Wales vs England for the John Hartson Foundation

England v Wales: A one-sided history?

England have enjoyed a much larger share of the spoils from past meetings with neighbours Wales however the Dragons have pulled off some notable victories against their rivals, William Geldart writes.

Despite England’s far superior head-to-head record, Wales haven’t always just been Home Nation fodder; they’ve also proved to be a thorn in the side of the Three Lions over the years.
Granted, you might want to whisper it in the Valleys that out of the 100 meetings between the two sides, England have a 75% winning record, losing just fourteen times to their Welsh counterparts.

The first match between England and Wales took place at the Kennington Oval, London on 19 January 1879. England triumphed 2-1 on that occasion and also on their first visit to the Welsh capital Cardiff, on 16 March 1896, where they promptly thrashed the hosts 9-1.

This was sandwiched between Wales’ maiden win on English soil, a narrow 1-0 victory for the visitors in 1881, the game held at Alexandra Gardens in Blackburn. The Welsh would go on to record successive victories, edging a 5-3 thriller at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham the following spring.
It would be nearly another forty years before the men in red would defeat their national neighbours again however, courtesy of a 2-1 win at Highbury in 1920.

Indeed, the 1920s and 1930s arguably represent Wales’ most successful period against England, with regular victories in their neighbours’ backyard, including a 3-1 victory in 1926 at Selhurst Park, London, in a British Home Championship match.

Swansea Town hero Jack Fowler bagged a brace and Willie Davies added a third for the away side.

Link to Wales results

Despite a smattering of similar triumphs at other grounds across England, the only win the Dragons have recorded at the ‘home of football’, Wembley Stadium was a 1-0 triumph in 1977.

Mike Smith’s side left England manager Don Revie, Kevin Keegan and Peter Shilton amongst others, fuming on an early summer afternoon in May as the aforementioned Shilton gave away a penalty that Leighton James converted for a priceless victory.

That match sparked another purple patch for the Welsh in games against England as they enjoyed another period of fine scalps.
The 4-1 demolition of their adversaries at the Racecourse ushered in the 1980s in style with Mickey Thomas, Ian Walsh, Leighton James and a Phil Jones own goal marking one of the greatest ever performances from the national side, embarrassing the likes of Trevor Brooking and Glenn Hoddle in the process.
In 1984, Mark Hughes capped his Wales debut with the only goal of the game to record another memorable win.

It would be another twenty years before the sides met again though as they were paired together in their qualifying group for the 2006 World Cup.
David Beckham’s superb chip over Wales goalkeeper Paul Jones and a Frank Lampard goal in 2004’s encounter secured a 2-0 win for England at Old Trafford, Manchester.
The Three Lions’ first trip to the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in the return fixture of 2005 was settled courtesy of a Joe Cole strike.

In March this year, Darren Bent and Frank Lampard (and people say he doesn’t score often enough for his country...) saw England comfortably win the latest match between the two sides with the home game due to take place on 6 September, two days before the Toast the Legend’s contest in aid of the John Hartson Foundation at Pride Park, Derby.

For those thinking this potted history contains a slight Welsh bias, it’s worth pointing out some damning caveats in favour of their English cousins. For example, the Dragons managed just two victories in their first 36 games against England!

The Three Lions have scored over twice as many goals as they’ve conceded to Wales and have kept clean sheets in nearly half of those games. In terms of success in this fixture, England are well and truly on top.

You might be inclined to think that since the abolition of Home Nations games in 1984, with fewer fixtures between the two sides and a huge gulf in class and disparity in the FIFA world rankings, the rivalry would dissipate.

Just ask the sell-out 69,000 crowd present at the Millennium Stadium for the recent Euro 2012 qualifier, BBC Article here and the 9,000 travelling English hoards what they think about beating one of their oldest enemies and the thought of enjoying all of the bragging rights associated with victory.

After all, with Wales’ slide down the rankings following their resurgence in the early-noughties, there hadn’t been much in the national side’s recent history to galvanise the fans until the much-anticipated tie earlier this year.

The game saw the Millennium’s first capacity crowd for an international football match in five-and-a-half-years. The opponents for Wales’ previous sell-out were-you guessed it-England.

Are you a proud Walian hoping to one day shut up your crowing English counterparts? Or perhaps you’re a fan of the Three Lions who thinks that Home Nations rivalries are dead and only Germany and Argentina still get under your skin? Let us know your memories of this historic fixture!

William Geldart is editor of The Football Blog, a site that encourages football opinion and discussion, for the fans, by the fans. Join in the conversation at www.the-football-blog.co.uk.

Fists of Fury wrote:Cue Steffan beginning an all out assault...

Makes interesting reading, does that.