Publisher's Synopsis
Association Football And How To Play It Traditional Laws and Rules of English Association Football Laws Of The Game Goalkeeping Full-Back Play The Middle Line Forward Play Training Hints to Juniors Captaincy Refereeing Football as A Profession Continental Football Football Reform Present Day Football Famous Cup-Ties Laws Of The Game 11. A goal may be scored from a free kick which is awarded because of any infringement of Law 9, but not from any other free kick. Wearing soft india rubber on the soles of boots is not a violation of this law. Then strip, lads! and to it though sharp be the weather, And if by mischance you should happen to fall, There are worse things in life than a tumble in heather, And life is itself but a game of football. From the above quotation by Sir Walter Scott, it is evident that football is quite an ancient game. Time alters everything, and it has undoubtedly done so in football. Where one used to play with half the village on one side and the same on the other, it is now restricted to sides composed of eleven players. As I have been requested to write on the modern game it is not worth while dwelling upon how it was played a hundred years ago. Football is really supposed to be a Scottish game, but it was in England that a proper Association with defined rules was first started. This was in the early sixties, and since then the F.A. has grown to be one of the most powerful bodies connected with sport of any shape or form. They are a most wealthy association, and their power is paramount. It must be said that they have had everything to do with making the game what it is at present. Although autocratic, they deal thoroughly and honestly with both clubs and players, and it will be a bad day for the game when any body of clubs break away. At the time of writing rumours are very rife, but it is to be sincerely hoped that once again "rumour is a lying jade." Friendly matches were the order of the day in the early stages of the game. Then came the establishment of the English Cup Competition for all clubs in the Kingdom. This was in the year 1871, and it was only after eleven years had elapsed that the Cup went to the North, when Blackburn Olympic were the winners. May we say en passant that a Scottish club, namely, the Queen's Park of Glasgow, took part in the final contest in 1884 and 1885, but were beaten by the Blackburn Rovers in both cases. After that the Cup had a long sojourn in the North, and it was not until 1901 that my old club, Tottenham Hotspur, managed to bring it back to the South. Again, since then, the North have had a monopoly of it, and Southern enthusiasts are longing for it to have its resting-place somewhere in the South. Manchester United - Liverpool FCC - Chelsea - Arsenal - Everton - West Ham United