SOCCER ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18180, 28 August 1922, Page 8

SOCCER ENGLAND.

itaOMD WTN'TER GAME. HUGE DEMAND FOR GROUNDS &MATEI7RS ENTER FOR CUP. By Teleer&pli—Presa Association—Copyright. 'Xand JST.2. LONDON. Aug. .26. The Association football season opens to-day with 43 matches in the fou* divisions of the league. Everything points to a keen anrf interesting campaign. A satisfactory feature is that most of the teams, especially in the first league, are relying on old players or developing local talent, instead, of spending huge sums on acquiring "stars" from other teams, a practice which had almost become a scandal, and was entirely opposed to the beet interests of the game. An interesting feature of the season will be the appearance of the famous amateur club, the Corinthians, in the Engbsh Cup competition. Hitherto the Corinthians held aloof from all competitions on tbe ground that they were inconsistent with the amateur spirit. Coriniliians have secured a ground at the Crystal Palace,. on which the final ties weris formerly played, They will meet the principal league teams in midweek m&tches. Apart" from first-class football, there are many amatkjnr clubs throughout the country which attract good gates, so that Association football spectators are likely to number fully 1,000,000 every Saturday. There are also an enormous number of lads' clubs, and the demand for playing pitches in the public parks of all cities far exceeds the supply. Some idea of tbe popularity of the game may be gathered from the fact thai the Football Association issued 50,000 copies of its handbook to dubu and affiliated bodies.