FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1838, 11 February 1887, Page 26

FOOTBALL.

KOTES BY FORWARD.

One of the most, extraordinary rumours of ' the present week, (says the Athletic News) in Rugby Union circles is that the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh Unions have refused to agree to the Bcoring-by"--pointß 'role of the English Rugby Union. It mil be remembered ' that ai; the last October general meeting a member of the Welsh Union proposed that the question of scoring by points - should be referred to the International Board. The present' opposition to the English Union is evidently the" result of the motion. . It will be interesting ,tp see what will be. the ultimateiend of. the dispute. .. • , • . „-<•. .-> t( Pastime says': — The ' English Union, has no desire •to force the newscoriug rule down the throats of the other- national councils,' but it is at the same time determined not to allow the latter to i diotate> : rules to English footballers. We fail therefore to 6ee that anything -can be achieved by the new proposal, which we l may venture to predict will 'not be accepted by our executive. The International Board will oJtifino - itself , ; as heretofore, to matters affecting inter- - natiorialma'tches. " ,',",-,. ' *' Cambridge beat Oxford by" one "goal and two tries to nil. J. D. Hall, of New Zealand, played back for Oxford. • . .;,:■■;' ' The increase of rough play in Association matches at Home is causing a good' deal of ■ comment. Pastime says :~The Yorkshire com* - mittee, with a view to stopping the rough play so often -seen at football matches, propose to add to the challenge cup* code 'the -following ruin: The committee shall have the power, on inquiry, to suspend for one or more weeks any player who has been reported by the referee for grossly rough play, "or who shall- have wilfully struck. another. player, during the- game.' -No club shall play, any suspended player during the period of his suspension, under penalty of excla* :sioh from the challenge cup competition of the current. season. - - „- II ■ <:■<.. ■' . ~. An exchange says: — It ought to be an express stipulation with all English teams playing Welsh clubs that both sides "are to speak ' English —if •• 'they can. To .shout instructions in the dialect • of the ancient Briton is taking an improper-ad-vantage of- their opp'onentß—Swintoni' for in* stance, who by«the*bye''are not very .'good at • ; their own mother tongue. ; --' ,-v : ' ' The receut victory of- Richmond- over Blackheath is only the Becond gained by the- Surrey club in this match since 1874. " - : 'i - On Saturday,' November 27, Cambridge defeated Blackheath for the first time since 1883, when Marriott was captain of the 'Varsity. If, what the Wigan club say is true, then Runcorn are about the bravest Rugby team, on earth. They declined to play a - match ; because the ground vas too soft! This excuse has at least the merit of being something very fresh, if not quite creditable. It is said that the real reason why Runcorn refused to play -Wigan was that - the Runcorn umpire did uot waut to soil bis . boots. The number of goals scored in the match at •Exeter between Radford School and Hills Court . 'to which I referred 'recently, was 31— not: 30, as printed by mistake. The record, therefore' is: '"Thirty-one goals and seventries (100 points) to nil" • * ■ * - - The following is from the Athletic News:— Footballists in the Spen valley must have nn* ' -dergone many searchings .of heart in the last - •few days. -Their characters have been" bhown"' up in the. roost horrifying fashion. .It, seems there was a " Mechody "" gathering 'at Heck--mondwike a short time ago, and at this collection of pious nobodies was a brand-new superfine 'M.P. named Thomas Watson, wbo, if I mistake not, hails from the peak country. This M.P., " In the course of a spiritimoving address, had • the great condescension to refer to cricket "and *' -football. And this is how. he did It! cSaitU the report : ".He had. no objection to cricket ce"footballj but the result was that when a young ' man had been ont footballing on the Saturday .. — and thousands of them could be seen on thO v railway every Saturday— they were unfitted on " the Sunday rooming for church' work. In this -way their very recreations were "undermining the spiritual life of the Church. Young women and ' whole families became interested in foot* ball to such a degree that they were demo* ralispd."

Pastime, in a leading article, makes tha following remark* s—-" We have no doubt that the Queen's Park- team, which contributed seven players to the Scottish eleven,' which scored six gtf&ls against England in the International match, would have been able to give a •pood account of itself against any of .our pro* feesional 'combinations. .Instead, therefore, of rashly giving .tßemselvea :up to despair, :ifc Dd " , Udm mmgs to &> tieir P, as w as

nossible, the training and combination which rofensiouals have found successful. This f a task that nhould prove far from * 0Jf ,jble. To keep oneself in fit condii\ja f nr * weekly coutest of an hour I a-balf' 8 duration does uot demand more ?J" thiii is at the rfi«po»al of most players; I practice together au.i utidy combination in Jell ulay requires nothing more than a fair mount of ardour and devotion to the sport. There are even advantages on the Hide of the mateur in a game which gives unlimited scope ♦n the intellectual faculties. The best fuotb Hers, like the best soldiers, should be drawn from the clas3 which is fitted .by education to combine discipline with originative power and fertility of resource. To this mvutt be tdded the opportunities possessed by many ama« tears of acquiring an aptitude for the game !lrly in W e at our Public schools. . But, though we g re not without hope* of seeing a picked amateur team victorious over the most perfect »rray of paid players, we are still, as wo have ever been, far from maintaining that it is reasonable to pit against each other in cup competitions men who play for mere amusement's w ke and those who make football the business of their lives, and to whom profit rather than glory i* tne Principal incentive to exertion. The flame paper has the following article on „ umpires and claims" : — Jn another column we oriut » circular notice which the committee of the Bugby Union have recently issued to their clubs. It has been found necessary to remind umpires that it is no part of their duties to take official notice of infraction of the rules during the game until they are challenged by the playon-, or to spontaneously appeal to the pjftree on behalf of the side for whom they act. A good umpire, indeed, cannot be sail to act for either side; he is not a counsel, but a jud*e, whose verdict, unless it chance to differ from that of his coadjutor, J3 final. Still less should he go beyond bis brief by raising points whioh have not occurred to the parties principally concerned. Jin umpire who thus transgresses the instruction* which are appended tothe laws of the game is practically useless, since he virtually compels his colleague to beoome the advocate of the opposite side, throwing the responsibility for every decision on the referee alone. In such a ca*e, it is clear that the referee derives no assistance from the umpires, and that therefore the game would be quite a 6 well judged if both these officials were dispensed with. There is no lack of persons to raise claims whenever necessary. Unfortunately, indeed, the reverne is the case. Football as played by the majority of clubs is, if anything, a trifln too litigious a gamn. The calm and unbiassed spectator iB generally 6truck by the number of times » cry of M Forward " or " Off side " is raised by players whenever their opponeuts seem to have executed a threatening move, merely on the cbanoe of some informality having been committed. Frequently, these too zealous claimants gain the decision for which they clamour to the detrimentof their own side, since it in often gf>od policy to forego the penalty for the sake of a greater prospective advantage. An opponentV throw forward, for instance, may be of as much service as a good pass by one of one's own team ; yet so irrepressible is the habit of claiming that it is rarely that a' blunder of this kind is utiltsid as it should be. It is desirable, therefore, that the duty of claiming the penalty for any irregularities should, as fay as possible, be left to the captain of the team', in order that he may, in demanding the rights which the laws allow htm, exercise his discretion.

Association players may well take to heart the lesson that has been read by the Rngby Uuion committee, for they have certaiuly not low need of it. Anyone who has had a large experience of refereeing knows that in some parts of England it is the recognised, and occasionally the avowed, practice of umpires to act as th» advocates of their Eleven^. We have frequently read reports in which it was stated in the most matter-of-fact fashion that So-an-so (the umpire) claimed a free kick for his side, which was (or was not) allowed. A referae who understands his business well, of course, take no notice of an appeal, which is unsupported by the players, and will do his utmost to discourage the initiation of appeals by the umpires. A little timely firmness displayed in this manner would do much to check a practice which should be condemned by all Englishmen bs unsportsmanlike, but which is unfortunately far too prevalent under both codes.