Sunday Sport In U.K.

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31661, 23 April 1968, Page 17

Sunday Sport In U.K.

(N.Z.P. A.‘Reuter—Copyright) LONDON. Britain’s sombre Sunday may soon be shattered by the jingle of cash registers and the tramp of thousands of feet to sports fixtures. Twelve of the country’s leading sporting organisations have thrown their weight behind a new bill which would allow them to charge gate money on Sundays after 2 p.m.

It could come as a jolt to Britons who are accustomed to passing their Sunday afternoons sleeping in front of the television or idling away the time in their gardens.

And it could mean a new army of week-end widows and orphans—abandoned by* hus bands and fathers enjoying a huge range of Sunday sporting events. The pleasantly-titled Sun

I day Entertainments Bill, sponsored by a Labour member of Parliament, Mr W. Hamling, will face its final debate in the House of ComI mons on Friday, and will then pass to the House of Lords. At present, sporting organisations are not permitted to charge gate money on Sunday—so they finance events by selling programmes at high prices, charging heavily for car parking, or selling tickets before Sunday. Opinion polls have shown that the people want Sunday sport and the deadline of not before 2 p.m. is aimed at placating its opponents.

But the bill is strongly opposed by many religious groups, led by the Lord’s Day Observance Society as well as some people who claim it will only help sporting promoters boost their profits. Last Wednesday, the 12

sporting organisations signed a letter to all members of Parliament asking them to support the bill. They are: The British Amateur Athletic Board, the British Boxing Board of Control, the British Show Jumping Association, the British Horse Society, the Marylebone Cricket Club, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the Autocycle Union, the Football Association, the Football League, the Football Association of Wales, the Royal Automobile Club, and the Rugby Football League.

Mr W. Griffiths, secretary of the M.C.C., said gates of 6000 could be expected on Sundays, but test matches were unlikely to be affected. “My view is that you can’t play five days of cricket nonstop. You have got to have a break in the middle,” he said.