1881-82
Weekly Exchange, 19 November 1881
Football.
The Association game having taken a deep root in Cleveland, we publish the following
for the perusal of players, which has been circulated by the Sheffield association:
-- “The following remarks on the evil system of “charging” from the able pen of ‘Don
Juan,’ may be read with benefit by many of our young players and I would specially
ask the captains of clubs to see that they do not allow this pernicious habit to
be adopted by their men, otherwise they will never attain to any high degree of efficiency:--
In many quarters it is a matter of grief to lovers of the association game, that
the system of charging is so prevalent. The aim of the early associationists was
to avoid the roughness which characterised the Rugby players and make the game mote
a skilful working of the ball than an exhibition of brute force. This has been attained
only, I fear, to a limited extent, yet the pleasure and delight afforded to thousands
of spectators by the clever dribbling and neat passing and crossing exhibited by
some of our best clubs, shows how popular the winter game would be if charging were
altogether discarded. With, it may be, one or two exceptions, the best clubs do not
indulge in useless charging. I say useless advisedly, for there is the legitimate
charge at which the old Harrovians are adepts of removing an opponent by the gentle
jerk of the shoulder, and when executed without roughness this is one of the neatest
points of the game, yet it is an art rarely acquired. But the rushing full tilt at
an opponent with the sole object of placing him hors de combat is a most objectionable
feature. Young clubs when pitted against a clever dribbler are most prone to act
in this manner and it is well known that a football team is not a set of battering
rams. Such play is as fatal to the charger as to the charged. Not only does the player
damage his opponent but he causes great loss of energy to himself which is most detrimental
to his success on the field. I am not one who believes in special laws or penalties
to remove this system of brutal charging. The better each player becomes acquainted
with the game , the less he will indulge in it. The conviction will be forced upon
him by experience that charging does not pay -- does not pay in the sense of securing
victory to his team, and does not pay in the sense of attracting the public to witness
his matches. But it would be a pity to wait for experience to teach this, for it
might then be too late. Committees and captains of clubs may do a great deal to prevent
it, and perhaps my words may be taken to heart by some charger who will see his fault,
mend his ways, and, I hope, become a brilliant exponent of the game.”
Weekly Exchange, 3 December 1881
Football.
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MIDDLESBRO’ FOOTBALL CLUB
Successful as this Club has been in the past, the present and future seasons
promise even more than those preceding. As the first Club in North Yorkshire playing
the Association game it had many difficulties to encounter, the principal of which
were the absence of other clubs to play against, and also the absence of the stimulating
spirit of rivalry so necessary to weld the different thinking members. The total
indifference of the general public was another heavy bar to the advancement of the
club. Slowly difficulty after difficulty were surmounted, first by inducing a Rugby
team to play a match under Association rules, and afterwards by the formation of
new clubs. Now there are a score of clubs and hundreds of players in Middlesbrough
and the immediate district. Old players -- if we can call them old -- will remember
the first good match, which was played with the Tyne Club, from Newcastle : how the
feeling was that they “could come and do their worst,” and the home team’s surprise
when the game ended in a draw. The spectators, too, have progressed in the right
direction. Numerically, they are very strong, and evince a fair knowledge of the
game. Unhappy is the lot of the player who forgets himself in a match ; he is chaffed
without mercy by the critics behind the wire rope. But the most fastidious of spectators
could not complain of the language he or she hears. Criticism on the Middlesbrough
ground is in the main just and impartial, although at times the cheering is louder
for the home team than for the visitors, as is natural, but they never fail to give
vent to their approval of good play, show it who may. The first team certainly deserves
praise. The forward play is of the best sort, unselfish and effective ; in fact we
have never seen a team whose forwards pass the ball with better judgment and less
unselfishness. The back play has of late very much improved, and, taking everything
into consideration, the play of the team is much above the average. What was their
ambition -- the beating of a Sheffield team, which occurred on the 29th of October
this year, after many failures -- has been reached and left behind. They are hopeful
of the future. The club has been able to put three teams in the field on one day,
and what is even more unfrequent, won all three matches. The want of a good practice
ground has always been a great drawback. The Albert Park was all right until the
club found that it had either to be crowded out or to fix and guard the goal posts
two or three days before they were required. Then a move was made to a field which
was most of the season a quagmire, and from thence to the Breckon Hill ground. This
season the last named place could not be secured, and now the club is without a practice
ground; indeed, but for the aid of the Cricket Club Committee, who let their field
for a certain number of matches, the Middlesbrough Football Club would probably be
now a regret of the past. To remedy this state of things is now the earnest wish
of the executive, who have now in a great measure got over the difficulty. Both players
and patrons of the manly sport will be pleased to learn that seven acres of land
immediately to the south of the cricket field have been secured for a period of fourteen
years on very easy terms, and that Lieut.-Col. Sadler and John Gjers, Esq., J.P.,
have consented to be trustees of the new ground. It is intended to proceed immediately
with the draining and levelling of over two acres, so that the turf may be completely
set by the beginning of next season. It will also be necessary to enclose the part
of the field facing the road. All this means a large expenditure, and it is to be
hoped all who take interest in the club and the game will give their hearty support.
During a long period of the year the leathern globe is reluctantly laid aside because
of King Sol. To fill up this interval we believe it is the intention of the executive
to encourage all kinds of healthy, invigorating pastimes, such as athletics, la
crosse, bicycling, quoits, cricket, and tennis. The aim is, as funds permit, to aid
every branch of legitimate recreation ; to gather them together with the object of
attaining amusement and success. May this ambition be reached, and the toilers of
the ironworks and the town find in the efforts of the Middlesbrough Football Club
that which is seldom found near large towns -- a resort where outdoor amusements
are provided, and which they can enjoy in a healthy, innocent manner.
