NOTES BY FULL BACK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 57

NOTES BY FULL BACK.

Playing in the Freshman's match in theRugby trials at Oxford University J. A. Thompson, of New Zealand, is reported to have played a sound game forward. An interesting item: At the annual meeting of tbe Rugby Unionists of Cheshire County (Eng.) it was definitely settled that the match against the New Zealand team be played at Birkenhead on Saturday, December 9, 1905. R. J. Rogers, of the British team, who was injured in the match against Auckland, i& unlikely to play! again for some time, the injury to his knee being worse than originally anticipated. , The British footballers Gabe and Busn played their first game since returning to England for Cardiff against Swansea. Stated in connection with this game that Bush was handicapped by playing behind a beaten pack, but that when the ball came his way he showed his old-time brilliancy and resource. Gabe is said to have been out of- oondition, and though only moderate on attack, was excellent on defence. Over 18,000 persons witnessed the game, a fact which suggests big "gates" for the New Zealanders when they visit /Wales. In a Rugby match in England recently - one player- scored no fewer than 11 tries, j A tragic, affair happened in a match at Carlisle (Eag\) on a recent Saturday. A" spectator was standing near the touch-line when the ball was kicked out. He secured the ball- and ,kicked it into the field of play, and immediately fell down and exHarry Morgan, a brother of ( the Welsh player, who was -through New Zealand recently with the British Rugby team, is winning name and fame in Wales to-day, whero he is spoken of as a player of the highest promise. Like his diminutive { brother he, too, is a youth who can do his i 100 yds in a trifle over even time. The new president of the Scottish Rugby Union is Dr J. W. Simpson, an eld international player with an illustrious past. He was a clever' half-back in his day and generation. A new phase of football in Scotland came to light at the annual meeting of the Scottish Rugby Union recently, when it was stated that owing to- the state of the ground Scotland could never hope to equal other countries in the passing game, ana they must therefore of necessity have- a good forward side. . What a professional footballer is paid m England. A Welsh international centre three-quarter back was recently approached by a Northern Union club with an offer of £250 down and employment with a minimum Salary of £2 per week. The aristocratic lull back of the British ' Rugby team, C. F., Stanger-Leathes, was chosen to flay full back for the Northumberland team in the county championship tournament against Cheshire, but it was uncertain if he would arrive home in time for the match. ' Sheffield, one. of the strongholds of the f Association game,- has this season two i Rugby Union clubs, and the game is nowbeing -played there for the first time for MKany years. Ve*y fair football has apparently been shown by the new clubs. The Southern Cross Log, the journal of the Melanesian Mission, is outspoken. Referring, in its- Norfolk Island notes in the latest issue, to the gentle game of football, it says: "We managed to have two more football matches with the Cable Station, :'one in pouring rain, when some of the i onemy did not arrive, and we won easily ; the other on a fine day, when both sides had their full strength and the game was drawn." I saw last season several melees in which the sides evidently regarded their opponents as "the enemy," but the fact was "never admitted in so many words. In the course of a resume of the British team's tour, the special correspondent of I the London Sportsman— a- member of the ! team— writes as follows : "Taking our team i as a good average first-class team, it would j appear from results that, while the standard of- Australian football is not up to that I of the Old Country, New Zealand football is quite first-class. It^ehould, however, be borne in mind that it was' the end of our tou-r when we played in New Zealand, and that we had so much travelling and rough weather that our team was somewhat stale. Added to this was the fact that each team we met spent all its energies on that one • game, whereas it was only on© game of a • series to us. Still, in all fairness, due j credit should" be given to the New Zealandcra for their splendid play. . . ." ! They killed the fatted calf for the Welsh j section of the British team on their return Homo the other day. A big smoke night was held in the Cardiff Arms, when Bush, Gabe, Vile, Morgan, and Llewellyn were toasted and lauded on their safe return from "down, under." Comparing our team with those of our opponents (says a member of the British team to a London interviewer), I Smust say that I consider w© did not meet one team whose backs were as good as ours, and we did not play one game in which our forwards thoroughly beat the opposing pack. We often held our own in the "scrum," generally were cleverer in the loose, except in New Zealand, and, consequently, were sometimes better than the opposing pack, but we never absolutely beat them. As a result, very few of our tries came from the "scrum." It was in the back division that our team excelled. Having so many Welshmen in the team, the Welsh style was adopted, and we were altogether too good for the Australians. In New Zealand we were always on the defence, and so had no opportunity of showing our attacking powers. One point in our play which greatly pleased the spectators was the centring by the wing three-quarters when hard pressed, and throughout the tour we scored many tries by this means. Apropos of football in New Zealand, I came across this gem in a London paper : "The Natives like football, and the way in whioh they play it and kick with bare feet is quite remarkable. These are the pure Natives — not the teams met by the Englishmen recently." Printed in a Home paper : The medical officer of health for York has issued a warning urging the public not to attend the match between York and Dewsbury at York to-day, stating that there is a decided j risk in attending,, the ground or coming in j contact with unrecognised cases of smallj pox or infected persons from Dewsbury. , The medical officer further draws the atten- ! tion of the public to the fact that any person suffering from or infected with smallpox who exposes himself or his clothes in i any street, public place, or conveyance is ; liable to a penalty of £5*

Latest files to hand furnish particulars of decisions arrived at by a. commission appointed by the Football Association to inquire into irregularities of certain clubs in the association. The outcome of this inquiry was th© most sensational decisions e\er arrived at in football. The following review of the matter is taken from th& London Daily Telegraph: — The findings of the commission, specially appointed by the Football Association' to inquire into allegations of illegal payments to players and other irregularities, show a very unhealthy state of art'airs to exist in the management of several of the professional clubs. According to the rules ot th© association, no club i 3 permitted to pay a player a bonus of more xhan £10, and, this can only b& given as a consideration for signing a prolossional form — not for resigning, and not for assisting to win a match. Ihat this regulation is frequently broken has been common talk for some time past, but, of course, such matters are difficult of proof, seeing that both the clubs which make illegal payments and the players who receive tnem have strong reasons for concealment. Now, however, the football authorities announce, after % long and searching investigation, that they find three clubs, including two ot the most prominent in the country, have been guilty or breaking the rules. A breach of the rules mjght not of itself . prove anything deplorable, but unhappily, in the course of its inquiries the commission . has discovered not only these infringements to have been committed, but charges Manchester City, the holders of the Association Cup, with wilfully attempting to deceive the commission, states its opinion that the Glossop Club kept two sets of books with the .object of preventing irregularities and violations ot the rules being discovered, and further announces that the books ot Sunderland do not show a true record of the club's cash receipts and payments. Th© report deals further with the fact of books and documents which wore demanded stated to be lost, and, in connection with the dispute between Sunderland and M'Combie, expresses the opinion that the probabilities are in fayour of that player's statement being correct. The conclusion, in short, ia that the club 3in question have acted in a most disloyal manner to the association of whfch they are mem-* bers, and that there exists a system of underhand bargaining which, to express the matter mildly, is a complete disgrace to the world of Association' football. J£ines to the extent of £750 in all have been levied upon the three clubs in question, and six directors of Sunderland, four of Manchester City, and four of Glossop are suspended from taking any part in football management until the beginning of May, 1907, while the secretary of Manchester City suffers si similar punishment. Moreover, the commission, expresses the opinion that the Glossop Club deserved to be suspended for the remainder of the season, but was let off with a fine because of the loss and inconvenience which such a course would entail upon other clubs, .and Manchester City are' forbidden to engage in any matches during the next three weeks beyond three specified games away from home. In the severity of the penalties inflicted, the Football Association is to be congratulated. The authorities have shown that, whatever the standing of th© offending club, they will, as far as lies in their power, hay© their rules strictly observed. It only too likely, however, that they will find in the near future more -work of the description which has been occupying the time of the commission for the past few months demanding their attention. Having taken up a thoroughly sound and firm position upon th© matter, they cannot recede from it. ' Possibly other clubs offending may take che lesson of the recent decisions to heart and mend their ways. That is a consummation devoutly^ to be wished, but one concerning which it is difficult to feel hopeful. These huge business concerns — for they are little -else — will chafe at the restrictions which th© authorities place upon their "enterprise," and, presuming other big clubs are fined and suspended, there must arise the danger of a secession and the formation of a body untrammelled by rules which prevent the richest clubs having matters all their own way. Whether such a secession would be a bad thing for the game of Association football must be a matter of opinion.