ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 49, 3 April 1914, Page 2

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

PROFESSIONALISM. Financially : last • was a record for ma, derland—therclub's-which ran to the also did very well : in- the -Lealgue Competition—each made £9.000 profits • The former have decided to 'spend -"£20,000 on their ground, and Sunderland have spent £7OOO odd-on increased accommodation for the onlookers. ' There is news of aground improvements fivom !<e very y/li ere. Manchester City have' had i)lans drawn' up to tincrease the! holding "capacity of their ground to ,80,000. ; .Oldham Athletic have big schemes in; hand,-and Chelsea have exgrfessed-their intention of making Stamiord Bridge enclosure the finest football field in the British' Isles. To do this- they h&ye a. long way to go. Hampden Park, Glasgow, will lot of-beating. side its gatesjand'' miicli more important still, all thftt number would be aisleto see the gamci comfortably. Strange to say, the ground' is the property'.;: of an . amateur organisation, and it has held the record football crowd of ;,alt time —127,307 at the International between Scotland* and England in 1912. They take their internationals very seriously-in Scotland. - V ; -> I have, dealt with a few of. the "successful"' clubs who are often "worried'' with what to do witli the Reason's surplus. A few facts •on the other side of tli® scale will be of considerable interest. Notts County,'' Bury, Woolwich Arsenal, G'riinsby Town, andStoelcport,, are a few clubs which, because. of the poor' support received, lose money every year, and are only kept going by special efforts in the-way of subscriptions, or by the sale of their best players to clubs-'of the former type,- which can well afford to buy. For a long time Woolwich Arsenal struggled on, ill spite of lack of funds, but last April they decided to try their luck in a new part of London. At once trouble awaited them in many forms. In the first place, Tottenham Hotspur,; and Clapton Orient. went to the' Association's Management .Committee ; and appealed to> stop the removal of the Woolwich clul> to Highbury, as they stated it would effect their "gates adversely. The committee had no power, however, to interfere, although it has that power at the present time. No sooner were the Arsenal directors relieved on that score than up jumped a large portion of the Highbury' Residents with a petition to prevent the Club moving to their district, on the plea that it ; -would lowe*; J;fce•/•>.tQne *ho£ the neighoburhood. ; : This objection- rwas. eventually worn down, and the,lease of the ground granted with the proviso that no games should be played on Christmas Day and Good Friday, the days when the best '' gates" of the season are generally taken. All this means organisation. .on a. large scale, and that the running of a. football club^is by no.' means child's, play will endorsed at atiy rate by the directors of such clubs as Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke, Everton, and Manchester .City, all of whom have had trouble enough and to spare during the closing months of last season. At Tottenham the snareholders called five extraordinary general meetings last year, all' of which were characterised by very rowdy scenes. The' directors had to advance large sums of money to keep the club, going —to provide players when results did not come. up. to expectations. ."When those directors wanted to be sure of their position for the length of-time for which they were elected, a section: of the shareholders objected. The directors threatened to., sell the players and relieve themselves of the financial responsibilities, and the shareholders' committee told them to do their woist. Eventually the directors carried their proposals, but a poll of the whole ; oz the shareholders had to be taken. There is the worry, too, of controlling, the • large crowds. The people must bekept in order. Manchester City were fined £SOO because they failed to> take what the association considered necessary precautions in a cup tie last season. In .addition, the books of the club must always be ready for. inspection by the officials of the association,, and if the receipt books do not correspond with the turnstilfes (which every club must have) and .in other ways account for every penny of the club smoney, there is more trouble. Under these conditions, and in view of the fact that, according to the rule mentioned last week, "<•' a director shall not be entitled to any remuneration in respect of his office.'' Who would be a football director? Obviously _ the answer is, Only a man with plenty of spare cash and boundless - enthusiasm for the game. . While ou the subject of grounds, .the most amazing thing of all is that the football association itself does not provide an enclosure to accommodate eomfortablv the crowds which want'to .see the cup final. For such an event the Crystal Palace ground, as at present constructed, is-.totally unfitted and inadequate. Over ,120,000 paid to see the cup final between Aston Villa and Sunderland, but it is safe to say that at least half that number only saw the ball at all. when it was kicked high in the air. So impossible was it to see the play that those in the cheaper parts stormed the reserved seats, and a serious accident was only averted by a miracle.

as all the five events will be contests for Canterbury championships. The 220 yds and 880 yds fiat should produce keen competition. The other events will be the three-miles walk, the high jump, and the pole vault, and I hope that enough athletes will enter for this to demonstrate that Canterbury has not gone back in field events as much as would appear from recent experiences. Entries will close to-morrow with the secretaries of the -various clubs. The lateness in the season and the holding of the New (Zealand University tournament at Easter are responsible for this championships meeting being held a week after the previous evening meeting. A. L. C.