ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3038, 27 March 1917, Page 3

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

ANNUAL REPORT. The annual report of tho Wellington Football Association, states: Before tho commencement of matches took place your committee was faced with the problem as to whether players eligible for military service should be allowed to participate in football) and, so that the matter .should bo thorough: ly discussed, called a special meeting of players and supporters, so that a decision might ho arrived at. After a very serious discussion, Mr. A. E. 1 Welis, chairman of committees, moved: "That no grade higher than Third Division be played, and that no unmarried man eligible for enlistment should be allowed .to play football under tho auspices of the W.F.A. during the 1916 season, unless he can show just cause." The motion was seoonded _by Mr. J. J. Roberts, a life vice-president of the association, and carried. It is only right to say that the decision arrived at gave very great satisfaction, not only to the majority of tho supporters of tho association game, but also to others not' interested in sport, and the motion as passed was carried out in its entirety right through tho season. It is gratifying to,.know that your committee received very loyal support from the players and officials of clubs in tho carrying out of "the resolution, and in no instance was the eligibility of a player questioned. Whether the same decision is to be adhered to this coming season is a for. the incoming Management Committee to consider, but owing to the passing of the Military Service Act, which now allows of men being periodically balloted for, service, it hardly appears necessary for the same procedure to bo adopted. The fact, however, remains that no matter i what decision may he arrived at there are hardly sufficient senior players left who at the present time are eligible for military service to form tho nufcleils [ of a club. | ! From the Management Committee point of view, tho game played in the | schools competition were tho most sucj cessful ever. held under the auspices of the association; Your Sommittee found that several masters of schools ■were very '-favourablj inclined towards the Association game, and several gave their support towards the .advancement of this code of football. Your tee desires, however, to place on record the very great help - the competition received at tho hands of the chairman of committees (Mr. A. E. Wells), and it. is not too much to say that hall he not thrown all his efforts into the movement the competition could hardly have .been. a success. To Mr. Bruce Mabin your committee desires' to express their thanks for the personal help he rendered' to various. schools. A suggestion made by Mr. F. Haslam, of the Island Bay School, that it Would be advisable to play tho competition in districts so as to minimise the amount of travelling was given effect to, tho winners to then play a semi-final and final on grounds to be drawn. Footballs were presented to cach team .entered, and your committee decided to' present medals to the "winners of districts, the winner of the final match to hold the Schools (Thistle) Cup and the Representative Banner, which a notice of motion, changed to a Schools' Banner. The entries received for the various districts were as follow: — North, 7 entries; South, 8 entries; Country, 4 entries. Many interesting games were played, and the winners of districts resulted us follow: —North, district, Marist, Thorndon; South, district. Island .Bay; Country ' district, Porirua.. In the semi-final, Porirua beat Island Bay by 6 goals to 1, and the first-named school was further successful in the filial, as Marist, Thorndon, was beaten by two goals to nil. Two benofit matches were played during the season, tho proceeds handed over being as follows:—Navy Dependants' Fund, £7 25..9 di ; and the Citizen's Christmas Gift Fund, £12 7s. 6d, Further help was "also rendered by various , members of the committee on all occasions whenever their services .were required on behalf of combined sports eiforts. Representative matches played during the season wore as follow:—School Representatives v. St. Albans School (Christchurch), won by 8 goals to.nil; School Representatives v. Champion Sohools (Christchurch), won by 1 goal to nil; School Representatives v. Canterbury School Representatives, won by 2 goals to nil. Other matches played were: —Town Representatives v.. Country Representatives, won by Town Representatives by 4 goals to nil; Town Representatives v. Country Representatives, won by Town Representatives by 3'goals to nil; Town Representatives v. Country Representatives, won by Town Representatives by 4 goals to nil ; Sixth. Division 'Representatives v.. Porirua, won b.v Porirua by 2 goals to nil.

"A-loss was incurred on the workings of the season. . This has been caused through the loss of revenue usually derived from the playing of mat-ches in normal seasons, and further owing to the fact that no, senior club subscriptions were available for use. ' "The thanks of the Association are again due to the president and vicepresidents for their financial and other assistance. Thanks are also due to Mr. R. Pye-Smith for his presentation to the Association of ten fully-paid-up shares in the Football Grounds, Ltd., and which wero presented on behalf of his son, who has been killed in action. Thanks are due to the Press for assistance rendered the game, to the City Council for the use of grounds, to the Y.M.C.A. for the use of rooms for committee meetings, to your hon. auditors, and to all who_ iu any way assisted to the promotion of Association football. In conclusion, the Mmmittee'desire to place on record their sympathy with Mr. George Frost, chairman of the Reserves Committee, in the sad bereavement which 1 he has recently' suffered."