1971–72 British Home Championship

September 2020 1971–72 British Home Championship 20–27 May 1972 4 England (47th title)Scotland (38th title) 6 8 Scotland Peter Lorimer (2) 1970–71 1972–73 October 2023 The 1971–72 British Home Championship was the first such Home Nations football tournament (although not the last), to suffer during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, when death threats from the Provisional Irish Republican Army were sent to the Scottish Football Association and Scottish players who were scheduled to play at Windsor Park. The surge in anti-British feeling which prompted these threats followed Bloody Sunday in January, and also resulted in the cancellation of the rugby union 1972 Five Nations Championship. As a result, Northern Ireland's home fixture was rescheduled to Hampden Park, effectively granting the Scottish team an extra home match. This was not the last time that The Troubles would interfere with the Home Championship; the 1981 British Home Championship would have to be abandoned following similar heightened tension after the death of Bobby Sands. Scotland used their home advantage well, securing victory over the Irish and Welsh to take a major points advantage into the final match against England, who had lost at home to Northern Ireland following a heavy defeat of Wales. In the last match however, England gained a slight advantage over their old rivals, winning 1–0 and thus equalling the tournament on points and resulting in a shared victory (goal difference was not at this stage used to differentiate between teams). The Welsh salvaged a point in their final home game to Northern Ireland, but still finished bottom of the table. Table main WDL n 2 ENG England SCO Scotland NIR Northern Ireland WAL Wales 2 0 1 4 1 C 2 0 1 3 1 C 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 2 0 4 Co-champions #ccffcc C C complete 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Results 20 May 1972 Wales 0–3 England Hughes 25 Marsh 60 Bell 61 William Mullan (Scotland) Ninian Park, Cardiff 34,000 20 May 1972 Scotland 2–0 Northern Ireland Law 86 Lorimer 89 Clive Thomas (Wales) Hampden Park, Glasgow 39,710 23 May 1972 England 0–1 Northern Ireland Neill 33 John Gow (Wales) Wembley Stadium, London 64,000 24 May 1972 Scotland 1–0 Wales Lorimer 78 James Lawther (Northern Ireland) Hampden Park, Glasgow 21,332 27 May 1972 Wales 0–0 Northern Ireland Jack Taylor (England) Racecourse Ground, Wrexham 15,647 27 May 1972 Scotland 0–1 England Ball 28 Sergio Gonella (Italy) Hampden Park, Glasgow 119,325 References Guy Oliver The Guinness Record of World Soccer 1992 Guinness 0-85112-954-4 External links Full Results and Line-ups 1971–72 Home Championship Category:1971–72 in European men's international football Category:1971–72 in Scottish football Category:1971–72 in Welsh football Category:1971–72 in Northern Ireland association football Category:May 1972 sports events in the United Kingdom