SOCCER TEAM

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20782, 17 July 1937, Page 16 (Supplement)

SOCCER TEAM

* RECENT ENGLISH VISIT Much Good to Game I England's amateur Association foot- ; ball team, which is now in Australia, has done much for the game in New ’ Zealand during its tour. The visitors, both in their play and their coaching, did their utmost to raise the standard of New Zealand play, and it is ex- , pected that the benefits of the tour i will be felt in the near future. i Apart from what they taught New ■ Zealand players, the visitors, by reason of their brilliance, have given the game much greater significance The enthusiasm which greeted the efforts of the visitors in their various fixtures indicates that the authorities controlling the game in the Dominion can hope for increased public support. The onus is now on the New Zealand Council and the various associations to gain full value from the visit of the Englishmen and, from the educational point of view, to start in where the visitors left off. Every effort should be made to consolidate the game’s position in the schools and colleges—a point particularly stressed by the English manager, Mr C. Wrenford Brown—and the scientific possibilities of the game should be fully played up. The performances of the New Zealand team in the recent series of tests proved that Dominion players have but an elemen- | tary idea of the finer points of the I code, and until this weakness is remedied the game will not make headway.

Tremendous Strides What Australia has done New Zea land should also be able to achieve In the Commonwealth, in the space o a few years, Soccer has made tre mentions strides, mainly as a result o lessons learned from overseas visit and by efficient coaching. Mr Wre ford Brown, in a recent interview mentioned the possibility of anothe English tour after an interval of aboufour years, and it is to be hoped that by that time the standard of New Zealand football will show justifica- | tion for the previous visit, and w’ill be of sufficient strength to offer real opposition to overseas sides. There have been many inquiries as to the strength of the English amateur team compared with that of the professional club teams in England. The trainer of the English team, Mr A. Stollery, expressed the opinion that his side, given a few months in which to shake down into proper wooing order, would probably class as ;ood third division combination. Very Fne Teams While this ranking, judged on the grade system adopted in New Zealand, may appear to be low, it must be mentioned that some very fine teams are represented in the third division of the English League. As an instance, the performance ol Millwall, a third division club, in last season’s English Cup competition, car be quoted. In reaching th? semifinals, in which it was defeated by Sunderland, Millwall disposed of thre: first division sides, Chelsea, Derb? County and Manchester City. The main fault in New Zealand’, play in the last Tost was that shor passing was attempted instead of th forwards being well upfield and th backs taking an aggressive attitud Cameron punted the ball well up an gave Leslie several chances, but in

.tead of first-time methods being dopted the general policy of the onwards was to work to the goal rea before shooting. Soott and McCallum were the only wo players to essay Ibng shots, and t was from one of these that Scott cored the only goal which was regisered for New Zealand in the interlational games.