FOOTBALL GROUNDS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 162, 5 April 1938, Page 18

FOOTBALL GROUNDS

Discrimination Against League Alleged COMMITTEE’S ALLOCATION An allegation tlnrt there had been unfair discrimination against the Rugby League code in the allocation of sports grounds for the coining season was made by Cr. W. Appleton at last night’s meeting of the Wellington City Council. This was denied by the chairman of the reserves committee, Cr. W. Dundan, and other members, who said that some other sports had actually received fewer grounds. Cr. Appleton said he quite appreciated the difficulties of the reserves committee, but he did say that the allocation of the grounds was not fair to the Riigby League. It bad been given one ground, the same as it hard had the previous year. The league had asked for more. * To give one code 26 grounds and another one was unfair. Cr. Duncan: It is worked out numerically. Cr. Appleton: I say it is most unfair—unfair discrimination against these people. They have not had a fair spin. They have sufficient teams to warrant more than one ground in Wellington. Cr. P. M. Butler said he could assure Cr. Appleton that every effort had been made to find another ground for League. The other codes hajl lost grounds owing to the ground needed for the centennial exhibition. The Rugby Union code had lost seven grounds. He wanted to disabuse Cr. Appleton’s mind of any suggestion of unfair discrimination'. Cr. L. McKenzie said the committee had met the League representatives fairly. The exhibition alone robbed the council of 12 grounds. Somebody had to suffer. The chairman had suggested to the League people that now many had Saturday mornings off they, might be able to play a match in the morning as well as the afternoon. Tlie League had said it would be difficult to do that as some of their players were working in the morning. The Rugby Union was willing to do that among its younger players. Cr. A. Black said the charge of discrimination was not sound. The committee was composed of reasonableminded men. Cr. A. Parlane said the League was a semi-professional body. He thought the Rugby Union had a grievance, as the best ground from a gate point of view, Newtown. Park, had been given to a comparatively new body. . . Cr. Dunean said the committee had spent a lot of time on the question, and it thought it had come to a fair allocation. The Soccer people had lost three good grounds. v