1892–93 in English football: Difference between revisions

[[The Football League]] and the [[Football Alliance]] formally merged, and so the [[Football League Second Division]] was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, minus [[Darwen F.C. (1870)|Darwen]] (who were relegated) plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs ([[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]], [[Manchester United F.C.|Newton Heath]] and [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|The Wednesday]], who would later be renamed Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday respectively), comprised the Football League First Division.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The Second Division comprised the remaining Football Alliance teams, plus [[Northwich Victoria F.C.|Northwich Victoria]], [[Port Vale F.C.|Burslem Port Vale]] and [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

[[England national football team|England]]'s opening international game of the season took place in Birmingham on 25 February against [[Ireland national football team (IFA)|Ireland]], with the selectors choosing a team consisting mainly of players with connections to [[Corinthian F.C.|the Corinthians]], of which seven were making their England débuts. [[Chris Charsley]] of [[Birmingham City F.C.|Small Heath]], who later went on to be [[Chief Constable]] of [[Coventry]], made his solitary England appearance in goal. [[Alban Harrison]] ([[Old Westminsters F.C.|Old Westminsters]]) and [[Fred Pelly]] ([[Old Foresters F.C.|Old Foresters]]) made their débuts as the two [[Fullback (association football)#Full_backFull back|full-backs]] and [[Norman Cooper (sportsman)|Norman Cooper]] ([[Cambridge University A.F.C.|Cambridge University]]) made his solitary appearance at centre-half. [[Robert Topham (footballer)|Robert Topham]], an amateur player with [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]], who had previously declined an invitation to play for [[Wales national football team|Wales]] following his selection in 1885, made the first of his two appearances at outside right, with [[Walter Gilliat]] of [[Old Carthusians F.C.|Old Carthusians]] making his solitary appearance at inside right. Gilliat, an excellent dribbler of the ball, would probably have made more England appearances but for his religious beliefs, and went on to become the [[vicar]] of [[Iver]] and the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)#Anglican_churchesAnglican churches|rector]] of [[Sevenoaks]].

England totally dominated the match itself with [[Walter Gilliat]] scoring three times in the first 30 minutes, although Ireland had levelled the scores shortly after England's first goal. Further goals from [[G.O. Smith]], [[William Winckworth]] and [[Rupert Sandilands]] enabled England to run out convincing 6–1 victors.<ref>{{cite web |title=England 6 Ireland 1 (25 February 1893) |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1892-93/M0047Ire1893.html |website=englandfootballonline |accessdateaccess-date=12 July 2018 |date=12 May 2018}}</ref> Gilliat thus became one of only five players to have scored a [[Hat-trick#Association football|hat-trick]] in his only appearance in an England shirt.

For the match against [[Wales national football team|Wales]] at [[Stoke-on-Trent]] two weeks later, the selectors chose a team consisting entirely of professional players, of which four were making their début. In goal they selected [[John Willie Sutcliffe]] of [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]], for the first of his 5 appearances; Sutcliffe had previously made an appearance for the [[England national rugby union team|English rugby union side]]. [[Jimmy Turner (English footballer)|Jimmy Turner]] ([[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]]) and [[Jimmy Whitehead]] ([[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]]) made their débuts at left half and inside right respectively. The fourth débutante was [[Fred Spiksley]] of [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|The Wednesday]] who made the first of seven England appearances at outside left, from where he scored seven goals during his England career, including a hat-trick on his debut.<ref>{{cite web |title=England players: Fred Spiksley |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersS/BioSpiksleyF.html |website=englandfootballonline |accessdateaccess-date=12 July 2018 |date=20 March 2017}}</ref>

Once again, England were comfortable victors, with further goals from [[Billy Bassett]], [[John Goodall]] and [[Jack Reynolds (1869-1917)|Jack Reynolds]] as England easily defeated the Welsh 6–0.<ref>{{cite web |title=England 6 Wales 0 (13 March 1893) |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1892-93/M0048Wal1893.html |website=englandfootballonline |accessdateaccess-date=12 July 2018 |date=14 May 2018}}</ref>

England's final international match of the season came at [[Richmond Athletic Ground]] on 1 April against [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] who were hoping to avenge their defeat in each of the two previous seasons. England selected a strong eleven, with only [[Leslie Gay]] of [[Old Brightonians F.C.|Old Brightonians]] making his début in goal. Gay later played [[Test cricket]] for [[England cricket team|England]].

England ultimately enjoyed another comfortable victory; [[R. Cunliffe Gosling|Gosling]] scored after 15 minutes, but Scotland went ahead with goals after 30 and 55 minutes. A goal from [[List of England national football team captains|captain]] [[George Cotterill (footballer)|George Cotterill]] brought England level after 65 minutes. [[Fred Spiksley]] then scored twice in two minutes before completing his hat-trick after 84 minutes, thus enabling England to continue their fine run against the Scots.<ref>{{cite web |title=England 5 Scotland 2 (1 April 1893) |url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Seas1872-00/1892-93/M0049Sco1893.html |website=englandfootballonline |accessdateaccess-date=12 July 2018 |date=18 May 2018}}</ref>

!background: "lightblue;"|England scorers

|[[R. Cunliffe Gosling]] ([[Old Etonians F.C.|Old Etonians]]) (15 mins), [[George Cotterill (footballer)|George Cotterill]] ([[Old Brightonians F.C.|Old Brightonians]]) (65 mins) & [[Fred Spiksley]] ([[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]]) (78, 80 & 84 mins)

|[[1892–93 Football League First Division|First Division]]||[[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] (2*)

|[[1892–93 Football League Second Division|Second Division]]||[[Birmingham City F.C.|Small Heath]]

!'''Home Team'''

!'''Score'''

!'''Away Team'''

!'''Notes'''

==See alsoFootnotes==

{{More footnotes needed|date=April 2009}}

*[httphttps://www.rsssf.comorg/tablesb/bhc1884-99.html#1893 British Home Championship results on RSSSF]