The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football and is governed by the Football Association of Wales. The team are the third oldest in international football, behind only Scotland and England and played their first match on 18 March 1876, a 4–0 defeat to Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow. Wales played their first home fixture the following year, which Scotland won 2–0 at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. Wales met England for the first time in 1879 and recorded their first victory against them two years later, winning 1–0 at Alexandra Meadows following a goal from John Vaughan. In 1882, Wales played Ireland for the first time, defeating them 7–1 at the Racecourse.

With all four Home Nations playing annual friendly matches, the decision was taken to organise the fixtures into a competition. The British Home Championship, a round-robin tournament, was subsequently formed and the inaugural season was held in 1884. Wales won their opening fixture 6–0 against Ireland but defeats against England and Scotland in their remaining matches led to a third-place finish. In 1888, Wales recorded the largest victory in the team's history by defeating Ireland 11–0; Jack Doughty scored four of his side's goals. It was not until 1895 that Wales finished higher than third in the Championship, claiming a second-place finish after drawing all three fixtures.

From the nation's first fixture in 1876 to the end of the century Wales played 63 fixtures, winning 11, drawing 8 and losing the remaining 44. Of the side's victories, 9 were secured over Ireland and 2 over England, while they failed to defeat Scotland in 24 attempts during this period. The team's struggles were exacerbated by the reluctance of clubs in the Football League to release Welsh players for international fixtures, which often clashed with league matches. In the 1890s, Wales finished bottom of the British Home Championship in six of the ten tournaments held and lost nine of their final ten matches in the decade.

Results Wales' score is shown first in each case. The colours listed below are also used to signify results combined with the scoreline. + KeyColour (with score) Meaning DefeatDraw Win

+Wales national football team results 1876–1899Match DateVenue OpponentsScoreCompetitionWales scorers1Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow A0–4Friendly 17,000 2Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H0–2Friendly 4,000 3Hampden Park, Glasgow A0–9Friendly 6,000 4Kennington Oval, London A1–2Friendly William Davies 200 5Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H0–3Friendly 2,000 6Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H2–3Friendly William Roberts, John Roberts 3,000 7Hampden Park, Glasgow A1–5Friendly William Roberts 2,000 8Alexandra Meadows, Blackburn A1–0Friendly John Vaughan 3,000 9Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H1–5Friendly Knyvett Crosse 1,500 10Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H7–1Friendly John Price (4), William Pierce Owen (2), John Morgan 2,000 11Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H5–3Friendly William Pierce Owen (2), John Morgan, Alf Jones (og), John Vaughan 5,000 12Hampden Park, Glasgow A0–5Friendly 5,000 13Kennington Oval, London A0–5Friendly 5,000 14Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H0–3Friendly 2,000 15Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast A1–1Friendly Walter Roberts 1,000 16Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H6–01883–84 British Home Championship William Pierce Owen (2), Edward Shaw (2), John Eyton-Jones, Robert Albert Jones 2,000 17Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H0–41883–84 British Home Championship 4,500 18Cathkin Park, Glasgow A1–41883–84 British Home Championship Robert Roberts 1,000 19Leamington Road, Blackburn A 1–11884–85 British Home Championship Job Wilding 7,500 20Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 1–81884–85 British Home Championship Robert Albert Jones 2,000 21Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast A 8–21884–85 British Home Championship Herbert Sisson (3), John Roach (2), William Owen, Tom Burke, Humphrey Jones 1,500 22Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H5–01885–86 British Home Championship Bill Roberts, Job Wilding, Richard Hersee, Thomas Bryan, Herbert Sisson 700 23Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 1–31885–86 British Home Championship Billy Lewis 5,000 24Cathkin Park, Glasgow A1–41885–86 British Home Championship John Owen Vaughan 5,500 25Kennington Oval, London A0–41886–87 British Home Championship 4,500 26Cliftonville Cricket Ground, Belfast A1–41886–87 British Home Championship Henry Sabine 4,000 27Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 0–21886–87 British Home Championship 2,000 28Alexandra Recreation Ground, Crewe A 1–51887–88 British Home Championship Jack Doughty 6,000 29Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 11–01887–88 British Home Championship Jack Doughty (4), Roger Doughty (2), Edmund Howell (2), Job Wilding (2), William Pryce-Jones 2,000 30Hibernian Park, Edinburgh A 1–51887–88 British Home Championship Jack Doughty 8,000 31Victoria Ground, Stoke A 1–41888–89 British Home Championship William Owen 6,000 32Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 0–01888–89 British Home Championship 6,000 33Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast A3–11888–89 British Home Championship Richard Jarrett 1,500 34Old Racecourse, Shrewsbury H 5–21889–90 British Home Championship William Pryce-Jones (2), William Owen, Dick Wilcock, David Lewis 3,000 35Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 1–31889–90 British Home Championship Billy Lewis 3,000 36Underwood Park, Paisley A 0–51889–90 British Home Championship 5,000 37Ulsterville, Belfast A 2–71890–91 British Home Championship Albert Davies, Jack Bowdler 6,000 38Newcastle Road, Sunderland A 1–41890–91 British Home Championship Albert Davies, Edmund Howell 15,000 39Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 3–41890–91 British Home Championship Albert Davies, Jack Bowdler (2), William Owen 6,000 40Penrhyn Park, Bangor H 1–11891–92 British Home Championship Benjamin Lewis 4,000 41Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 0–21891–92 British Home Championship 4,500 42Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh A 1–61891–92 British Home Championship Benjamin Lewis 6,000 43Victoria Ground, Stoke A 0–61892–93 British Home Championship 10,000 44Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 0–81892–93 British Home Championship 4,500 45Solitude, Belfast A 3–41892–93 British Home Championship George Owen (2), William Owen 3,000 46St. Helen's, Swansea H 4–11893–94 British Home Championship Billy Lewis (2), Edwin James (2) 7,000 47Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 1–51893–94 British Home Championship Jack Bowdler 5,500 48Rugby Park, Kilmarnock A 2–51893–94 British Home Championship Hugh Morris 10,000 49Solitude, Belfast A 2–21894–95 British Home Championship Harry Trainer (2) 6,000 50Queen's Club, London A 1–11894–95 British Home Championship Billy Lewis 10,000 51Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 2–21894–95 British Home Championship Billy Lewis, Thomas Chapman 4,000 52Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 6–11895–96 British Home Championship Billy Lewis, Billy Meredith (2), Harry Pugh, Grenville Morris 3,000 53Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff H 1–91895–96 British Home Championship Thomas Chapman 10,000 54Carolina Port, Dundee A 0–41895–96 British Home Championship 11,700 55Solitude, Belfast A 3–41896–97 British Home Championship Billy Meredith (2), Caesar Jenkyns 10,000 56Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 2–21896–97 British Home Championship Morgan Morgan-Owen, Harry Pugh 5,000 57Bramall Lane, Sheffield A0–41896–97 British Home Championship Morgan Morgan-Owen, Harry Pugh 5,000 58The Oval, Llandudno H 0–11897–98 British Home Championship 6,000 59Fir Park, Motherwell A 2–51897–98 British Home Championship Thomas John Thomas, Morgan Morgan-Owen 3,500 60Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 0–31897–98 British Home Championship 4,000 61Grosvenor Park, Belfast A 0–11898–99 British Home Championship 6,000 62Racecourse Ground, Wrexham H 0–61898–99 British Home Championship 12,000 63Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol A0–41898–99 British Home Championship 10,000

Head to head records + Opponent21221718751893670282403211810612.5087.50 Totals 63 11 8 44 106 209 12.70

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References Statistics

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