5 ONE GAME DEBUTANTS

This is a day late, but I wanted to put this item into "history", so why not consider 5 England international footballers who on October 24th 1925 were picked to play Ireland, all of whom made their debut on the same day. 

George Armitage played in goal and came from Stoke Newington, playing for Charlton Athletic with 165 apps and after for Leyton. His one appearance for England was against Ireland. He died at 38 years old.

Claude Ashton (below), a Wykehamist (old boy of Winchester College) played for Corinthians in several different positions, including goalkeeper and centre forward, although his preferred position was wing half. He also made one appearance for England, against Ireland in 1925, when he was appointed team captain, the only English international to achieve this accolade; earning one cap, as captain. As a cricketer he played for Cambridge University and Essex.A pre-war officer of the Auxiliary Air Force,  he died as a result of  a mid-air collision in a training accident in the Second World War. 

Billy Austin, an outside right, from Arnold, also won his one cap against Ireland having played for Norwich City (164 apps/39 goals), Manchester City (160 apps/43 goals) and Chesterfield (45 apps/6 goals), retiring to Kidderminster Harriers!

Frank Hudspeth (below) was a defender, who spent nineteen seasons at Newcastle, from 1910 to 1929. This makes him the joint longest servant for the club along with Billy McCracken. During his time at the club he became a popular figure amongst the fans and gained the nickname 'Old Surefoot' for his reliability. He captained the team from 1923 to 1926. Hudspeth was also known for his ability to score penalties and 25 of his 37 goals at Newcastle came from the penalty spot. He is second only to Jimmy Lawrence for making the highest number of appearances for Newcastle, taking part in 472 games.

He also represented England once at international level, against the Irish. 35,000 witnessed this unusual event at Belfast's Windsor Park. The result? 0-0. Not very inspiring is it and it left England runners-up in the Home Championship table, an annual competition that began in February 1884, involving the four home nations. Scotland won all three matches and topped the table.  Wales were third and Ireland fourth, losing all three scoring ONE goal and conceding 19.

In 1925, Scotland won all three matches (8 goals for and 1 against) in the tournament. England came second again, winning twice, with a Goals For 5 and Against 4.

James William Barrett played for West Ham Utd having been born in Stratford, East London. Barrett began playing football in local schools along with Billy "Bubbles" Murray, who is linked with the history of West Ham's anthem "I'm for ever blowing bubbles!". played his first game at Upton Park for West Ham Boys against Liverpool in the English Shield Final of 1920–21.

He signed professional forms with the east London club in 1923 at the age of 16, but didn't play his first senior game until 28 March 1925, against Sours and White Hart Lane. He was an ever-present during his first two seasons, and was also the club's top appearance maker for the 1930-1 and 1932-3seasons. He went on to make a total of 467 appearances for West Ham, scoring 53 goals.

Barrett's only international appearance came against Ireland in 1928, where he lasted four minutes before succumbing to injury making his appearance the shortest ever international career. He did however play with Dixie Dean and Joe Hulme, who each cored a goal in the 2-1 victory at Goodison Park.