THE GREATEST NAMES IN FOOTBALL.

Evening Star, Issue 13091, 26 October 1908, Page 8

THE GREATEST NAMES IN FOOTBALL.

[All Rights Reserved.]

By William McGreqob.

No. IV. Although - football haa never been without its great exponents, there have been years in which really talented performers were reasonably scarce. In the season 1907-8, however, England seemed to have a greater wealth of talent from which to choose her international sides than that from which it has been her privilege to draw upon for some lime past At no time in the history of football were good amateurs to be found in such abundance. It was feared that the strained relations which existed between the Football Association and the Corinthian element would render England weak in amateurs just at a time when a formidable list of amateur internationals had been arranged; but realising that they had unprecedented opportunities of gaining fame, the provincial amateurs demonstrated—as some predicted they would—how wrong was the estimation in which they had in the past been held. Some of the amateur aides which England placed in the field were exceptionally strong and well-balanced combinations. Perhaps it would not be amiss to deal with some of the great amateur names first. By common consent Vivian Woodward was the greatest forward in England during the 1907-8 season. He won unprecedented honors, too, for not only did he represent England in the three internationals proper, but ho also took part in six amateur internationals. The combination exhibited by him and Hilsdon and Windridgo, of Chelsea, was admirable. The trio were scarcely seen at their best in the Scottish match at Glasgow, but on general form Woodward was the cleverest, neatest, most unselfish, and generally effective forward we had. He is a splendid partner, as well as a great individualist. A more courteous and sportsman-like player football has never known. —England’s Forward Line.— Hilsdon and Windridge played in the whole of England’s international engagements, and the knowledge they had of each other’s methods was invaluable. Hilsdon’s forte is goal-getting. He has a knack of carrying the opposing fortress by storm, as it were; he knows how to dribble through and beat the last back. He pounces on the ball nimbly as it comes in from the wing, and shoots quickly and with admirable direction. George Hilsdon has been a great goalnotcher ever since ho was a tiny lad at school. James Windridge is cousin to Alec Leake, and the Birmingham club must rue the day when they failed to show a proper appreciation of his merits. True, they were awkwardly circumstanced, as at the time that ho was showing such splendid form in their reserves they had Wilcox, now of Middlesborough, with them, and he was not far removed from the best inside left in England, while they had just signed llounteney for the same position. Windridge is a very close dribbler, and has a knack of shooting at top speed while in full flight with the ball. He has a good football head, and should be of great value to England for close upon a decade to come. The other forward who played for England against Scotland, Wales, and Ireland was Rutherford, of Newcastle. He is a showy player, and if the referee gives him a little latitude he is very dangerous ; but he is too fond of infringing the off-side rule for my liking. Still, when playing a winning game, he is a great forward, and his sweeping runs down the wing are rarely marred by indifferent centres. As for the outside left position, that was the one place in which England was not well served. A different man was tried for each game—viz., Wall, H. P. Hardman, and Bridget!. Wall opened tne season brilliantly, but fell away, as did many of the other Manchester United cracks. There was a reason for this: Meredith declares that the Clayton ground, which has one of the worst surfaces in England, takes more out of a man than twice the length of work on a better surface would. Harold Hardman is hardly the ideal international forward, although he is a very good player, and probably Bridgett was the soundest and most hard-working of the trio which represented their country at outside left. It was, however, a season remarkable for excellence of forward work. —Crompton and Pennington.— There were two backs of exceptional ability and soundness—Robert Cromptoo, of Blackburn Rovers, and Jesse Pennington, of West Bromwich Albion. They are among the greatest players of their time. Crompton is a man of wonderful dash and vigor. He plays forcible football, and spares not his opponents when he goes for the ball; hut he is a fair as well as a fearless player, and I have no objection to the man who makes legitimate use of any exceptional physique with which Nature may have endowed him. Crompton and Ben Warren are a deadly pair to have playing on one side of the field, and the opposing left wing must indeed be a good one if it is to shine, for Warren is a heavy charger. I have heard people say that he is too fond of charging, but I regard him as a really great defender, while his methods in attack are also smart and effective. Pennington is rather more subtle than Crompton, and is a master of finesse ; he and the Blackburn Rover make an almost ideal pair, and so complete was the confidence reposed in them that they remained undisturbed for the whole international series. —A Tireless Half-back.— ' Of Warren, the great typical aggressive half of the day, I have spoken, but ho had colleagues who were little inferior to him. Little Wedlock, of Bristol City, takes one’s memory back to the times of Johnny Holt and Tom Morren. He scarcely haa the finish of Holt, but is one of the moat tireless and übiquitous halves I have ever watched. From the moment that the ball starts on its rambling journey to the end of the game, Little Wedlock is eagerly chasing it. It may be that he follows it too much; it may be that some of his methods strike one as being scarcely sound. But just as you are about to criticise him be does something which compels you to cheer, and I know no other half who has such a capacity for getting through a heavy afternoon’s work. I well remember his debut in an important match. It was at Sheffield, and he did not get his intimation that ho was wanted until a comparatively short time before the game. Frank Milnes, the well-known Sheffield amateur, met him with his motor, ran imminent risk of getting his license endorsed, and landed the little man on the ground, already dressed, just in time to join the other players before the game commenced. And he took the onlookers by storm, too ! E. H. Lintott, of Queen’s Park Rangers, also played in the whole of the games. It mast be a long time since nine men played in the whole series of international engagements. When I saw Lintott in the first engagement he did not impress me greatly, although I knew he was a good player. I thought there might be better about. But he did splendidly in every game, and left off with a greatly enhanced reputation. He, too, took part in a large number of amateur international engagements, turning out in five as against Woodward’s six. England had to trust to three goalkeep?rs in her international games, Maskroy, of Derby County, H, P.

Bailey, an amateur, of Leicester Fosse,' and Hardy, of Liverpool. Possibly Hardy is the coolest and most experienced of .the trio, but there are any number Of goalkeepers in England up to international form. , ■ —Welsh Footballers,— _ William Meredith retained 'his'reputation as the finest wing-forward of his time, and some of his displays in the colors of Manchester United weiie brilliarit in the extreme. He ranks as the most prolific goal-getter among extreme wing men ever known.. While fie is a perfect player so far as the making of ground goes, and while he always centres accurately and judiciously, the moment be sees that it is his duty to do so, he is unrivalled in the art of doubling in and notching a goal bn his own account. He twice turned out for Wales, but there, can be no doubt that the heavy going at Clayton told on him. Among other Welshmen, L. R. Roose. maintained his reputation, although owing' to injuries he was not quite so conspicuous as be bad been in previous seasons. He met with an accident in the match between England and Wales at Wrexham, and the extraordinary and unprecedented spectacle of an extra man coming upon the field was seen, Dai Davia ; of Bolton Wanderers, being permitted to act as his substitute when it was seen that England were having matters all their own way. Horace Blew, of Wrexham, played in three matches for Wales ; indeed, he and Parry, of Liverpool, were the only players who took part in the full programme. Blew ranks as one of the finest players the principality has turned out. —Across the Border.— Across the border, that splendid footballer, Charles Thompson, of the Heart of Midlothian, took part in the whole of the Scottish engagements, ho and R. Walker, of the Hearts, alone appearing on all rhree occasions. It came as a great surprise to many to hear at the close of the campaign that Thompson had decided to turn out for Sunderland in the coming season. Quinn, of the Celtic, and R. Walker, of the Heart of Midlothian, wore the most notable forwards who helped Scotland, and it seems rather bad luck for Simpson, of Falkirk, who, by common consent, was the most talented forward in Scotland; to be debarred from international strife. Scotland won’t pick him because he is of English parentage, and England will not choose fiim because he is not under their jurisdiction, as he has always been associated with Scottish football. Quinn was the most popular forward in the international match with England, and he has no superior. He has been somewhat unlucky in regard to international appearances, but for several years he has been at the top of the tree so far as Scottish football goes. James Sharp, of Woolwich Arsenal, also made a great impression by his play on Scotland’s behalf, and Peter Mcßride, of Preston North End, is still highly thought of across the border. Ireland is by no means short of good players. Scott, of Everton, had the satis-, faction of keeping goal in the whole of the matches, and be is thought by some to be the finest goalkeeper of the day. He is possessed of great resource and exceptional agility. McCartney, of Belfast Celtic, and Craig, of Glasgow Rangers, like Scott, played in all three games, and so did Val. Harris, of Shelbourne, at half. Harris has won high honors, for he appeared on Ireland’s behalf as a forward before he adopted more defensive methods. He has received many tempting offers to appear in English football. McCartney, of Newcastle, would have played for the Shamrock but for an unfortunate dispute over terms.