Ivan Sharpe
Some teams enter into the mythology of football for sustained success, whilst others cement their places in history by one remarkable result. The Wembley Wizards of 1928 were a curious anomaly.
England had only beaten Scotland 6 times in the 20th century, and they hadn't won the British Home Championship outright since 1913.
England and Scotland had shared the Championship in 1927, when England had registered a rare victory in Glasgow.
In 1928 one could have expected any showdown between England and Scotland as being a de facto world championship. Sadly neither team played much foreign opposition in those days, and even in countries whose abilities and reputations were advanced (Argentina, Uruguay, Austria, Italy) the English and Scottish game was still revered as being the pinnacle of football. But if we look at the 1928 British Home Championships we will see that all was not well on either side of Hadrian's Wall.
The England Scotland match was the piece de resistance in the calender and was traditionally the finale of the championships.
The season began disastrously for England- they lost 2-0 to Ireland in Belfast (Ireland's 4th win in matches between the 2). The following week Scotland managed a 2-2 draw with Wales in Wrexham (the Scots had never had much joy at the Racecourse) . The third match, played a month later saw England slump to a rare home defeat at the hands of Wales.
The Championship resumed in February with a win for Wales in Ireland followed by an Irish victory over the Scots. The final match was therefore a wooden spoon decider, with the table showing Wales with 5 points from 3 games, Ireland 4 from 3, Scotland 1 from 2, England 0 from 2.
A home win for England would have lifted them to third.
Scotland though must surely have fancied their chances against such a miserable England side.
The Scottish press, however, were less than confident, The Daily Record stating in the build up to the match:
It's not a great side and the Scottish football public were unimpressed by the number of English based players in the selection.
Here's the team:
Jack Harkness- Queens Park
Jimmy Nelson- Cardiff City
Tommy Law - Chelsea
Jimmy Gibson - Aston Villa
Tom Bradshaw- Bury
Jimmy McMullan- Manchester City
Alex Jackson- Huddersfield Town
Jimmy Dunn- Hibernian
Hughie Gallacher- Newcastle United
Alex James- Preston North End
Alan Morton- Glasgow Rangers
Not a great side? there are 4 legendary names in the list (Jackson, Gallacher, James and Morton). I guess the Scots were smarting from their poor showing in the earlier games.
80,000 saw Alex Jackson put Scotland ahead in the 3rd minute. Alex James doubled the lead in the 44th. In the second half Scotland were dominant. Jackson got his second (65) and James made it 4-0 (74). Jackson completed his hat trick on 85. Alan Morton was particularly effective, providing assists for 3 of the goals. England got a consolation goal in the last minute.
It was a humbling experience for England to be beaten so comprehensively on their home turf by their oldest rivals, the first time they had conceded 5 goals in a game since 1883.
The table for the British Home Championship that season makes miserable reading for England:
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Pts
|
|
Wales
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
4
|
5
|
Ireland
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
4
|
Scotland
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
4
|
3
|
England
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
9
|
0
|
So, a case of a poor Scotland side beating a dreadful England?
The retrospective Elo ratings place England at 16 after this game (their lowest ever) and Scotland at 4.
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