FOOTBALL NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11873, 24 April 1899, Page 2

FOOTBALL NOTES.

[Quidnunc in "Cantekbuby limes. ] Including the. Ground Trust Fund the Auckland Rugby Union now possesses in hard cash close on £2OOO. A writer hi the " Hawkes Bay Herald says that," football, promises to boom, tins year in Hawke's Bay,.'' , . The Nelson Rugbv Union is in communication with the Canterbuiy Union respectin? a suitable date for a match. In a private letter received Irom a friend at Hawera I learn that there is a probability of the Taranaki Rugby Union adopting the district scheme this year m its province. r The senior matches at Lancaster Park are Kaiapoi and ChristehuTch, Linwood and Albion, and Merivale and Sydenham, ihe first-mentioned in each instance should win. M'Connell, who played for the Sumner team last season has joined the Sydenham Club. I hear he will be tried in the senior game against Merii-ale, and Black, a player From the South, will also assist the Sydenham First Fifteen. I direct the attention of my readers to the 'article published in this column on the " Decline of the Rugby Game." It is the first of several articles which have appeared in the "Pall Mall Gazstte." The others will follow in'due course.

The Wairaiupa "Standard" states. tha* "•Wellington clubs are again offering inducements to some of the'''best Wairaiupa players to work in the city during the football season. It is fully time the Unions; put some kind of a check on such proceedings, as the good old game will be mined in thus leading up to professionalism."

The Petone Club has decided to erect an up-to-date gymnasium. A section of land was purchased for the purpose, but a resident u-hose property was adjacent to the aforesaid plot of groiuid becoming scared at the prospect of a nightly din which threatened seriously to disturb his rest, offerei. the club £SO on its bargain to go elsewhere. The club promptly closed on the offer, and it is now looking out for another suitable spot. Referring to the match, Guy's Hospital against St Thomas' Hospital, the " Guy's Hospital Gazette" says:—"The striking feature, of the afternoon was the masterly play of O'Brien at three-quarters. Here we have a man of sterling merit, a man who plays a cool scientific game, and never' losss his head. If he keeps up to his present form he will be one of our best players of recent years." The player mentioned is Arthur O'Brien, the ex-High School lad, a::d brother of Frank, Ted and Joe, of the Linwood Club.

At the annual meeting of the Nelson Rugby Union it was unanimously re.solved on the motion of Mr R. V. Stiles, honorary secretary—" That in the opinion of this Union, the .time has arrived for the formation of an Australasian Union, and this motion be forwarded to the New Zealand Rugby Union for discussion at its an.nual meeting." The mover urged that the governing bodies of the colony were quite capable of administering then-' own affairs, and making their own laws, instead of relying upon the English Union, as considerable delay was occasioned by referring matters Home. ' When one looks at the constitution of the management of the Wellington Rugby Union (.writes "Ex-Forward" in the Wellington "Post") he cannot fail to be struck with the strong representation in its ranks of members from the Referees' Association. Excepting Mr Galbraith, every member of the Union is identified with the Association. "What a poor look-out for an offender who might be brought before the Union when so many referee's are connected with its' fortunes " was the remark overheard from a knot of footballers who were discussing the situation the other night. In justice to these gentlemen, f must express my conviction that they are not likely to give an unjust decision, even though the referee who prefers the charge is an official of the Union.

The match between Scotland and Wales,, under Rugby rules, was played at Inverleitll, Edinburgh, on March 4, and resulted in an easy win for the Scotchmen by three goals (two dropped and one from a mark) and three tries (twenty-one points) to two goals (ten points). The home brigade 'says the " Sportsman ") won mainly through the wonderfully fine rushing tactics of their forward brigade, who played with all their old characteristic dash and cleverness when the ball got,in the loose. Packing quickly and breaking up pack after pack they came away with the leather at their toes in irresistible style, and meted out small mercy to an opponent, who happened to save pluckily. In this respect the referee unduly p'enalised the visitors for laying on the ball when, perhaps, two livals were on, top of Mm and he could not possibly get up. The Scotch front rank played a wonderfully rigorous game, and, compared with their display on Saturday, one wonders how it came about that only a fortnight ago, at the same venue, they were so utterly outplayed by.the Irish forwards, and beaten practically pointless. Those southern scribes who have tried to, check the advancing tide of professional football (says the "Athletic News") can only be compared to the old lady in pattens trying to sweep out the invading Atlantic from'the back yard'with' a broom. Time after time they" have struck a Canute-like attitude and have bidden the tide to come no further. Still, it has gone on, submerging the South until at last it has even reached°the Isle of Wight, and next season will see the hated professional rampant in that lovely spot, banded into' Leagues and Alliances and Combinations, and all the other unholy devices of football managers for creating and maintaining an unhealthy interest in a form of the game that would sink out of sight beneath the burden of its own depravity if left alone. And so the "decadence" of football continues. You see all the familiar signs of decrepitude everywhere under the blighting influences of professionalism—clubs springing up, the latest in the Isle of Wight, "gates" increasing, public excitement growing. And on the other hand, you see all the wellknown signs of the abounding; popularity of amateurism—clubs dwindling, " gates declining, public interest diminishing.