| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales |
| Dates | 26 January – 29 March 1884 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Scotland (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  England |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 30 (5 per match) |
| Top scorer | Henry Cursham(3 goals) |
1884–85 → | |
The1883–84British Home Championship was the inaugural internationalfootball tournament, played between theHome Nations of theBritish Isles which at the time made up the constituent nations of theUnited Kingdom;England,Scotland,Wales andIreland. International football matches had begun with annual games played between England and Scotland in 1872 and they had been joined by Wales in 1876 and Ireland in 1882.
The tournament was played in an unusual layout, with Ireland playing all three of their games first, and losing heavily in each one. Then England and Scotland played what would eventually be the deciding match of the tournament, which Scotland won in a close fought contest.[1] Finally, Wales played both England and Scotland, losing heavily to each in turn and thus granting Scotland victory in the first British Home Championship. Scotland won the final match, even though many of the best Scottish players were absent playing forQueen's Park FC in the1884 FA Cup Final, which took place on the same day.[2]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scotland(C) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 6 |
| 2 | England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 4 |
| 3 |  Wales | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 2 |
| 4 |  Ireland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | −18 | 0 |
| Wales | 0–4 | England |
|---|---|---|
|
| Name | Apps/Goals by opponent | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WAL[5] | IRE[6] | ENG[7] | Apps | Goals | |
| John Forbes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Joe Lindsay | 1/1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Frank Shaw | 1/1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Walter Arnott | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| William McKinnon | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Robert S. Brown | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Sammy Thomson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| William Harrower | 1/2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| James Gossland | 1/2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| John Kay | 1/2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| John Smith | 1/1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| John Goudie | 1/1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| James McAulay | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Charles Campbell | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John McPherson | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| William Anderson | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Robert Christie | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Inglis | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Graham | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| William Fulton | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| John Macaulay | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Thomas Turner | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Michael Paton | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Sandy Kennedy | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| James McIntyre | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
