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The 1977–78 British Home Championship football competition between the British Home Nations was won by an England side smarting from their failure to qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Scotland again refused to travel to Northern Ireland and therefore gained an additional home match. The Scots, who had qualified for the World Cup and of whom much was expected following impressive form and a strong team in the months going into the finals performed particularly poorly in the Home Championship, foreshadowing their performance in Argentina a few months later. The English capitalised on a heavy victory over the Welsh in their first match and then won in their next two beating an already demoralised Scotland who had only managed to draw with the Welsh and Irish. The Welsh improved following their initial loss, beating the Irish and holding the Scots to a 1–1 draw in Glasgow to claim second place.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13–20 May 1978 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  England (51st title) |
| Runners-up |  Wales |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 11 (1.83 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Derek Johnstone (2) |
← 1976–77 1978–79 → | |
Table
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England (C)
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
| Wales
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 |
| Scotland
|
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 2 |
 Northern Ireland
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 |
Rules for classification: 1) points. The points system worked as follows: 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
(C) Champions
Results
edit| Scotland | 1–1 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
Johnstone  36' |
O'Neill 26' |
| Wales | 1–3 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Dwyer 57' |
Latchford 8' Currie 82' Barnes 89' |
| England | 1–0 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Neal 44' |
| Wales | 1–0 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Deacy 70' (pen.) |
References
edit- Guy Oliver (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.