FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5070, 23 June 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

FOOTBALL.

. The match aimouuood for yesterday between the Shamrocks and Bowden’s school v. the College did not come off owing to the wot. A match will be played to-day between the town players and the team chosen from collegiate boys, either those who have left the College or those now attending it. The Town team will bo picked from as many of the following ns attend the ground at 2.30 p.m.:— Black, Bate, Budge, Allport, Dumbell, Campbell, Churton, Chapman, Mclvor, Nixon, Major, Hickson, Kaur, Thompson, Thomson, Smith (2', Wright, Palliser, Wynioud, Wyatt, Keith, Pollen, Asher, Tucker, Watts, Cell, Gordon, Warren, Speed, Irvine, Newbury, James, Flanigan. The College team are ns follows:—Brandon, C,; Burnos ; Ooolc, A. j Cooper ; Crawford, W.; Hransfield, G.; Fitzgerald, II.; Gell ; Gray, J.; Webb, P.; Webb, C.; Webb, J.; Wright, G.; Kreeft ; Bishop, J.; Luxford, II.; Martin, A.; Taylor, J.; Kirk, H. B.; Horrab, A.; Bell, S. W.; and Moorhousc.

A meeting of the footballers was recently held in Auckland to consider the proposal of the Dunedin Football Club to hold a football tournament at Wellington during the present season. The Herald says ;—Nearly all the principal clubs were represented. Mr. E. Burgess said ho would endeavor to make the meeting as short as possible, as they only had one question to consider, and therefore proposed the following motion :—“ That the secretary of the D.F.O. bo informed that Auckland declines to send a team to compete in the proposed tournament at Wellington, but will be happy to play them, or the best team in cither Dunedin, Wellington, or Nelson, or a team selected from the three teams, provided the match be played in Auckland." Mr. Carter seconded the motion. Mr. Nolan proposed as an amendment, —“ That the words following the first mention of Wellington be struck out, and others added, to the effect that Auckland would bo happy to meet Dunedin at Auckland.” The amendment was seconded by Mr. Gudgeon, and carried. A suggestion that Auckland should contribute £SO towards the expenses of the Dunedin men, provided they came to Auckland, failed to meet with a seconder. The general feeling of the meeting seemed to be that as Auckland had already, under considerable difficulties, sent teams both of cricketers aud football players round the colony, the least Dunedin could do would bo to return the visit. Besides the difficulty of getting the best fifteen to leave home for a fortnight or three weeks, the unfitness of the Wellington ground was also commented an. The recent accident in Auckland has led to a good deal of discussion on the question of football rules, aud it cannot be denied that the fact of a young man having met with his death while playing has done much to depress any enthusiasm that may have existed. A contributor to the Weddy News writes the following sensible remarks :—“That there are dangers connected with football no one who knows and has played the game will deny. How to reduce these to a minimum, so ns to combiue pleasure and exercise with a very small amount of danger, is what has to be considered. Not very long ago, certainly not twenty years, football when ouc’s school career was over was seldom played iu England. Hero and there a club, composed principally of old public school men,, was formed, but the outside public took very little notice of their doings, aud the sporting Dress had hardly as many lines about them as now they have paragraphs. Even at the Universities, as lately as ISCS, no football clubs existed, aud it was not until Mr. C. W. Alcock and others took the matter seriously in hand that what arc now termed the Association Rules were framed. The rules which profess to have football played as the name implies, a game in which the foot alone are used, were drawn up because it was thought that Rugby football, or ‘ the carrying game,’ was too rough for men. By these rules of the association, no player, except the goal-keeper, could touch the ball with his hand, or hold another player under any pretence whatever. He might charge him, if ho wished, under certain conditions, which it is needless hero to enter into, lint this was the general principle of the association clubs, that the hall must bo kicked, not carried. However, there were those who schooled at Rugby, Marlborough, Clifton, Uppingham, Haighbury, aud other schools who played Rugby rules, who objected to have their idea of football thus taken from them, and so, as the lovo of football increased, it was determined by those who had loft school to carry it on in the way they had boon accustomed. Still there was this felt, that a hack, though of no consequence, bar the immediate pain it caused to a boy at school, given by .a boy of Ids own size aud ago, was quite another matter when given by a full grown man to another. So it was resolved to revise Uio rules, iu order that no

accident might occur, and for this purpose the llugby Union was formed, under whose rales, with very slight modifications, the clubs of this country now play. These rules forbid locking and tripping—two very necessary restrictions where men are playing and not boys—hut the theory of the game is pretty much the same. It is against tliis game that some men in Auckland, especially those w! o know little about it, arc speaking now. They advocate what they term the less dangerous game of the association, and call the Itugby game brutal and barbarous. It is not really so. The fatal accident to Mr. Pilling might have occurred iu exactly the same manner, had the match been played under the association rules. The question raised iu this paper lately was a very just one—Gould not the rules bo modified so as to reduce the danger of accidents ? However the game may bo played, whether the rules bo those adopted by the association or union, or those played by Eton when playing at the Wall, Harrow, or oven Winchester, accidents may happen, and probably will ; the thing is how best to prevent them ? The Victorian Association have, we see, taken the matter iu hand, and suggested certain amendments which will certainly tend to lesson the dangers of the game, however played. One of the principal of these is the rule proposed that a player unuC put the hall down directly he is hold, not when the ball is held, as is the rule iu Auckland, and this will, if adhorqd to, do away with the practice of ‘slinging’ or catching a man round the neck, throwing, and often falling on him, the most likely way of all to cause a broken nock. Another emendation the Victorians propose to make is to abblish ‘ rabbiting,’ or stooping down iu a scrimmage, or elsewhere, so that the player falls over your bead on to his own. These two rules, and the necessity of the umpires insisting that the ball should be put down directly the player is held, also that no hacking should ever be allowed, are all that can ever bo done towards modifying the present rules. This must he borne iu mind, that football, rough as it appears, has fewer accidents to answer for than most games. Within three years cricket had two deaths—the one of a boy at Harrow, the other that of a player at Leeds —to answer for, besides a serious injury. Yet no one has ever suggested a modification of the laws of cricket. So, too, with other sports —hunting, shooting (witness Mr. Eawoett, of .Brighton), racing, and even racquet, and tenuis. All have their evil deeds, if accidents bo evil deeds, to uutwer for. We cannot confine our boys nr young men to such games as croquet and La Crosse, but wo can, and ought to endeavor to make their sports as little liable to hurt us possible, and this iu the way of football may, wo think, bo done by adopting the two rules we have drawn attention to.”

Regarding prospects in Victoria “Nomad,” of the Leader, writes 1 —“ The season bids fair to eclipse all its predecessors in brilliancy’. As I mentioned last year, Mr. Power, the energetic secretary of the Carlton Club, bad made up his mind to have an intercolonial match on his new ground this season, and in all probability wo shall sec teams both from New South Wales and South Australia, ns both colonics have favorably entertained the idea, the South Australians, in fact, having accepted the invitation. Then we shall have a renewal of the grand matches between Melbourne and Carlton, which are the very backbone of Victorian football, and no player, no matter what club lie may start his career with, but is anxious to exhibit himself in one of these contests before he finally retires from the scene. They are the great test matches, and until he has taken part in them no Victorian footballer can be considered to have graduated. Besides those there arc snch clubs as St. Kikla, Carlton, Imperial, Bast Melbourne, Corio, Ilichmond, West Melbourne, and Esscmlou, all of which contain in their ranks many splendid players, who can make a good fight even with the dons of Carlton and Melbourne. Then also we shall probably have a very strong club in the Ilotbam, which takes the place of the old North Melbourne, and the disruption of the Albert Park-eum-North Melbourne Club will set free all the Emerald Hill players, so that a very strong club could bo formed there were it not that I am given to understand most of the best men have thrown in their lot with Melbourne."

Touching the question of modification of rules, wo notice that the matter is referred to in the report of the Sydney University' Club ns follows :—“ Much dissatisfaction has been expressed at the great scope allowed iu the Rugby Rules for the exercise of mere brute strength, to the consequent disadvantage of skill in the game proper; and whilst your committee think that a scrimmage now and a"ain iu a game may bo very good to enliven the forwards, still they must record their protest against the game being allowed to resolve itself into a series of these trials of strength without allowing any opportunity for the proper exercise of the art of drop-kicking. Tiny therefore would enjoin on your delegates to the S. R. F. Union to seek to obtain such rules passed as will mitigate this growing evil.”