1895 World Championship (football)

The 1895 World Championship was a football match that took place at Tynecastle Park on 27 April 1895 between the winner of the English Football League First Division, Sunderland, and Scottish League Division One, Heart of Midlothian.[1][2] The match was won by Sunderland 5–3.[1][3][4][5]

1895 World Championship
EventFootball World Championship
Date27 April 1895
VenueTynecastle Park, Edinburgh
RefereeMr Dickson (Scotland)
Attendance15,000
1888

The wealthy miner Samuel Tyzack, who alongside and shipbuilder Robert Turnbull funded the Sunderland side known as the "team of all talents," often pretended to be a priest while scouting for players in Scotland, as Sunderland's recruitment policy in Scotland enraged many Scottish fans. In fact, the Sunderland lineup in the 1895 World Championship consisted entirely of Scottish players - Scottish players who moved to England to play professionally in those days were nicknamed the Scotch Professors.[4][6]

The game was not the first "World Championship" game between English and Scottish sides; and it was the second such club competition won by an English team, with previous winners being Aston Villa and Renton (both Scottish Cup and FA Cup winners, as the leagues had not been yet created at the time). The Scottish and English leagues were pre-eminent in the world at that time.[2] However, it was the first ever game played between the respective champions of two different leagues.[6]

This was the only international competition Sunderland won; they subsequently participated in the British League Cup in 1902 and the Empire Exhibition Trophy in 1938 but exited early in those competitions.[7][4]

Participant teams

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Team Qualification
  Sunderland 1894–95 Football League First Division champions
  Heart of Midlothian 1894–95 Scottish Division One champions

Match details

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Heart of Midlothian  3–5  Sunderland[8]
Taylor  
McLaren    
Report Johnston  
Campbell    
Millar  
Harvey  
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Mr Dickson, Scotland
GK   Jock Fairbairn
DF   Barney Battles
DF   James Mirk
MF   Alexander Hall
MF   Bob McLaren
MF   George Hogg
FW   Willie Taylor
FW   Thomas Chambers
FW   Willie Michael
FW   George Scott
FW   Davie Baird
GK   Ned Doig
DF   Robert McNeill
DF   Donald Gow
MF   Billy Dunlop
MF   John Auld
MF   Harry Johnston
FW   Jimmy Hannah
FW   James Gillespie
FW   John Harvey
FW   John Campbell
FW   Jimmy Millar

References

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  1. ^ a b "Sat 27 April 1895 Hearts 3 Sunderland 5". londonhearts.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b "World Champions!". roker-roar.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Most Successful Era Of Some Famous English Clubs". 1SPORTS1. 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  4. ^ a b c Jonathan Wilson (2020-04-25). "Sunderland's Victorian all-stars blazed trail for money's rule of football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  5. ^ Saturday's Football. | Heart of Mid-Lothian v. Sunderland, The Glasgow Herald, 28 April 1895
  6. ^ a b When Sunderland met Hearts in the first ever 'Champions League' match | Nutmeg Magazine, Nutmeg Magazine, September 2017
  7. ^ "When Sunderland AFC Were World Champions! – Ryehill Football". Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  8. ^ "Hearts 3 Sunderland 5". The Stat Cat. Retrieved 2 May 2013.