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The National Match

The History

In 1864, a "Rifle Conference" was held in London under much publicity. One of the outcomes of the conference was the establishment of what was originally known as the International Enfield Match for teams of English and Scottish volunteers. The first match was shot at Wimbledon in July 1864. After this occasion, invitations to design a trophy resulted in 22 entries. The winning design (shown opposite) was submitted by Messrs Elkington & Co. designed by their artist Mr Auguste Wilms.

The following year, 1865, an Irish team was admitted to compete and they have done so on almost all occasions since. From 1877 to 1879, Scotland abstained from competing in protest to the match being held at Wimbledon. In 1879, new rules were introduced that the match would be shot at Wimbledon except when won at Wimbledon when the captain of the team would be entitled to hold the match in their country. At this time, the Welsh were invited to join the competition and they first shot in 1881.

England have monopolised the competition over the past 40 years but in 2002, Ireland won the match, 5 points ahead of England. As entitled, Ireland announced that the 2003 Match would be held at Ballykinler ranges in May. On this occasion, England won with a score of 2071, 29 points ahead of Ireland with Scotland in third place one point behind them. Glyn Barnett had the top score of 105.19.

The record score for the match is held by England in 1999 who scored 2082.293 (out of 2100). The highest individual score is 105 with 21 v-bulls by David Luckman (Great Britain) in 2010.

Match Conditions

The National match is shot for by a team from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales each with 20 firers on 5 targets. Each shooter fires 1 sighter and 7 shots to count at 300, 500 and 600 yards. As mentioned above, the match is now held at Bisley but a winning team captain is entitled to hold the match in their own country as Ireland did in 2003.

Previous Winners

1864 England 1904 Scotland 1963 England
1865 Scotland 1905 England 1964 England
1866 England 1906 Scotland 1965 Scotland
1867 Scotland 1907 England 1966 England
1868 England 1908 Scotland 1967 England
1869 England 1909 England 1968 England
1870 England 1910 Scotland 1969 England
1871 Scotland 1911 England 1970 England
1872 England 1912 England 1971 England
1873 England 1913 England 1972 England
1874 Scotland 1914 England 1973 England
1875 Scotland 1915-19 Not shot 1974 England
1876 Scotland 1920 England 1975 England
1877 England 1921 England 1976 England
1878 England 1922 England 1977 England
1879 England 1923 England 1978 England
1880 England 1924 England 1979 England
1881 Scotland 1925 England 1980 England
1882 Scotland 1926 England 1981 England
1883 Scotland 1927 Scotland 1982 England
1884 England 1928 England 1983 England
1885 Scotland 1929 England 1984 England
1886 Scotland 1930 Scotland 1985 England
1887 England 1931 England 1986 England
1888 Scotland 1932 England 1987 England
1889 England 1933 England 1988 England
1890 Scotland 1934 England 1989 England
1891 Scotland 1935 England 1990 England
1892 Scotland 1936 England 1991 England
1893 Scotland 1937 England 1992 England
1894 Scotland 1938 England 1993 England
1895 Scotland 1939 England 1994 England
1896 Scotland 1940-45 Not shot 1995 England
1897 Scotland 1946 England 1996 England
1898 Scotland 1947 England 1997 England
1899 Scotland 1948 England 1998 England
1890 Scotland 1949 England 1999 England
1891 Scotland 1950 England 2000 England
1892 Scotland 1951 England 2001 England
1893 Scotland 1952 Scotland 2002 Ireland
1894 Scotland 1953 England 2003 England
1895 Scotland 1954 England 2004 England
1896 Scotland 1955 England 2005 England
1897 Scotland 1956 England 2006 England
1898 Scotland 1957 England 2007 England
1899 Scotland 1958 England 2008 England
1900 Scotland 1959 England 2009 England
1901 England 1960 England 2010 Scotland
1902 England 1961 England 2011 Scotland
1903 England 1962 England 2012 England