1964 British Home Championship

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The 1964 British Home Championship international Home Nations football tournament was an unusual affair in which victory was shared between the England, Scotland and Northern Ireland national football teams after all teams scored four points by beating Wales and then winning one and losing one of their remaining matches. Goal difference was not at this stage used to determine team positions in the tournament, but if it had been, England would have won with a goal difference of +8 with Scotland second and Northern Ireland third.

England began the tournament the stronger side, defeating Wales 4-0 in Cardiff. Northern Ireland too began well, beating the fancied Scots in a close game in Belfast. In the second round England took the lead with a thumping 8-3 victory over Northern Ireland at home, in which Jimmy Greaves and Terry Paine both scored hat-tricks. The Scots gained some ground on the leaders by beating Wales in a close game in Glasgow in which John White scored. He would be tragically killed just two months after the tournament concluded. In the final matches, played at the close of the domestic season, England needed only a draw against Scotland to claim the trophy, whilst Northern Ireland had to beat Wales to have any hope of reachign parity. Northern Ireland were successful in another close game at Swansea, but Scotland edged England 1-0 to claim their own third share of the Championship.

[edit] Table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
England	4	3	2	1	12	4	+8
Scotland	4	3	2	1	4	3	+1
Northern Ireland	4	3	2	1	8	11	-3
Wales	0	3	0	3	3	9	-6

The points system worked as follows:

2 points for a win
1 point for a draw

[edit] Results

October 12, 1963	Northern Ireland	2–1	Scotland	Windsor Park, Belfast
	Billy Bingham, Sammy Wilson		Ian St John	Windsor Park, Belfast

October 12, 1963	Wales	0–4	England	Ninian Park, Cardiff
			Bobby Smith 2, Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Charlton	Ninian Park, Cardiff

November 20, 1963	Scotland	2–1	Wales	Hampden Park, Glasgow
	Denis Law, John White		Barrie Jones	Hampden Park, Glasgow

November 20, 1963	England	8–3	Northern Ireland	Wembley Stadium, London
	Jimmy Greaves 4, Terry Paine 3, Bobby Smith		Sammy Wilson 2, Jobby Crossan	Wembley Stadium, London

April 7, 1964	Wales	2–3	Northern Ireland	Vetch Field, Swansea
	Brian Godfrey, Wyn Davies		Sammy Wilson, Jimmy McLaughlin, Martin Harvey	Vetch Field, Swansea