01/02/1930 Belfast Wales 7-0 Joe Bambrick (6), Andy McCluggage
Alf Gardiner, Andy McCluggage, Bertie Fulton, Billy McCleery, Jack Jones, Tom Sloan, Jimmy Chambers, Dick Rowley, Joe Bambrick, Jimmy McCambridge, Jackie Mahood
Northern Ireland 7 Wales 0
Ten Greatest NI matches. No.1
1/2/1930 Belfast
Northern Ireland 7 Wales 0
Northern Ireland’s biggest ever win came against a Wales team who were enjoying arguably the most successful period in their history. Between 1920 and 1937 they won the Home Internationals Championship no fewer than seven times outright, no mean achievement considering the usual dominance of England and Scotland. However the 1929/1930 was to prove to be a disastrous campaign for the Welsh. Having already shipped four goals to Scotland and six to England, they may have arrived in Belfast looking to salvage some pride as the two traditionally weaker teams in the championship battled to lose the ‘wooden spoon’ tag. However, it was the Irish team that went home with their pride and a winning margin which remains unsurpassed to this day, slamming in seven goals against Wrexham goalkeeper Dick Finnegan who was never to play for his country again. The scoreline was all the more remarkable considering the Irish team featured three debutants, namely goalkeeper Alf Gardiner, James McCambridge and Jack ‘Soldier’ Jones. For Jones, international appearances were a family tradition. His brother Sam, uncles Sam and Joe Burnison and brother-in-law Billy Mitchell all turned out for Ireland. Only the Feeney family can claim such strong family ties with senior Irish representation.
The hero of the day was Linfield striker Joe Bambrick. Thought to have scored around 1000 goals in his 15 year career, he notched an unprecedented double hat-trick against the Welsh. Whilst captain Andy McCluggage scored the other goal, the day belonged to Bambrick in his greatest hour in a green shirt. His six goals in one match stood as a record in the championships until their conclusion in 1984. Such was his feat, that a week later a local soft drinks producer marketed a beverage called ‘Joe Six’ to mark his achievement. Indeed, he scored a total of 94 goals in the 1929/1930 season including all of the goals in Linfield’s 4-3 victory over Ballymena United to clench the Irish Cup Final. Over the course of his 11 caps, he managed an impressive 12 goals coining the phrase, “Head, Heel or Toe, Slip it to Joe.”
Team: A Gardiner, A. McCluggage, R.P. Fulton, W. McCleery, J. Jones, T. Sloan, R.J. Chambers, R.W.M. Rowley, J. Bambrick, J. McCambridge, J. Mahood
Author: Robin Peake
Source: robinpeake.wordpress.com
Record Scoring Feat – Bambrick’s Six For Ireland Against Wales
Back: J.R. McFarlane (Linesman), J. Jones, A. Gardiner, R.P. Fulton, T. Sloan, W. McCreery, J. Devlin (Trainer)
Front: T. Crewe (Referee), J. Chambers, R. Rowley, J. Bambrick, A. McCluggage (Captain), J. McCambridge, J. Mahood, A. Bell (Linesman)
Source: http://nifootball.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/133-1-february-1930.html
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