Football annuals state that he has played in fifty-one matches for Wales. If any sceptic troubled to write Meredith about these figures, which have been disputed, he would supply all the dates to substantiate this amazing record. He took great pride in playing for Wales, and was one of those rare persons who put all such performances in a book.
J. A. H. Catton, The Story of Association Football (1926)Billy Meredith was one of the first superstars of professional football, and his career had it all- success, political strife, controversy, conflict with authority- but it seems that in his record keeping he was simply wrong.
Sources agree that he played 48 games for Wales (the Welsh Football Data Archive has 47).
Incidentally Catton went on to state that Meredith had once told him that he wished he had been born in England: You know the house where I was born was only 300 yards or so over the border. What a time I should have had if I had been an Englishman. I'm sick of being on the losing side.
In A–Z of Manchester Football (1978) Derek Brandon claims that Meredith was selected for 71 consecutive internationals. Thus is an exaggeration and of course erroneous, as Meredith could not have been selected in 1906 (see below), and in order to have fitted in 71 internationals he would have had to have been selected as a 17 year old playing for Chirk AAA in 1892. He was named among the reserves in February 1894 when he was still listed as a Chirk player.
Meredith's final appearance for Wales was in their 111th international outing. He was 45 years and 229 days old.
He featured in a trial match in January 1921 (to make up the numbers) but was not selected for the subsequent internationals.
Between his debut and his final international Wales played 15 matches in which Meredith did not appear:
Meredith's final appearance for Wales was in their 111th international outing. He was 45 years and 229 days old.
He featured in a trial match in January 1921 (to make up the numbers) but was not selected for the subsequent internationals.
Goals | Total Goals | |||||||
1 | 16.03.95 | Ireland | 2 | 2 | Wales | Solitude, Belfast | ||
2 | 18.03.95 | England | 1 | 1 | Wales | Queens Club, London | ||
3 | 29.02.96 | Wales | 6 | 1 | Ireland | Racecourse, Wrexham | 2 | 2 |
4 | 16.03.96 | Wales | 1 | 9 | England | Arms Park, Cardiff | ||
5 | 06.03.97 | Ireland | 4 | 3 | Wales | Solitude, Belfast | 2 | 4 |
6 | 20.03.97 | Wales | 2 | 2 | Scotland | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
7 | 29.03.97 | England | 4 | 0 | Wales | Bramall Lane, Sheffield | ||
8 | 19.02.98 | Wales | 0 | 1 | Ireland | Oval, Llandudno | ||
9 | 28.03.98 | Wales | 0 | 3 | England | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
10 | 20.03.99 | England | 4 | 0 | Wales | Ashton Gate, Bristol | ||
11 | 24.02.00 | Wales | 2 | 0 | Ireland | Oval, Llandudno | 1 | 5 |
12 | 26.03.00 | Wales | 1 | 1 | England | Arms Park, Cardiff | 1 | 6 |
13 | 18.03.01 | England | 6 | 0 | Wales | St James’ Newcastle | ||
14 | 23.03.01 | Ireland | 0 | 1 | Wales | Solitude, Belfast | ||
15 | 03.03.02 | Wales | 0 | 0 | England | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
16 | 15.03.02 | Scotland | 5 | 1 | Wales | Cappielow Park, Greenock | ||
17 | 02.03.03 | England | 2 | 1 | Wales | Fratton Park, Portsmouth | ||
18 | 09.03.03 | Wales | 0 | 1 | Scotland | Arms Park, Cardiff | ||
19 | 28.03.03 | Ireland | 2 | 0 | Wales | Solitude, Belfast | ||
20 | 29.02.04 | Wales | 2 | 0 | England | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
21 | 06.03.05 | Wales | 3 | 1 | Scotland | Racecourse, Wrexham | 1 | 7 |
22 | 27.03.05 | England | 3 | 1 | Wales | Anfield, Liverpool | ||
23 | 23.02.07 | Ireland | 2 | 3 | Wales | Solitude, Belfast | 1 | 8 |
24 | 04.03.07 | Wales | 1 | 0 | Scotland | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
25 | 18.03.07 | England | 1 | 1 | Wales | Craven Cottage, London | ||
26 | 16.03.08 | Wales | 1 | 7 | England | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
27 | 11.04.08 | Wales | 0 | 1 | Ireland | Athletic Ground, Aberdare | ||
28 | 01.03.09 | Wales | 3 | 2 | Scotland | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
29 | 15.03.09 | England | 2 | 0 | Wales | City Ground, Nottingham | ||
30 | 20.03.09 | Ireland | 2 | 3 | Wales | Grosvenor Park, Belfast | 1 | 9 |
31 | 05.03.10 | Scotland | 1 | 0 | Wales | Rugby Park, Kilmarnock | ||
32 | 14.03.10 | Wales | 0 | 1 | England | Arms Park, Cardiff | ||
33 | 11.04.10 | Wales | 4 | 1 | Ireland | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
34 | 28.01.11 | Ireland | 1 | 2 | Wales | Windsor Park, Belfast | ||
35 | 06.03.11 | Wales | 2 | 2 | Scotland | Ninian Park, Cardiff | ||
36 | 13.03.11 | England | 3 | 0 | Wales | The Den, London | ||
37 | 02.03.12 | Scotland | 1 | 0 | Wales | Tynecastle, Edinburgh | ||
38 | 11.03.12 | Wales | 0 | 2 | England | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
39 | 13.04.12 | Wales | 2 | 3 | Ireland | Ninian Park, Cardiff | ||
40 | 18.01.13 | Ireland | 0 | 1 | Wales | Grosvenor Park, Belfast | ||
41 | 03.03.13 | Wales | 0 | 0 | Scotland | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
42 | 17.03.13 | England | 4 | 3 | Wales | Ashton Gate, Bristol | 1 | 10 |
43 | 19.01.14 | Wales | 1 | 2 | Ireland | Racecourse, Wrexham | ||
44 | 28.02.14 | Scotland | 0 | 0 | Wales | Parkhead, Glasgow | ||
45 | 16.03.14 | Wales | 0 | 2 | England | Ninian Park, Cardiff | ||
46 | 14.02.20 | Ireland | 2 | 2 | Wales | The Oval, Belfast | ||
47 | 26.02.20 | Wales | 1 | 1 | Scotland | Ninian Park, Cardiff | ||
48 | 15.03.20 | England | 1 | 2 | Wales | Highbury, London |
Meredith was a Manchester City player for games 1-21, and a Manchester United player for games 22-48.
Every one of these matches was in the British Home Championships. Here is a breakdown of the results of the matches Meredith played in:P | W | D | L | Win % | |
All | 48 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 27 |
England | 20 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 10 |
Ireland | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 50 |
Scotland | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 25 |
Between his debut and his final international Wales played 15 matches in which Meredith did not appear:
Wales | Meredith | ||
1 | 23.03.95 | 2-2 v Scotland at The Racecourse, Wrexham. | League Division 2- Lincoln City 3 Manchester City 11. Meredith scored twice in what must have been a remarkable game. |
2 | 21.03.96 | 0-4 v Scotland at Carolina Port, Dundee. | League Division 2- Manchester City were beaten 4-1 away to Newcastle United. |
3 | 19.03.98 | Wales v Scotland at Fir Park, Motherwell – 5-2 to Scotland. | League Division 2- Manchester City lost 2-1 away to Lincoln City. |
4 | 04.03.99 | Wales lost 1-0 to Ireland in Belfast. | League Division 2- Meredith scored a hattrick as Manchester City beat Barnsley 5-0 at Hyde Road. |
5 | 18.03.99 | Scotland put 6 past Wales at The Racecourse. | Division 2: Manchester City draw 1-1 away to Walsall. |
6 | 03.02.00 | Scotland 5 Wales 2 at Pittodrie. | Division 1:- Meredith scored in a 1-1 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers. |
7 | 02.03.01 | Wales draw 1-1 with Scotland at The Racecourse, Wrexham. | City lost 2-0 to Derby County at the Baseball Ground ( Div 1 |
8 | 22.02.02 | Wales 0- Ireland 3 at Cardiff Arms Park. | A 3-0 win at Hyde Road v Wolverhampton Wanderers. |
9 | 12.03.04 | Wales and Scotland drew 1-1 at Dundee. | Meredith got a brace as City beat Blackburn Rovers 5-2 at Ewood Park. |
10 | 21.03.04 | Wales lost 1-0 to Ireland at Bangor. | Meredith scored in a 6-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. |
11 | 08.04.05 | Ireland 2 Wales 2 in Belfast. | Meredith scored a penalty for Manchester City in a 1-0 win over Woolwich Arsenal at Hyde Road. |
12 | 03.03.06 | Billy Meredith missed the 1906 British Home Championships as he was suspended from football from 05.08.05 until 30.04.06 for bribing an Aston Villa player to ‘throw’ a match against Manchester City. | |
13 | 19.03.06 | ||
14 | 02.04.06 | ||
15 | 07.03.08 | Scotland defeated Wales 2-1 at Dundee. | FA Cup tie: Manchester United losing 2-1 away at Fulham. |