ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1515, 10 August 1912, Page 12

ASSOCIATION.

fßr. "Centre-Half."]

ABSENT-MINDED FINANCE. Messieurs? The Weatherl • When nil else fails, gentlemen of the variegated shirts and depressed countenances, there still remains for discussion— if your feelings will suffer an allusion to it—there still remains tho weather. At the risk of making oneself a target for tho half-bricks of opprobium, aimed, metaphorically speaking, by your disconsolato' and irritublo selves, I venture to make somo remarks about the weather. You yourself have had a surfeit of the weather, and have by this time, I hope, realised what is meant by philosophic fortitude. It is tho spirit of philosophic fortitude, Messieurs, which enables us to remark that these plenteous showers, which havo disorganised our championship fixtures, and put tho members of our sapient Postponement Committee back 10 years in. their religion, will be good for tho farmers. Yes, Messieurs, remember that we, who have seon such a succession of wet Saturdays as has well nigh broken our spirits, are not, in a manner of speaking, the only pebbles on tho beach. Let us put our selfish desires on one side, and remember that football 'matches do not make the crops grow, and neither do they rejoice tho hearts of the ducks. It is the cultivation of this benign spirit of philosophio fortitude, Messieurs, that will ultimately—in the Golden Age, no doubt— induce the lion and the lamb to occupy tho same paddock without committing a breach of the peace. By tlio time these remarks see the light of day it will probably be raining cats and dogs. What of that, Messieurs? Think of the crops. If you will play football, if you insist upon it, why then, go down to the baths, pick sides, an<l, have a shivering game of water-polo—l don't 'think. Financial Statement Asked For. "That the treasurer (Mr. W. Duncan) bo "directed' by tho committee to bring down, a financial statement to bo presented next Wednesday," was a resolution passed at this week's meeting of the Management Committee of the Wellington Football Association, on the motion of Mr B. L. Salmon. And it is' about time that something was done in connection with the finances of tho Association. Here wo are nearly two-thirds of the way through the season, with tho sum of .£53 outstanding in affiliation and ground fees. Tho Association owo money and have to keep going. Clubs hardly seem to realise that, according to By-law 2, "any club whose subscription is unpaid on July 1 shall cease to'be a member of this Association until the same is paid." But although the committee do not, and dare not, wish to l>e drastic, they must nevertheless put the screw on (and tight at that), if the. arrears are i not paid by next Wednesday. It is incumbent on the clubs who aro in arrears to pay up at once, and, in future, right at the commencement of the season. How can a harassed control cany on without cash ? There is one account—the City Corporation account, of .£39 for ground fees— which has to be met soon. Although, taking the Wednesday obligations into consideration, this account should be reduced by £10, still our worthy "Minister of Finance" is beginning :to lose that perpetual smile of his, and a worried look' is beginning .to cloud in. This and other sums have to be paid almost immediately, and clubs will only have themselves to blame if the Management Committee of the W.F.A. enforco By-law Number 2. Fortnightly Finance Statements. Touching on the question of the "Minister of 'Finance" bringing down a financial statement, it will be interesting to some "Soccer" folk to know that this will be the first document of its kind to be 'placed on the table thif,.s«il?on. Mr. Duncan stated at last Wednesday's meeting that he was exceptionally busy, etc., but he would certainly bring down a rough statement. This "rough" statement will be much better than none at a' l ns has been the oustom in the past. Hero wo are, nearly through witn tue ISllii udson,'and if one were to ask any member of the Management Committee (save the chairman, secretory, and treasurer perhaps) how tho finances stood, not one of them could tell. At one time the treasurer of the W.F.A. used to bring down a monthly statement, and it would -be a splendid' idea if our present treasurer lvould do likewise. Cannot ho be prevailed upon to do this? If he cannot, tho best way out of the difficulty would be by adding an amendment to the by-laws of the Association at the next annual meeting of the Association by. which it would 1m? imperative that the treasurer must make a fortnightly statement to the committee. Affairs in Dunedln. Association football, thanks to the uncompromising weather, is becoming for Seniors a fortnightly _ game, and for Juniors merely au occasional game. During the past fivo weeks no fewer than three postponements have been necessary. There now remain to be played (says "LeftWing" in the "Otago Daily Times") in the Senior Grade, four matches for each team;' Playing theso to a finish without any hitches or a final tio will carry us on to August 24. Another two Saturdays for the four leading teams to decido which is to bo the holder of tho Charity Banner, and you reach September 7 as the nearest possible day on which the home competitions could be completed Add a couple of Saturdays for contingencies, and what is left for practising your interprovincial team ? Football in Brazil—A New Zealander's Impressions. Mr: W. Dick passed through Wellington last week. Mr. Dick is very well known.in sporting circles in Auckland, and left there for the Old Country about three and a half years ago. Since then he has been stationed in Brazil. Mr. Dick played the Association gamo in that weird and perilous country, although, to bo sure, he was a prominent Jtiigby man in Auckland and at Home. He' tells Centre-Half" that the "Soccer" gamo had taken on well with the Brazilians and that there were two English and four Brazilian teams in Rio de .Janeiro, and about six teams 'in Sao Paulo, besides many more scattered about the country. The great annual fixture is Brazil v. England, and the contest is looked forward to with interest. As a result the game is a hotly-contested one. Up to' the tune tlmt Mr. Dick left, England hall won most of the games, but tliis season Brazil wero determined to lower the Homeland's colours.. Will This Be So? ' From present appearances it is not at all improbable that there will bo no need for tho selection of a Brown Shield team to represent Otago. The next Brown Shield match, between Wnnganui and Canterbury, has been fixed for August 24. Wellington cannot play for the shield earlier than, say, September 7. Then Otago could riot expect a match until a fortnight after that, which is altogether too late in tho season. Meantime, however, the Otago selectors have chosen tho following players to keep in training in view of representative matches:— Goalkeepers—narkness, Black. Full-backs Taylor, Mayhow, Aspinall, lomig. ' Half-backs — Middlemass, ' Rarity, M'lvor, Shepherd, Stephens, Garnett. .Forwards—liny, Vernon, Forbes, Timlin, Race, Higgine, V. Evans, Logic, Wilson, Campbell. Those Defaulters. Somothing very definite in its results must be decided upon by tho Management Comitte'e of the W.F.A. to deal with teams which default to their opponents 1 by not putting in an appearance to meet ! their engagements. The frequency of such { occurrences dfiring the present season has | been the subject of strong remark in the l "soccer" world, and the general opinion is that if the W.F.A. would call upon I these defaulting tennis to explain Iheir j lapse-, and impose lines when these explanations were unsatisfactory, the re- ! suits would be surprising. At all events, • the \\ .I'.A. might give this suggestion n trial, for the present state of all'airs is . quite iinMilisfactory. i

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