Northern Ireland - Unofficial Football World Champions

The CW Alcock Cup

When Northern Ireland's senior team next take the field they will face Italy for the virtual honour of the CW Alcock Cup and the title: Unofficial Football World Champions [UFWC]. The last time we competed for the crown we were a missed penalty away from taking it from the Netherlands!

The idea of the UFWC follows the boxing model, a title holder defends his belt in each match, retaining it if he wins or draws, or passing it on to the one that defeats him.

The idea goes back to 1967 when Scotland defeated World Cup holders England, and were jokingly proclaimed as World Champions. Given Northern Ireland had faced England in their first post-'66 match, we could have held the UFWC title if not for the small matter of a 2-0 defeat!

Formalised in 2003 by Paul Brown, the award was retrospectively dated back to the second ever international fixture in 1873, when England claimed the title with a 4-2 win over Scotland. This was a repeat of the first ever international fixture between the same two teams which had finished scoreless and thus the title sat vacant for its first year.

Elisha Scott, 
Ireland's last UFWC,
 winning captain
struggling to get his
hands on a virtual cup!

The crown was swapped between England and Scotland (who remain top of the all-time rankings) until Ireland managed to claim it for the first time in 1903, and Wales became the fourth different title holders in 1907. The title was held almost exclusively by the Home Nations up to the Second World War (it was briefly taken by Austria in 1931-32), so Ireland usually had at least one chance to claim the title per year. Since the War, Northern Ireland's opportunities to compete for the title have become increasingly rare - the forthcoming match against Italy will be only their 12th time challenging for the UFWC since international football resumed in 1947 while they contested 52 title matches prior to 1939.

In total (Northern) Ireland have held the title on four different occasions (1903-1904, 1914-1920, 1927-1928 and, most recently, in 1933). The period 1914-1920 straddled the First World War and the reign of 6 years and 28 days is a record unlikely to ever be beaten. Another record, though this one unwanted, is the 87 years (and counting) since our last title. This is the longest of any nations (for context, Zimbabwe, Georgia and Costa Rica have all held the title more recently than us!).

Northern Ireland's Record in UFWC Matches:

#	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue		Result	Reign matches /days
20	26/01/1884	Ireland	0-5	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain		{1}
23	14/03/1885	Scotland	8-2	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
26	20/03/1886	Ireland	2-7	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
29	19/02/1887	Scotland	4-1	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
34	31/03/1888	Ireland	1-5	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain
36	02/03/1889	England	6-1	Ireland	Liverpool	BC	ENG retain
40	29/03/1890	Ireland	1-4	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
43	28/03/1891	Scotland	2-1	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
45	05/03/1892	Ireland	0-2	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain
48	25/02/1893	England	6-1	Ireland	Birmingham	BC	ENG retain
51	03/03/1894	Ireland	2-2	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain		{2}
54	09/03/1895	England	9-0	Ireland	Derby	BC	ENG retain
57	07/03/1896	Ireland	0-2	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain
61	27/03/1897	Scotland	5-1	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
64	26/03/1898	Ireland	0-3	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
66	18/02/1899	England	13-2	Ireland	Sunderland	BC	ENG retain
69	17/03/1900	Ireland	0-2	England	Dublin	BC	ENG retain
72	23/02/1901	Scotland	11-0	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
75	01/03/1902	Ireland	1-5	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
80	21/03/1903	Scotland	0-2	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	IRE claim		{3}
81	28/03/1903	Ireland	2-0	Wales	Belfast	BC	IRE retain
82	12/03/1904	Ireland	1-3	England	Belfast	BC	ENG claim	2 (357)
84	25/02/1905	England	1-1	Ireland	Middlesbro	BC	ENG retain
87	17/02/1906	Ireland	0-5	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain
93	14/03/1908	Ireland	0-5	Scotland	Dublin	BC	SCO retain
101	12/02/1910	Ireland	1-1	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain
105	18/03/1911	Scotland	2-0	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
108	16/03/1912	Ireland	1-4	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
111	15/03/1913	Ireland	1-2	Scotland	Dublin	BC	SCO retain
113	14/02/1914	England	0-3	Ireland	Middlesbro	BC	IRE claim
114	14/03/1914	Ireland	1-1	Scotland	Belfast	BC	IRE retain
115	25/10/1919	Ireland	1-1	England	Belfast	BC	IRE retain		{4}
116	14/02/1920	Ireland	2-2	Wales	Belfast	BC	IRE retain
117	13/03/1920	Scotland	3-0	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO claim	4 (2219)
119	23/10/1920	England	2-0	Ireland	Sunderland	BC	ENG retain
125	03/03/1923	Ireland	0-1	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain		{5}
130	15/03/1924	Ireland	0-1	Wales	Belfast	BC	WAL retain
132	28/02/1925	Ireland	0-3	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
135	27/02/1926	Scotland	4-0	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
138	26/02/1927	Ireland	0-2	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
143	22/10/1927	Ireland	2-0	England	Belfast	BC	IRE claim
144	04/02/1928	Ireland	1-2	Wales	Belfast	BC	WAL claim	1 (105)
146	23/02/1929	Ireland	3-7	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
152	22/02/1930	Scotland	3-1	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	SCO retain
156	20/10/1930	England	5-1	Ireland	Sheffield	BC	ENG retain
173	16/09/1933	Scotland	1-2	Ireland	Glasgow	BC	IRE claim
174	14/10/1933	Ireland	0-3	England	Belfast	BC	ENG claim	1 (28)
178	06/02/1935	England	2-1	Ireland	Liverpool	BC	ENG retain
181	13/11/1935	Scotland	2-1	Ireland	Edinburgh	BC	SCO retain
184	31/10/1936	Ireland	1-3	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
186	17/03/1937	Wales	4-1	Ireland	Wrexham	BC	WAL retain
192	08/10/1938	Ireland	0-2	Scotland	Belfast	BC	SCO retain
249	09/10/1948	Ireland	2-6	England	Belfast	BC	ENG retain
254	01/10/1949	Ireland	2-8	Scotland	Belfast	WQ	SCO retain		{6}
323	15/06/1958	W.Germany	2-2	N. Ireland	Malmo-SWE	WC	GER retain		{7}
381	22/10/1966	N.Ireland	0-2	England	Belfast	EQ	ENG retain		{8}
421	16/02/1972	N.Ireland	1-1	Spain	Hull-ENG	EQ	SPA retain
450	17/05/1975	N.Ireland	0-0	England	Belfast	FR	ENG retain
674	09/11/1996	Germany	1-1	N.Ireland	Nuremburg	WQ	GER retain
680	20/08/1997	N.Ireland	1-3	Germany	Belfast	WQ	GER retain
881	30/05/2014	Uruguay	1-0	N.Ireland	Montevideo	FR	URU retain		{9}
961	10/10/2019	Netherlands	3-1	N.Ireland	Rotterdam	EQ	NED retain
963	16/11/2019	N.Ireland	0-0	Netherlands	Belfast	EQ	NED retain
973	25/03/2021	Italy	-	N.Ireland	tbc	WQ	tbd	-	-

Notes:

1	Ireland's first UFWC match; title had only been held by ENG or SCO up to this point; this was the first ever British Championship match and hence first competitive international fixture (all previous encounters had been "friendlies")
2	first time Ireland avoided defeat in UFWC match; holders England retain title
3	Ireland become first country other than England or Scotland to hold the title
4	first UFWC match after First World War
5	first UFWC match after partition of Ireland [separate FAI created in 1921, first match by Irish Free State in 1924]
6	match doubled as British Championship and World Cup qualifier; first time Ireland played a UFWC match that wasn't exclusively a Home Nations match
7	first UFWC match for "Northern Ireland"; Northern Ireland’s first UFWC match against non-UK side, Northern Ireland’s first match against FIFA World Cup holders
8	England's first match after claiming FIFA World Cup and UFWC title
9	Northern Ireland's first UFWC match against non-UEFA side

Summary:

Matches	Pl	W	D	L
As challengers	55	4	8	43
As champions	8	1	3	4
TOTAL	63	5	11	47

Results by Opponent:

		As challengers			As champions
	Pl	W	D	L	W	D	L
England	23	2	4	14	0	1	2
Germany (W.)	3	0	2	1	-	-	-
Italy	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
Netherlands	2	0	1	1	-	-	-
Scotland	28	2	0	24	0	1	1
Spain	1	0	1	0	-	-	-
Uruguay	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Wales	5	0	0	2	1	1	1
	63	4	8	43	1	3	4

Venues:

			As challengers			As champions
City	Type	Pl	W	D	L	W	D	L
Belfast (NIR)	H	33	1	4	21	1	3	3
Birmingham (ENG)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Derby (ENG)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Dublin (IRL)	H	3	0	0	3	-	-	-
Edinburgh (SCO)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Glasgow (SCO)	A	11	2	0	8	0	0	1
Hull (ENG)	H	1	0	1	0	-	-	-
Liverpool (ENG)	A	2	0	0	2	-	-	-
Malmo (SWE)	N	1	0	1	0	-	-	-
Middlesbrough (ENG)	A	2	1	1	0	-	-	-
Montevideo (URU)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Nuremburg (GER)	A	1	0	1	0	-	-	-
Rotterdam (NED)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Sheffield (ENG)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
Sunderland (ENG)	A	2	0	0	2	-	-	-
Wrexham (WAL)	A	1	0	0	1	-	-	-
tbc (ITA)	A	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
		63	4	8	43	1	3	4

Links:

• For more details please visit the excellent UFWC website (match links where available can be followed to the site in the table above)
• UFWC Official Twitter
• UFWC Fan Twitter

Tomorrow is #UFWC Matchday!#NorthernIreland v #Netherlands

What the bookies say:
"An away win is the most likely result, but Northern Ireland’s impressive defence means it’s worth backing a draw at half-time and a Netherlands win at full-time." pic.twitter.com/xBp7NLreNP

— UFWC (@UFWC_Football) November 15, 2019