The 1895 World Championship was a football match that took place at

Tynecastle Park Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a ...

on 27 April 1895 between the winner of the English Football League First Division, Sunderland, and

Scottish League Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

, Heart of Midlothian. The match was won by Sunderland 5–3. 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 The Scotch Professors were Scottish football players of the late 19th century who moved south to play for clubs participating in the English Football League during the period when football had become professional in England but remained (theoretic ...

.When Sunderland met Hearts in the first ever 'Champions League' match , Nutmeg Magazine
Nutmeg Magazine, September 2017 The game was not the first "World Championship" game between

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Scottish sides; and it was the second such club competition won by an

team, with previous winners being Aston Villa and Renton (both

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

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. However, it was the first ever game played between the respective champions of two different leagues. 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.

Participant teams

Match details

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World 1894–95 in English football 1894–95 in Scottish football World Championship 1895 World Championship 1895 April 1895 sports events International sports competitions hosted by Scotland 1890s in Edinburgh