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Wales national football team results (1920–1939)

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The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football and is governed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW). Between 1920 and 1939 the side played 62 matches, the majority against the other national teams of the Home Nations in the British Home Championship. The side played their first official match after the end of World War I in February 1920 on the resumption of the Home Championship, drawing 2–2 with Ireland.[1] A draw with Scotland and a win over England, their first since 1882, in the 1919–20 tournament secured the second Home Championship in Wales' history.[2] They won a third title in the 1923–24 British Home Championship after defeating all three opponents in the same competition for the first time.[3]

Wales won the Home Championship again in the 1927–28 tournament but, as Football League sides became increasingly reluctant to release Welsh players for international competition, results dropped as the decade drew to a close.[4][5] This culminated in the 1929–30 British Home Championship where Wales lost all three matches, conceding 17 goals whilst scoring just 2.[6] When the Football League added further restrictions on releasing players ahead of the following tournament to avoid fixture clashes, Wales were forced to call-up a mixture of non-league and lower division players which led to the side being dubbed by media outlets as "Keenor and the ten unknowns", in reference to team captain Fred Keenor and the relative obscurity of his teammates. The side secured a draw with Scotland but suffered a 4–0 defeat to England before being replaced by the returning first team players.[7][8]

When Wales relented on hosting fixtures alongside those of the Football League, they were able to call upon their first team more frequently.[9] This coincided with one of the most successful periods in the team's history as they won four Home Championships between 1933 and 1939,[5] led by the goals of Dai Astley, Pat Glover and Bryn Jones.[10][11] The 1938–39 British Home Championship was the final hosting of the tournament before World War II.[1] During this period, Wales also played their first match against an opponent other than the Home Nations when they drew with France in May 1933 in Paris. The two sides also met for a second time in May 1939 in Wales' final match before the start of the war.[1]

Of the 62 matches Wales played during this period, they recorded 22 victories: 8 against both England and Ireland, and 6 against Scotland.[12][13][14] In the remaining 40 matches, Wales drew 15 and lost 25.[1]

Results

[edit]

Wales' score is shown first in each case. The colours listed below are also used to signify results combined with the scoreline.

Key
Colour (with score) Meaning
Defeat
Draw
Win
Wales national football team results 1920–1939[a]
Match no. Date Venue H/A Opponents Score Competition Wales scorers Att.[b]
109 14 February 1920 The Oval, Belfast A  Ireland 2–2 1919–20 British Home Championship Stan Davies (2) 30,000
110 26 February 1920 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 1–1 1919–20 British Home Championship Jack Evans 16,000
111 15 March 1920 Highbury, London A  England 2–1 1919–20 British Home Championship Stan Davies, Dick Richards 21,180
112 12 February 1921 Pittodrie, Aberdeen A  Scotland 1–2 1920–21 British Home Championship Dai Collier 20,824
113 14 March 1921 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  England 0–0 1920–21 British Home Championship 12,000
114 9 April 1921 Vetch Field, Swansea H  Ireland 2–1 1920–21 British Home Championship Billy Hole, Stan Davies 12,000
115 4 February 1922 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Scotland 2–1 1921–22 British Home Championship Len Davies, Stan Davies 7,000
116 13 March 1922 Anfield, Liverpool A  England 0–1 1921–22 British Home Championship 35,000
117 1 April 1922 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 1–1 1921–22 British Home Championship Len Davies 20,000
118 5 March 1923 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  England 2–2 1922–23 British Home Championship Fred Keenor, Ivor Jones 12,000
119 17 March 1923 Love Street, Paisley A  Scotland 0–2 1922–23 British Home Championship 25,000
120 14 April 1923 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 0–3 1922–23 British Home Championship 12,222
121 16 February 1924 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 2–0 1923–24 British Home Championship Willie Davies, Len Davies 26,000
122 3 March 1924 Ewood Park, Blackburn A  England 2–1 1923–24 British Home Championship Willie Davies, Ted Vizard 30,000
123 15 March 1924 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 1–0 1923–24 British Home Championship Moses Russell 40,000
124 14 February 1925 Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh A  Scotland 1–3 1924–25 British Home Championship Billy Williams 23,000
125 28 February 1925 Vetch Field, Swansea H  England 1–2 1924–25 British Home Championship Fred Keenor 8,000
126 18 April 1925 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 0–0 1924–25 British Home Championship 10,000
127 31 October 1925 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 0–3 1925–26 British Home Championship 25,000
128 13 February 1926 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 0–3 1925–26 British Home Championship 25,000
129 1 March 1926 Selhurst Park, London A  England 1–3 1925–26 British Home Championship Billy Walker 23,000
130 30 October 1926 Ibrox Park, Glasgow A  Scotland 0–3 1926–27 British Home Championship 25,000
131 12 February 1927 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  England 3–3 1926–27 British Home Championship Len Davies (2), Wilf Lewis 16,000
132 9 April 1927 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Ireland 2–2 1926–27 British Home Championship Rees Williams (2) 10,000
133 29 October 1927 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Scotland 2–2 1927–28 British Home Championship Ernie Curtis, Jimmy Gibson 16,000
134 28 November 1927 Turf Moor, Burnley A  England 2–1 1927–28 British Home Championship Wilf Lewis, Jack Hill (og) 25,000
135 4 February 1928 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 2–1 1927–28 British Home Championship Wilf Lewis, Willie Davies 27,563
136 27 October 1928 Ibrox Park, Glasgow A  Scotland 2–4 1928–29 British Home Championship Willie Davies (2) 50,421
137 17 November 1928 Vetch Field, Swansea H  England 2–3 1928–29 British Home Championship Fred Keenor, Jack Fowler 22,000
138 2 February 1929 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 2–2 1928–29 British Home Championship Albert Mays, Fred Warren 12,000
139 26 October 1929 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 2–4 1929–30 British Home Championship Taffy O'Callaghan, Len Davies 20,000
140 17 November 1929 Wembley Stadium, London A  England 0–6 1929–30 British Home Championship 25,500
141 1 February 1930 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 0–7 1929–30 British Home Championship 25,000
142 25 October 1930 Ibrox Park, Glasgow A  Scotland 1–1 1930–31 British Home Championship Tommy Bamford 15,000
143 22 November 1930 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  England 0–4 1930–31 British Home Championship 14,000
144 22 April 1931 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 3–2 1930–31 British Home Championship Charlie Phillips, Tommy Griffiths, Fred Warren 11,000
145 31 October 1931 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Scotland 2–3 1931–32 British Home Championship Ernie Curtis (2) 10,860
146 18 November 1931 Anfield, Liverpool A  England 1–3 1931–32 British Home Championship Walter Robbins 15,000
147 5 December 1931 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 0–4 1931–32 British Home Championship 10,000
148 26 October 1932 Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh A  Scotland 5–2 1932–33 British Home Championship Eugene O'Callaghan (2), Dai Astley, Tommy Griffiths, Jock Thomson 31,000
149 6 November 1932 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  England 0–0 1932–33 British Home Championship 25,167
150 7 December 1932 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 4–1 1932–33 British Home Championship Walter Robbins (2), Dai Astley (2) 8,500
151 23 May 1933 Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris A  France 1–1 Friendly Walter Robbins 25,000
152 4 October 1933 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 3–2 1933–34 British Home Championship Willie Evans, Walter Robbins, Dai Astley 40,000
153 4 November 1933 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 1–1 1933–34 British Home Championship Pat Glover 20,000
154 15 November 1933 St James' Park, Newcastle A  England 2–1 1933–34 British Home Championship Tommy Mills, Dai Astley 15,000
155 29 September 1934 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  England 0–4 1934–35 British Home Championship 36,692
156 21 November 1934 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen A  Scotland 2–3 1934–35 British Home Championship Charlie Phillips, Dai Astley 26,334
157 25 March 1935 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 3–1 1934–35 British Home Championship Wilson Jones, Charlie Phillips, Idris Hopkins 16,000
158 5 October 1935 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 1–1 1935–36 British Home Championship Wilson Jones, Charlie Phillips 37,568
159 5 February 1935 Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton A  England 2–1 1935–36 British Home Championship Dai Astley, Bryn Jones 27,519
160 11 March 1936 Celtic Park, Belfast A  Ireland 3–2 1935–36 British Home Championship Dai Astley, Charlie Phillips 27,519
161 17 October 1936 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  England 2–1 1936–37 British Home Championship Pat Glover, Seymour Morris 44,729
162 2 December 1936 Dens Park, Dundee A  Scotland 2–1 1936–37 British Home Championship Pat Glover (2) 23,858
163 17 March 1937 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 4–1 1936–37 British Home Championship Pat Glover (2), Bryn Jones, Fred Warren 19,000
164 30 October 1937 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  Scotland 2–1 1937–38 British Home Championship Bryn Jones, Seymour Morris 41,800
165 17 November 1937 Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough A  England 1–2 1937–38 British Home Championship Eddie Perry 30,608
166 16 March 1938 Windsor Park, Belfast A  Ireland 0–1 1937–38 British Home Championship 15,000
167 22 October 1938 Ninian Park, Cardiff H  England 4–2 1938–39 British Home Championship Dai Astley (2), Bryn Jones, Idris Hopkins 55,000
168 9 November 1938 Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh A  Scotland 2–3 1938–39 British Home Championship Dai Astley, Leslie Jones 34,800
169 15 March 1939 Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H  Ireland 3–1 1938–39 British Home Championship Horace Cumner, Pat Glover, Les Boulter 22,997
170 20 May 1939 Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Paris A  France 1–2 Friendly Dai Astley 23,000

Head to head records

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Head to head records
Opponent P W D L GF GA W% D% L%
 England 20 8 4 8 27 44 40 20 40
 France 2 0 1 1 2 3 0 50 50
 Ireland 20 8 6 6 35 42 40 30 30
 Scotland 20 6 4 10 34 43 30 20 50
Totals 62 22 15 25 98 132 35.48 24.19 40.32

Notes

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  1. ^ Table information sourced from the references listed in the statistics section below.
  2. ^ Due to the unavailability of exact figures, some attendance numbers are given as recorded estimates.

References

[edit]
Statistics
  • Nygård, Jostein. "Wales – International Results". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  • "Welsh International Matches". Welsh Football Data Archive. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  • Tossani, Gabriele. "Scotland – International Results". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  • Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. pp. 560–561. ISBN 978-0-85112-954-9.
Bibliography
  • Stead, Phil (2013). Red Dragons – The Story of Welsh Football. Ceredigion: Y Lolfa. ISBN 978-1-84771-468-8.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d Nygård, Jostein. "International matches of Wales". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 92–93
  3. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 98–99
  4. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 110–112
  5. ^ a b Reyes, Macario; Morrison, Neil. "British Home Championship 1920–1939". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 113–114
  7. ^ Williams, Aled (7 September 2018). "Denmark v Wales: The story of the 1930s 'unknowns' who forced a draw in Scotland". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  8. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 116–118
  9. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 122–123
  10. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 124–125
  11. ^ Stead 2013, pp. 128–129
  12. ^ "Wales national football team: record v Ireland". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Wales national football team: record v Scotland". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Wales national football team: record v England". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 18 August 2020.