A GOOD YEAR

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 81, 9 August 1929, Page 5

A GOOD YEAR

SHUT HI 111) FOOTBALL CHIB.

OPERATIONS RETIE MET.

At last night’s dinner, Mr R. Masters, president of the Stratford Foothall Club, gave a review of the past season’s operations. He said that in view of of all the teams being present it w'as only fitting that something should he said of the work of, the season, and the-club were fortunate in having their friend Mrs Whittle’s invitation to enable this to be done. Taking the season as a whole he thought the Club, in the main, had reason to be satisfied with the progress made in different directions From the point of view of winning competitions the club had not been as successful as in previous years, but he thought it would be readily admitted that the standard of play •was equally as high as in any previous year. As regards the teams in tfye northern division he thought the standard of play had been higher than for some years past. It had been some time since the competition, was in doubt so far into the season as it had been this year. Those who saw the Star-Stratford match must admit that the standard of play was very high this year. He had seen senior football in Wellington, and without hesitation he could say that he had not seen better play in club football than in the northern division thi g year. MATCHES WITH CLUBS IN OTHER PROVINCES. The committee o£ the club had recently made inquiries Sn thd direction of enabling the Stratford Club to measure its strength against clubs in otheij provinces. By fiieet- ' ing rep. teams they had in the past been ' able to estimate the rep. strength of a province, but up to the present thqre had been no opportunity of measuring swords with a club outside Taranaki. It would be a fine thing if the committee succeeded in bringing about such meetings. What the committee had in view wa s a visit to Stratford by an Auckland team, and a visit by Stratford to Wellington. If these matches were arranged it would enable an estimate to be made of club football in Taranaki, and it would be an incentive for men to play for the team. It would also be an incentive to keep up the standard of club football, so that the Stratford club could confidently mdet a club from any other province. There had, so far been no reply from either Auckland or Wellington, but •it was hoped that something would result from the negotiations. The club’s season on the whole had been satisfactory. From the pjaint of view of finance he thought they would find themselves in a good position. Perhaps the credit balance would not be as great as last year. The club’s commitments would absorb a certain amount, but he thought the club would come through with a credit balance.

THANKS TO OFFICERS. He desired to express appreciation of the efforts of the Committee and all those who had been responsible for the conduct of football. Mr Fryday had captained the team in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to all concerned. The splendid behaviour of the team during the season was also deserving of special mention. The selector, Mr Malone, had had an arduous

t j nie _all selectors had. He had given much consideration to toot ball during the season and had followed it closely. The general manager and field captain, Mi Ait , ken, was a man in a thousand t'oi the position. Nothing was too much trouble for him, and all the members, of the team spoke well of him; and the speaker trusted he would long continue to servo the dub. Because they had not won ! championships it did not follow that the club had not done well. The dub had done well in every respect during the season. With capable management and continuing on present lines there would he no cause to fear for football as regards the Stratford club. He had to express thanks to all those who had taken part in the management of the club. The club’s thanks were also due to Mrs Whittle for her kind invitation Ito dinner. , , i „