ASSOCIATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2205, 18 July 1914, Page 12

ASSOCIATION.

tßy. Centre-Half.] . BURYING THE HATCHET, A Settlement in Sight. After many months of wordy battles and much discussion the management . of the W.F.A. have Become . reasonable,- and at the suggestion of the, New Zealand' Football, Council they have agreed to an appeal board being set up to settle once and for all the "Crouch case." This is a wise decision, which should have been adopted long;- ago. Sinco they were not satisfied, with the counoil'-s ruling on this particular matter ono wonders why the local control has not taken advantage of Rule 23 ik the New Zealand Council's by-laws long ere this. At last Wednesday's meeting of the Management Committee some of those present slowed plainly that they wore apprehensivo as to what courso the .appeal-board would ■adopt, and a question was raised as to whether they would call fresh evidence. It was stated that if such was to be the case.too-W.F.A., should be prepared to submit new evidence in rebuttal, and Mr. A. Williame was ■ instructed to take the matter in hand. From in-' quiries made in reliable, quarters it was learned that no, fresh, evidence will be 'called. The,-writer sthinks; that oue and all will be very pleased to Bee the end'of a most unfortunate and regrettable incident. , ..There . is every chance of the appeal board's decision being accepted as; absolutely final, and of the hatchet being buried. ■ Conoernlng'Canterbury. '...., The New Zealand Council had a word of praise at its last meeting for Mr. .E. ilitson, the Canterbury secretary, who is retiring from the position owing to removal from Chxistcliurch.' Mr. Ritsou has been a keen and enthusiastio,. worker' in :the interests of Soccer football in the Cathedral City during his two or three years' stay there, and he has well merited ail the good things said about him. The New Zealand records show that three years, ago the, Canterbury Association was, as for as: teams go, comparatively smal , , but today it has grown wonderfully,, and not only this but it has 'grown in the right direction—that is, amongst juniors and sohoolboys. , Mr. Ritson has seized the opportunity of pushing the game ahead strongly in two directions, amongst boys and in . obtaining good support from prominent \townspeople. This last point is an important one. It must not be. forgotten that however strong a game is numerically it requires a real good backing behind it, and sooner or later this fact will have to .be very stronglv grasped .1 by: the New Zealand Association as being a very vital question.. Wo shall , refer to this later on in the season. ', "Soccer" Bazaar. . . /Although' dates'!have not yet been announced for tne bazaar which > the Football' Asscoiation is undertaking in connection with the Tramways Bnnd, it behoves all those in connection with local' "soccer" to' be alive. Soptember. is suggested as. a possible date, and if this should be so it does not leave very much time for work to be done. The details'of running the bazaar—questions tf tho dancing, band music, etc.—will undoubtedly be well looked after, but there is, of course, plenty of time for these! The arranging and looking after the .stalls is, however, a club matter, and cannot bo worked up in a week, or in month either. To make a success of ' ' these stalls, the clubs require to bo alive and. to have real good assistants associated with them, or their efforts, will bo futile. _ " ; . ' '■■■ It is to bo hoped that the association will make a good profit out of their efforts, .but 'all'local-.enthusiasts must realise that this will not be done unless everybody puts a shoulder to tho wheel in no half-hearted manner. The Rule of tho Came. Such a trifling item as a pair of goal-keeper's gloves has evidently been troubling a referee in Gisborn'e; as he refused to allow a goal-keeper in'that district to use them, considering them |to be unsafe.' Needless to say ho was quite wrong—an opinion unanimously hold by both tho New Zealand Football Association and tho Now Zealand Referees' Association. Among the Players. Tho, Y.M.C.a! this day will, meet the mighty Poriruans. How will youth faro with experience ? Tho men. of ,tho Yellow ( and Black are putting a strong team into tho field, but (alas' that "but") they lack weight. Of tho eleven Roberts is the weightiest. Tho forward line is a lino of fleet, tricky athletes. Weight is lacking. Tho half\baok and tho full-back lines are also conspicuous- for lightness. But yet tho town men are not journeying to tho suburb with anything like hopelessness. Given a hard, dry ground they may yet lower the colours of a team that has gone through the season without one defeat. Bindmarsh, who injured his leg: somq time back, will bo resuming his position to-day. Coad, tho captain, has seen fit to chance his men about. Tlircadgill, who has been playing full-back, will tako up tho position of centre-forward. Coato will drop back info tho full-back line. ' Hearts, the Wednesday Club, are doing well. Up to tho present they havo played throo games. Of those two nave been won, and one drawn.