Soccer Sideliģhts

NZ Truth, Issue 1030, 22 August 1925, Page 14

Soccer Sideliģhts

REPLACEMENT OF PLAYERS Needed Reform Advocated Why should the Soccer code be the only winter sport played m these parts which does not allow the replacement of injured players? This is a question which has often been asked and as the result of the Brown Shield game at Auckland when the home side was twice reduced to nine men gave point to the query.

After the match, which more than | once was reduced almost to a farce by the adoption of the one back game by both sides the system was criticised by Mr. Andrew Menzies, chairman of the Auckland Management Committee m the course o£ a few remarks at the customary convivial. He advocated the adoption of the practice which maintains m other codes m New Zealand of replacing injured men. After pointing out that the custom was universal all over the colonies and South Africa m Rugby and L.eague the speaker dealt with the advantages which would accrue to the game from the spectators' point of view as well as from the players. It very often happened that a player, when injured, m his anxiety not to leave his side at a disadvantage, returned to the field when he was not physically fit to do so with the result that he did himself perhaps irreparable injury. There was also the question of the interest m the game. There was nothing more fatal to the success of Soccer m these parts than the undesirable results of the one-back game. Mr. Menzies admitted that an alteration had been made m the offside ruling which would come into effect m this country next season, but there was no guarantee that players would not 'devise ways and means of again overcoming the legislation. Besides, the fact that the rule had been altered was proof that it had become injurious m its effects. It had been argued th,at the replacement of players would lead to all sorts of excuses to leave the field, but it had to be remembered that the team usually fielded by any club or province was always what was considered the best and it was not. likely that there would be any wish to effect a change for a presumably weaker man. Then too there was the question of the outstanding man. Where a toam had, say, a crack forward and where there might be an inclination to render him hors-de-combat, the clanger was great to the team affected and the system of not allowing replacement was as liable to do. harm that way as m the direction of fictitious excuses for leaving the field. The non-replacement of players m this respect was really an incentive to. rough play. The fact of the 1 matter was that New Zealand was governed by the English Football Association which body he felt was not conversant with the peculiar conditions m this country. To his mind, while, we might with profit adopt the general principles governing the game as laid down at the centre of the Empire, he did not think we. should be tied inseparably to the apron string of the E.F.A. especially , m matters which were peculiar to this part of the globe. So far as the replacement of players was concerned, he did not think there would be any difficulty m getting permission from the powers that be to make the alteration m. these parts. Altogether 'he considered the question was worthy of the serious deliberations of the Dominion Council and he hoped it would be taken up seriously by the affiliated associations. He made it quite clear that he did not raise the question because of lira defeat of the Auckland team, but snid that he had for long reckoned that the principle adopted by other codes would be to the advantage of Soccer and the game that day had surely

given point to the argument. Mr. Williams, manager of the Wellington team, m the course of a few remarks said he did not agree with the suggestion, at the same time he considered it was a matter wnicti required careful consideration fcom all angles. There can be little doubt but that there is a great deal to' be said for the proposal to replace injured players and the matter should' not be allowed to drop because such a thing does not exist m the code elsewhere. It is admitted that accidents are probably not so liable to happen m Soccer as m other games, but the fact remains that they do happen and something should be done to cope with the results thereof. The question is one for the Dominion Council, and affiliated associations would be doing the game a service by going into the suggestion and if thought fit instructing delegates of their desires. BRONCHITIS DOESN'T WORRY HER NOW. "My wife," said the bootmaker, "has just bought a large tin of Pulmonas — the economical size — and is now quite ready for the attacks of bronchitis that she usually gets at this time of the year. As soon as an attack comes on, she takes a few Pulmonas at intervals and soon her bronchial tubes are cleared and her suffering ends. The wonderful efficacy of Pulmonas lies m the large number of valuable ingredients which enter into their composition. The healing ingredients are released m vapor form when you place a"Pulmona" m your mouth. Sufferers from colds on the Chest, Sore Throats, Bronchitis, Catarrh, and Influenza will immediately benefit by taking Pulmonas. 1/6 and 2/6. Procurable from all Chemists or Stores.*