BOY SENTINELS FOR SPORT

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 221, 14 June 1930, Page 29

BOY SENTINELS FOR SPORT

ALL-NIGHT VIGIL FOR A GAME

Because of the shortage- of playing pitches, small boys keep watch’ throughout every Saturday night on most of London’s open spaces. They arrive about 9.30 p.m. and “stake-out” their claim on a pitch. Every two hours a relief party comes along to keep watch—and woe betide any rival baud that tries to claim the pitch. Then, at 9.30 on Sunday morning, an official goes round distributing permits for football games on the . pitches. Once these have, been obtained the watchers know that no one can take the ground from them; so they go

home to snatch a few hours’ rest before playing in the match. On Clapham Common the competition for football pitches is particularly keen —especially for the grass pitches. A ten or twelve-hour vigil Is the price of an hour and a half playing football during the afternoon. Most of these ardent players are between fifteen and seventeen years old. They must keep the rules of the park or common, or they are “ordered off,” and are not allowed to return. This is regarded as a terrible calamity, and keen members of amateur teams will go to any lengths to avoid the keeper’s ban.