Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-07-29

0,AZH Ensilsn university
oOIM1 players. the great
0 est amateur team
in England.
one asks why such a representative
band of athletes should be at odds
with a body, the IF. A." which
governs Briton's national game some.
thing like the National Commission
controls baseball here.
The IF. Al has been accused by the
amateurs of trying to control soccer
for m%ercenary reasons only, and the
Simon pures' would not tolerate such
control, breaking away from the older
body to form an organization of their
own called the Amateur Football AS
ISOLATION. There is a bitter fight GO
ing on and the bad feeling between
the societies is carried beyond the seas,
While the officers of the "a. f. A" in
this section have agreed to the edict
of the IF. A." there are some among
them who are not pleased because the
opportunity is missed to see the great
Corinthians play here.
AS a free American, who does not il
any way depend on England for aid or
advice in soccer, the writer fails to see
NiCiC tllC r. "a. has dHy SlfOnB
ground to stand on in f%orbidding the
American Football Association teams
to play the Corinthians. Theirs is a
fight that doesn't concern us and there
is no reason 1t should.
There are those who say that Amer
leans, for the sake of the unification of
soccer interests everywhere, should
obey the order and not get in bad with
the English.
The fact remains, however, the
Americans could easily disobey the or
der and have the Englishmen on the
hip, because the latter have for a long
time allowed Americans to violate one
of their principal constitutional laws,
that of playing Sunday ball.
Playing Sunday ball by "F. A" teams
in England is met with the severest
penalty, yet the Americans violate that
law here without any punishment.
The Pilgrims, who are a IF. A.
eleven, even played Sunday ball in this
city, to my knowledge. The Corinth-
ians, however, will not violate this
rule. The regulation is a joke and the
bylaws committee of the "a. f. A.
which makes it's report on the revised
bylaw ~ tAt HldJUI DOQY LOnlRnI
could very easily suggest to the del
egates of all the clubs that the law
providing for blind obedience to what
ever English laws the foreigners see
fit to frame be abolished and tina the
body help England to make football a
better game, but without loss to them
selves or followers.
Secretary Wall, of the 81 A." claims
that when the time is ripe his
association will send a representative
eleven here.
His lack of knowledge of the soccer
situation here is thereby shown, for
the Corinthians are about to make the
fourth invasion of English to this
country to show us soccer. The games
we have played against them prove
we're anything but 'rubes'' at soccer.
The IF. A." has never contributed a
penny to one of these trips of educa-
ton.
The officers are probably waiting to
send over a team here until such time
as there is little risk of losing money
but every chance to take home a big
sum of money.
By way of showing how much the
Of. A." has the good of soccer here in
mind, we might mention that two years
ago a manager of a "F. A." team came
over here and asked $1,000 for five
games here. One can easily see where
lies the interest of teams in this body.
There are some independents among
the eastern soccerites who are indie
pendent enough to be Americans,
among them the New York Amateur
State League officials, who, though "A.
f. A." cup competitors, openly defy
the order from England and will pick
a team from the league to play the
Corinthians on the Polo Grounds Sep
TENDER 16. This is as 1t should be.
There is no reason why England should
control soccer in this country now OF
in the future. We can take care of
ourselves. England's reaching arms to
me are nothing more than lunch
hooks" stretching forth to grab a rich
American soccer dinner when Amer
ioan dollars have made it something
worth taking. The local "A. F. A."
would do well to remember that it is
American dollars that make it's organ
ization stable and not English money
and the British body has no right to
deny us football, because they do not
like teams that would play here. Be-
sides the New York State teams one
big "a. f. A." team has asked the
Corinthian management for a game in
defiance of the foreign order and may
get 1t.
It is hoped that the "a. f. A." will
see the folly of their present blind
allegiance to England in soccer, and
unless the officers make up quickly
they will find themselves out in the
cold, for a great and powerful rival
organization is now a-borning to gov
ern soccer in the United States, with
he primary object of having soccer
for and by Americans.