ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 117, 20 May 1939, Page 23

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

BROWN SHIELD CONTEST

WANGANUI PLEASED WITH AWARD

Reporting / at the council meeting recently on a request from South Auckland that they be declared the holders of the trophy and that other minor associationsvbe "asked to challenge for it, the competitions committee said that it would be in the best interests of the competition and the game if the shield were awarded to Wanganui. The committee's recommendation was agreed to .and it was decided that the first match should be against South Auckland.

The Brpwn Shield was onetime the premier Soccer trophy in New Zealand, but when the English Trophy for major associations was presented for [competition the Brown Shield was allomed to minor associations, and is open to the whole of the Dominion. The last holders of the shield were North Auckland, but because of the long distance which challengers would have had to travel to play the holders the competition became dormant. The North Auckland Association having gone out of existence, South Auckland, as the previous holders, claimed the shield. INFLUENCED BY POSITION. No doubt the council was influenced in its decision by the fact that where- j as there are no minor associations within reasonable reach of South Auckland, there are no fewer than i five such associations in comparative I easy reach of'Wanganui. • •" .-.' In the early days the shield was always played for on the grounds ,of the holders, and Wanganui challenged

The recent decision of the Council of the New Zealand Football Association to award the Brown Shield to Wanganui has naturally been received with pleasure by Wanganui .followers'of the game*; Viewed from the broader national aspect, the decision should be acceptable to most people, as it will almost certainly give a much* needed stimulus to football in the North Island provinces. The coun« cil has in the past few years placed the Chatham Cup and the FVA* Trophy competitions on satisfactory bases, and indications are that the Brown Shield will soon be attracting almost as much interest.

in which some of ; the club veteran! maintain their interest in the game, and carry on to help the younger players. At Devonport on Saturday the North Shore juniors suffered from lastminute calls for senior reserves, and two former New Zealand representatives, Gerrard and Cameron, filled the vacancies, while J. Woolley, a former Auckland representative, also turned out again. The Soccer Old Boys' Association* which was organised list winter* brought many old .players and enthusiasts back to the fold, and their set* vices are always valuable as coaches* junior leaders, or referees. R. Innes* who is now selector for Fonsonby, and who represented Auckland and New Zealand two decades ago, turned' out on Saturday, to fill an eleventljrhdur gap. He played an outstanding gain* in the half-line both on defence and attack.