SOCCER FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 138, 12 June 1926, Page 27

SOCCER FOOTBALL.

JOTTINGS FROM OVERSEAS. In successive seasons Scotland has •won the Internaltionail Chamfpio|n,ship j without losing a point, and in the pro- | cess has scored 16 goals against one. j Five times in seven seasons since the [ war she has taken the • national title. The triumphal march is becoming monotonous. For England the experience is the reverse. The title—taken quite regularly before the war—has not 'been secured since 1913, and the lapse of 1924, when shej slipped to the fourth or bottom position of the table, is now repeated, with the Tecord that accompanies it the worst ever presented. I' The steady decline of England is : almost beyond belief. Only against Ireland, be it noted, can English football —in the international arena—claim an advantage. Wales, as well as Scotland, i has proved superior. J* The curtain has now gone down on a i season of sorry failure. . In the closing I Test with Scotland at Manchester the I victory of the Champions was, well deI served. Superior in combination and | the higher arts of the game, the Scotsmen earned their second win in England since the war. After the Englishmen's win in the Inter-League game at Glasgow this was a big- disappointment. Scotland were stronger, however, and England were much weaker—and especially in attack. It was an unjustifiable experiment to

replace Silcock—a great success in the Inter-League game, and a Manchester United player —in the Old Trafford match, and the result was not successful. Sufficient will have been said of England's international troubles, however, when it is added that Harper was the seventeenth centre-forward called up in the 21 internationals played since the war! Six times, in all, clubs have threatened" to achieve the honour won by Huddersfield Town in gaining the English championship three years 'in succession. In turn, Preston, Sunderland, Aston Villa (twice), The Wednesday, and Liverpool —League champions in 1922 and 1923—have taken the title in successive seasons, yet all failed at the third attempt. Huddersfield Town —admitted to the second division, of the League in 1910-11 —since the war have performed wonders. During that period, at any rate, j their achievements stand alone. Down the years, though, other clubs have made more history. The West Yorkshire Club merit cordial congratulation oh their amazing ! consistency at a time of tremendous | challenge. In the last 123 League games | they have lost only 19. These figures, i however, tell the story of the three hisj tory-making seasons:— ! Goals (Season. P. W. L. D. For. Agst. Pts. 1923-23 .. 42 23 8 11 60 83 5T 1924-25 ..42 21 5 16 69 28 5S 1923-20 ..39 22 6 11 86 53 55 123 66 19 38 215 114 170 R. M. BESWICK. after a long spell of 29 years playing, has of recent years devoted his time and enthusiasm to the .propagating of a love for the game amongst the young. His particular care has been the work of the boys' committee, and when the new Junior Management Committee _ was instituted at the beginning of this season his appointment as its chief - executive officer was a wise one. In England he played the game in -Manchester and came to New Zealand in 1905, when .he played in the Navy. On leaving the service, time expired, he turned out for Brotherhood, Northcote, afterwards coaching Metropolitan and latterly taking on refereeing, being,now a New' Zealand badge .holder. His ambition to-day is to have the primary school championship • and the Skeriett Cup,(for high schools).in Auckland, and tq see the' Soccer code in every school from the primary to the 'Varsity. And he is doing more than most to achieve his ambition. ?