FOOTBALL DAYS RECALLED

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1930, Page 7

FOOTBALL DAYS RECALLED

i •'•»'. v ... ' MR FORRES’S CLUB. -V- i •. T- • PRESENTATION OF OLD BANNER.- £ -•■V. . . ( .o , •CHRISTCHURCH, Aug. 4. Ha-ppy/memories of the days when 1» was;.’captain: of the old East C'hristchurcK.,Fpot,hall Club were recalled 'by Mi* ..Fobbes fat the banquet in his 'honour oh ! Sitturday night, when lie was tr ®iade the-, recipient of a surprise prepontation Tfrom Sir Heaton Rhodes, his former'clfib president, of the old banner of;,the club. The was one of the happiest/ features in the evening s programme- and it was followed later by an offer ,of Mr F. W; Collins, who was) a -nl&ihber of the old club with Air .Forbes,' to- present to the Prime Minister-/one of. the original caps of' the elub.'..4: Remarking that he had had a close -personal/Itphch with Air Forbes over a long •• period of years, Sir Heaton said tliai/ihey 'both belonged to the same football club. The difference

was th'ati/he; held an honorary posi-

tion as) presiderit of the club and Air Forbes " was ;a great worker and a. very promineiit'inember of the team.'That was bus East ... Christchurch' Club) /was. -disbanded- he had bbeii-’presented with the banner

and he had kept it ever since. As he had no one to leave it to lie wished to take the opportunity of asking Air Forbes to accept the banner and hand it oyer /to ono of his sons. (Loud applause.) BANNER OF OLD CLUB. Sir Heaton then opened the case and displayed the banner amidst a great, outburst of cheering. The banner has the monogram “E.C.F.C.” embroidered on it. Air Forbes intimated his pleasure in accepting the banner and Sir Heaton then handed it to him. Speaking later the Prime Minister snid lie was particularly pleased that Sir Heaton Rhodes was chairman of the gathering and he was very glad to accept the gift of the banner of their old club. Qt was turning back • he hands of the clock a great many years'to recall the days when lie was a member of the old East 'Christchurch Football Club. In those days he took part in several dub gatherings as captain of the club, with Sir Heaton as president, in the chair. Football' smoke concerts in those days were looked up to by him as the highest Torm of musical entertainment. (Laughter and applause.) “When I look at the old banner it does not seem so many years ago since it was flown at Lancaster Park,” Air Forbes continued. “The old stagers look back and say that those were the days when wo did play football, I know that I ran mv hardest and pushed my hardest, but the irame was not as fast as it is to-day. Neither did we have people waiting up all night in order to buy tickets

to .see us play. But I can look hack on as happy a time as any man could have)in his youth.” (Applause.) i FOOTBALL AND POLITICS. . ;Alr ;Forl>e»s said he remembered the time /when the club won Hie cliampionsliio and the chairman that night- as president of the club, presented each member of the team with a gold fooaiail. He was very proud of ni,s gold football and wore, it on his Watch chain until lie replaced it with (the gold, pass of a member of Parliament. The political game was played as they played football—hard aiud true. There was the same feeling towards one’s opponents in .politics as there was towards the oonosing team after a football match ■, they were able to shako hands and be the best of friends. He could truthfully say that there was no man in the House with whom he was. no.t the brfqt of friends. He could also say the same of his opponents in Parliamentary contests, and 110. could look hack to the rules of the old game of football which he had remembered right. through his life. (Applause). RE AI ARK ABLE DEMONSTRATION. There was a remarkable demonstration when the chairman announced that Air Collins had sent him a note stating that he w’fihed to present one of the old East Christchurch Football Club caps “to his. old friend, George.” About half a dozen of those present who had been members of the old club rose to their feet and sang the club chorus “On the Ball,” many other old time )footballers joining in, Air Forbes said it gave .him, very great pleasure to accept the memento and he would (be delighted to pass it on to liis bov, who was present at tho gathering, and was a keen follower of the game