Black Eyes in Church.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6244, 17 June 1890, Page 3

Black Eyes in Church.

A CLERGYMAN ON FOOTBALL. At the annual meeting of the Wanderers’ Football Club held in Dundee a few weeks since, the Rev. H. M. Davidson presided, and made some remarks about football as a game. The rev. gentleman said he would not be chairman of that or any other meeting if he were not entirely of opinion that football was a right and a proper, and a manly, and, he would say, a Christian-like occupation for any young man of health and strength to undertake. There were, however, one or two clamant evils attached to it which it would be right of him to mention. One day he went to a football match in Dundee—he would not say which grounds—and he was sorry to say that on the part of a large section of the spectators he bad to listen to a great deal of language of such a kind that he hoped ho might never hear it again. He thought when any club had the chance of attracting interested spectators to any game that its members should see that nothing offensive escaped the lips of anyone. There were a great many people who objected to football either on Saturday or on Sunday, and it behoved the football players to be very careful indeed. He could tell them what it was that did harm, what it was that spoiled the Sunday service for the football players. It was not the Saturday afternoon’s play, it was the Saturday evening that followed the play. He was an old football man, and knew.

(Laughter) He had played football up and down the country for several years, and, except on two occasions, when he met with very serious accidents, he was never absent from the morning service. There was no reason why that should not be said of every football player. If they got a black eye that was no reason why they should not be in church. It all depended on the way they got their black eye. If it was got in a disreputable way they might be ashamed of it, but there had been many an honourably got [black eye. A black eye got on the football field he counted no dishonour, and was not sufficient to disqualify anyone from attending church. If he saw any of his young men in church with a black eye he would just assume that they had been playing football on Saturday afternoon. (Laughter and applause.) If they were going to put down everything that had one or two drawbacks they would have to put an end to a great many more things than football. Of such things were Presbytery meetings. (Laughter.) There was a great similarity betwaen a Presbytery meeting and a football match. In the Presby teries they had scrimmages occasionally, and he had seen a foul even. (Laughter ) They were often cornered, and a free kick was often given. An off-side was far too frequent an occurrence; and he would say that in the Presbyteries they were also umpired, and that they always obeyed the umpire. There was another resemblance. Both football matches and Presbyteries got a great deal of notice from the members of the press. It was not altogether of a favourable kind. The secular press was down on Presbyteries, and the religious press was down upon football. The reason why it was so, in bis opinion, was simply that neither of them knew very muob about what they were talking. (Laughter.) What he meant to say was that the secular press did not know very much about religious and ecclesiastical affairs, and the religious press unfortunately did not know anything at all about athletics. (Hear, hear.) His hearers knew very well that athletics were coming to the front more and more every day. The conditions of life in large towns demanded active and continuous athletics for every young man who wanted to preserve a sound body and a sound mind. He would like to see as many young men as possible exercise the noble game of football. It was the grandest game which was ever invented for a healthy man. He trusted their club would go on and prosper in every respect.