TOPICS OF THE DAY

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7871, 23 May 1891, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

A corekspondknt of the Pall Stall Btdte sends to that paper of April 3rd hid ymh summary of the football accidents ot the past season, to which he gives the grace.oa title of " The Butcher's Bill." •[_« sod. donta which he mentions are those wMohi have been recorded in the newspapers, kk\ do not include the many eases whlob must have been unnoticed. His figures analysed, show 23 deaths, 47 limbs bro_.a and 27 other injuries, an appalling record surely, unmatched we should think in any other sport in existence. The abo . figures are slightly a trained, for in one case he tho death of a footballs. who died while running to catoh _a omnibus, presumably on his way to a matoh, and this fatality eau hardly _>_> putt down _> football. The pro-t»_—.ili-y is __t__ .Ti _ tnAn _-o__, ___ _.jU ■__'&!. illl ■way to a tea meeting? or to -tis office. There are one or two other oases in whioh the compiler, in his n__icty to m_k_ oat m oa.u against football, has p. on. ol ft _-ay to drag in* c.ostii. tiea -which might well have been passed over. Leaving out thesa two or three doubtful cases, ho .ever, there remains a ghastly list of killed aa_ wounded, which, speaks .olantes for the manner in which football ia now played ia England, and probably equals the mortality bill of all other athletic sports psi together. The Sheffield Independent, in aa article oil the subject, says •— " The oombata in the Spanish buli-rins are innocuous in comparison with fchoa. , of the football field; the matador's ia %, safer life for insurance than that of the %

football player. . . . If by one con. eentrated catastrophe there should perish twenty-three young Englishmen in tbe prime of the vigor of early manhood, as. there should be at the same time injure, seventy-four of the same class, the ciount-i would echo with < lamentations and . iw demands for prevention. But b.ca__ these things are scattered in their loc&Hty and diffused oTef six months of tittle, .3 pass them heedlessly by, and prot. ijf point to the football field as the traiaicg ground for English hardiness and eftdurance. It i. certainly one .ay eJ arriving at the survival of the lUtest."

In this dreadful roll of noci.l.nt. at. fatalitaeß no mention is made of the fitylt of frame whioh the victims played. W« have, however, little hesitation in saj_l| that the Association game as now played is responsible for the greater number $ casualties. The hold which this game b*J taken of the English masses is BO_hfethia| marvellous, but its popularity has b_S the means of importing an element <& brutality into it which, added to the professionalism which is its "life blood, witt assuredly be the reason of its (downfall, if snoh an event ever comes to pass. Th<_l is every reason for the popularity <£ tt* game. The pitting of two good tesM rf equal strength against each other prods _t a two hours' display of such a ekilful tl_s of animal strength and speed as is to seen in no other game, and the which is spread jover the three days . * cricket match, Or crowded into the two* three minutes of a horse race, makes thow two hours of intense interest to tbe W who is pecuniarily interested in the rest* If he follows one teattor season this excitement is reprodaced ei&l Saturday afternoon throughout the eem& A writer in the Speater says that & .?&? football iB comparatively little pl *J* nowadays, but that it remains ia ft healthy condition, not having be-om-J like «* Association game ah eiscuiie for betting. It is a recreation, not a calling, and is « even a more wholesome state than crlckcS One could, he saya, bet about Kagby *oo» ball, anA become a Bugby "•sell--' hia side for a consideration, bas a happened that the betting people ■*** * Association football and left the &-.,# game to those who play for p**"* instead of cups and twenty poena aofei He goes on to give the reasons wh provincial sportsman gambles in tot®** ' and-with reference to one, the fact tha*® knows all the jmembers of tha P* | teams and generally backs them fo** | "patriotism/ he says.— ! "Thissame'patriolasm'Js respoa£jJ for many of the evila of Association *»% baU. It leads td a great deal of w* language and to blackguardly scenes the local men are b.mg beaten. It »& \ responsible for bringing into the.»** Sni men who are not local. Themo*g a player establishes a reputation for «*f self there is high bidding for &"**£ and he ia induced to give up hM w<" at one end of the United ?*.«£ and settle at the other end, wbhe will receive mora money l playing football during the season twnw got for sboemaking in a year. * . manent work at his craft latim «»*J him in many cases, but lie has J*- 0 pubUc performer, thAU which »«• »v few things worse for tho murais. «*v"ji much time on his hahds, the frequently degenerates into a loafer ana * rough. As it is at present, Associ«wfootball cannot rank much higher; tw the old cock fights, and its reputation ■ with those who regret that P»8. longer what it was. It is afine game, P»% chiefly by roughs for lucre; take an interest in it do so because WI have 80-M>ethin_f 'on."'

I» must be remembered that these sweeping assertions refer to the professional jjj-gocia- on g_mo ixi England. _?layedl f or .a love of the game, in the satc_ way that Bugby football is played, the Association game is no rougher than Bugfcy, and is claimed by its followers to be more gcientific, though this is a point oh which it ie fruitless to argue. It does not 3eem jjkely tn at 0 . football will ever be superseded in New Zealand by any other atyle of the game, and so long as it is played in a proper spirit there is tio reason why it ever should be. J. holds its place, or has held it up to the present, by the popular belief that to all intents and purposes it was played for ** love" and not for gain. It is current talk now, though, that a good deal of betting takes place between certain teams, and that an altogether unnecessary amount of arguing and rough play at matches is the result, owing to the fact that members of the teams have money on the result of the game.. It will be a great pity if betting on football matches attains any dimensions here. Any athletic sport vhich once comes under the sway of gambling is doomed, and that such a fate may J>e averted from football will be the wish ©f etiry friend of the game.