964–65 in Northern Ireland association football