SOCCER SPLIT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 141, 16 June 1928, Page 11

SOCCER SPLIT.

NEW ASSOCIATION MOOTED. THISTLE DISPUTE TAKES UNEXPECTED TURN. RF -T'CILIATION WAS KILLED BY " TALK." ■NTKNTS'' AND "UNDESIRABLES." The dispute between Thistle Club and the Auckland I'ootball Association has taken a very unexpected turn, and following on the published report of the meeting of the Management Committee of the A.F.A., at which the letter of withdrawal of the Thistle from the competitions following the suspension of M. Kay was discussed, the door appears to )ia\e been irrevocably closed on any reconciliation between the crub and the association. Feeling runs high to-dav in consequence of the language applied during the deliberations of the Management Committee of the A.F.A. to the 'I histle. and has stirred the members and players of Thistle, as well as some of their supporters, in a way that has not previously been experienced. It is Ihe intention of influential members of the club, and these have the support of home of the best known supporters of the game, to take initial steps towards the formation of a Football Association, for which purpose a meeting has been called for Monday next.

This morning a "Star" reporter interviewed Mr. J. F. W. Dickson, patron of the Thistle Club, and a vice-president of the A.FA., in regard to the Thistle attitude in the dispute that has arisen. Mr. Dickson stated that he could only \oice the feelings of the club as he knew them. Candidly, at the outset, he stated, that while the action of the players taken on Tuesday evening may have been precipitate, and under the influence of the sting of an injustice, the Management Committee of the A.F.A. had erred grievously in the attitude they had taken subsequently. "No one," said Mr. Dickson, "is more sorry than I am that the present unhappy position lias arisen. But I am convinced, in the light of what happened at the Management Committee of the A.F.A., that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for me to bring about a reconciliation. The management of the A.F.A., at their meeting, described the Thistle aa "malcontents and undesirables," and sug gestcd that they ought to prevent players of the Thistle Club playing for any other club. Most of the Thistle players —in fact practically the lot—are Scotsmen, and to describe perfectly respectable citizens as undesirables, and to even suggest preventing them from playing for any other club, would, I am sure, close the door to any peace settlement. The Thistle Club, practically speaking, ia up in arms at what they consider a calculated insult on the part of the management of the code, particularly in view of the fact that most of Thistle's players have in the past played a prominent part in Auckland Soccer, and have represented the province." Mr. Dickson, continuing, admitted that the players of Thistle Club had no doubt had cause in their own minds for the decision they made on Tuesday evening, but it was surely not the function of the management of the code to coldly and deliberately refer to any body of citizens as "undesirables." He considered that the proper function of the management would have been, knowing aa they did that Thistle's decision had been arrived at without all the members of the club having been consulted, to have taken steps to ascertatin that the decision truly represented the wishes of the entire club when many of its members were to be prevented from playing the game. Instead, what was the position? The Thistle players and the members of the committee who were present on Tuesday had acted precipitately and on the spur of the moment, but the management of the A.F.A. had acted much more precipitately and after time for serious consideration. Mr. Andrew Menzies, chairman of the management of the A.F.A., stated that the president of the Thistle Club, Mr. L. Marks, had] known nothing about the decision of his club till he saw it recorded in print, and Mr. Menzies and Mr. Marks nad a conversation over the telephone on Wednesday morning, in which Mr. Marks said he would get in touch with the members of the Thistle Committee, and Mr. Menzies stated that he would ring later for the result. Mr. Marks, accordingly set inquiries afoot to see what he could do to get over the trouble, but the next he knew of the affair was what he read, again in the Press, and containing the most objectionable remarks, describing his club as undesirables. . "In times like these, when finances are strained." said Mr. Dickson, continuing, "it is unwise for the leaders of any body of sportsmen to take any course of action which might appear to be peremptory. The test of leadership of any body of sportsmen is tolerance, and instead of putting sand into the machinery it is always wise to use a little oil and not allow one's dignity to stand in the way of the paramount interests of the whole. If the action of the Thistle players and committee was hasty, then the Management Committee was surely more than unduly hasty in their almost obvious desire to get rid of the club. The Management Committee should have taken into consideration the root cause of the trouble, and I think it can be admitted, in view of the fact that the opponents of Thistle on the day in question volunteered to give evidence 011 Kay's behalf, that there was something wrong with the control of the game. The question of the backbone or otherwise of the Management Committee is not in issue, but it was clearly their duty to see that in such an important decision as the withdrawal of several teams from the competitions that this was the desire of the clubs as an entity and not as a few individuals. The Thistle committee feels that it savours of the wish being father to the desire with the Management Committee to grasp at the first straw or pretence to get the Thistle Club out of the wav."

Continuing. Mr. Dickson supported the opinion that the Judicial Committee was a "Star Chamber," and he considered that had the Press been able to give an outline of the true facts of the case as disclosed in the evidence tendered, public opinion would have been so strong that on injustice had been done that a full inquiry into the whole facts would have been insisted upon. "There is one other aspect," said Mr. Dickson, continuing, "and it is that of the referee. The official in the Thistle-Belmont match was formerly a Thistle player and on account of a certain friction between him and the cluli the referee in question and an- < 'her member of the Ihistle ( I lib weie dropped from membership." 'llii> was another reason which seemed to Ml".

probably have caused the vh -h J mdeveloped at Devonport and hith would have amplv justified the management of the A.F A. in callht for an ,nqu,ry into the whole facts!

A New Association. the ll 'TW^ SOl V.. r t Sarding the future of 'itatprl fi, + e anc * their players, for \t, ? a "l eetin S had been called 01 Monday evening next in the Chamber woiilrM lneiCe ' whole position " ' ''f gone '"to fully. The insulting and scathing terms which had been apto the Thistle Club by the memr!vfin» management of the Auckland ootball Association, left no other door open to theni than to test the feeling of public opinion in the matter, and possinry a new association would be the result. He admitted that the question of grounds would be a difficulty, but already negotiations had been commenced with a wew of acquiring the necessary grounds, at any rate, for the remainder of the Dickson stated that the inistle Club were not alone in their desire to form another association, and added that he had been informed that the dub had been already approached unofficially by other interest to form such an association. It was proposed that the new body should applv for recognition by the N.Z.F.A., and* thev would carry on the code in Auckland. Regarding the question of appeal, Mr. Dickson said it was ridiculous for Mr. Menzies to state that this could have been put through in the course of a few days. He stated that the evidence taken would not only have had to be sent to the N.Z.F.A., but the Thistle would have been entitled to have prepared and presented their case to the governing body. This could not possibly have been done in a week, rather likely it would have taken a fortnight.

President Indignant. Mr. L. Marks, the president of the Thistle Club, this morning expressed great indignation at the talk that had been used by members of the Auckland Football Association management regarding the Thistle. He emphasised the°fact that the club had in its membership, amongst its players and in its supporters men whose reputation and integrity was beyond dispute, and who held responsible positions in the business life of the city, and he personally could not see his way to be any further associated with a body who referred to respectable, law-abiding citizens, as "undesirables." The position he took up was that the management committee of the Auckland Football Association, instead of desiring to heal the breach, have set themselves to make it so wide that any attempt to bridge their differences would be out of the question. This was only a manifestation of the simmering feeling of hostility which he considered, and his club left, had been developing in the management of the Auckland Football Associj tion against the club for some time back. Now that the chairman and members of the management had come out into the open and shown their hitherto concealed hostility to the Thistle Club the question at issue had got beyond the mere ordering off the field of Kav.