A CALL TO "SOCCER" MEN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 243, 2 July 1918, Page 9

A CALL TO "SOCCER" MEN

THE. SPORT IN DIFFICULTIES. Lack of funds is givinsf somo concern to tlioss responsible for trie management of the Wellington Football Association. The receipts from capitation fees, ground rents and donations are all but absorlv ed, and to meet the season's liabilities it is estimated that a sum of will ba required. The biggest draiii on the exchequer is payment to tho City Corporation for ground rent, and so largo is tho number of -players engaged each Saturday afternoon that it is necessary to play three and even four games on the sanio playing area. 'I'ho Association Park (which is tho property of a company, composed of mostly "soccer" players) yields a little revenue, but its possession is'only temporary, as incidental and management expenses claim it. Besides tho domestic financial worry of the association, it is gravely concerned about the fate of its park at South'Kilbirnie. Owing to a large number of players, who are shareholders, being absent at tho battlefl'ont, the capital required to maintain the ground is not forthcoming, and a danger exists that the ground may he lost to the sport if some deter■'mined efforts are not mndo to safeguard its security. It is thought that the ground should not be filched awqy during the absence of the soldier players, and to this end a meeting is convened to be held in the T.M.C.A. on Wednesday evening next at 8 p.m., when the whole position will bo reviewed and explained with a view to enlisting moAl and monetary sripport to save the "soccer" code of football from destruction.