FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE

a highly contagious eczematous affection which attacks the fect and mouths of cattle, manifesting itself by lamene , indisposition to eat, and general febrile symptoms, with ultimately eruptions of small vesicles on the parts affected, and general indisposition of the animal. The disease occasionally spreads to the udder of milch-cattle, and it is believed that it may be communicated to persons who drink the milk of cows so affected. 506 ioe FOOTBALL FOOTBALL, a game which, as the name implies, consists in imparting motion to a ball with the feet. The extreme simplicity of materials required explains the great antiquity (and nowadays remarkable popularity of the game. Historical Survey. In some form or other it existed beyond doubt among the Greeks, and evidence is available that the form then in vogue bore some resemblance to the present Rugby form, since, in addition to kicking, the ball was held in the hand. The game was introduced into this country by the Romans, and for long it maintained a doubtful popularity, principally on account of the roughne of the methods, an objection which induced James I to forbid the heir apparent to play. No definite rules appear to have been formulated until Rugby schoolboys drew up a code for themselves, and a cla ical description of the game then played is familiar to readers of Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Up till then, and indeed at that time, the system of limiting the number of players on the opposing sides had not been adopted. Provided that opposition was afforded, no other distinction appeared nece ary, and even to this day, in various parts of the country, Shrove Tuesday remains the football day of the year, when the whole of a small town or district engage in a contest unlimited as to the number of participants, the field of play, and the duration of the game. Such an annual game is, of course, only a traditional persistence, and at the present, where ever football is played, a number of rules govern the players’ methods according to the code—Rugby or A ociation. To conclude the historical survey. Tt has been mentioned that Rugby School developed a game with the first definite rules, constituting the basis of Rugby football as we know it to-day. It appears that during the course of & game one enterprising player spontaneously introduced the innovation of taking the ball in his hand and running with it, an innovation suggesting such desirable po ibilities that Rugby football soon came into being. So that, although the first of the two codes to e played under proper rules, it was actually a modification of a game of genuine football which had been in existence for centuries. Apart from the school, the game received little support until the middle of the nineteenth century. It was still unattractively rough; actually the system of hacking an opponent was not forbidden until 1877. Other schools, however, gradually followed, and clubs came into existence, but a want of 510 FOOTBALL uniformity proved a great disadvantage until the establishment of the English Union in 1871, followed by the International Board in 1889 to fettle any disputes which inevitably arose, since various unions adopted rules of their own not accepted by their opponents. Even at the present day the Northern Union has remained separate from all others, with a number of minor distinctions in its rules, and the important difference that its players may be financially subsidized. Outside the Northern Union there is no profe ional Rugby football, a very striking contrast, as will shortly be shown, to A ociation football. Rugby Focthall. Rugby Football is played between sides of fifteen, and the usual arrangement is to divide them into eight forwards, two halfbacks, four three-quarter backs, and one full back. Rigidity as to this formation is not e ential. There has of recent date been a tendency to reduce the number of forwards to seven, and increase the three-quarter back-line, or, as is the case among the South African players, to modify the construction of the team so as to present seven forwards, two half-backs, two *five-eighths,’ three three-quarter backs, and a full back. The opposing captains to a coin for choice of position, the advantage afforded by the prevailing wind and slope of the ground, and, to a le er degree, by the sun, dictating the selection, although, as the teams change ends at half-time, the captain succe ful in the to must exercise some judgment in selecting the period of the game in which he will employ the advantage of the better | position. The details of the game and the rules which govern it are far too numerous to describe, but the e ential feature is to score goals by kicking the ball over the cro -bar of the opposing side, with the alternative of carrying the ball over the line behind the goal-p ost and touching it down, thus scoring ‘a try,’ which carries with it the privilege of attempting to kick a goal from a point reached by proceeding directly backwards from the position where the try was scored to an arbitrary distance, at the discretion of the player who attempts the kick. It is obvious that the nearer to the goal the try was scored, the easier it will be to kick a goal, since very much greater skill will be required to kick a goal at an acute angle, which will be nece ary if the /ball has been touched down near the ‘touch-line. It remains to be added |that the try in itself (‘unconverted’) /scores a smaller number of points, so that the game is won according to the total points—goals and tries—scored. A goal may also be kicked not from a fixed’place, but as a ‘drop-kick’ from any part of the field. H ential rules of the game are that a player who is not at the time holding the bali may not be molested, and that even when in po e ion of the ball, although he may be ‘tackled’ or ‘collared’ to prevent his proceeding farther or from pa ing the ball to one of his colleagues, he may not be tripped up. If such fouling occurs, the side is penalized by giving their opponents an opportunity to kick a goal, or at any rate to improve their position in the field of play by a kick forwards. The ball may be ‘pa ed,’ that is, thrown or kicked to a colleague, but always in a backward direction. And finally, should a player kick the ball forward, it may not be touched by any other player of his side until (1) a player of the other side has touched it, or (2) unle he was behind the player who kicked it at the moment when the kick took place. This is known as the ‘ off-side’ rule. The game is started by the ball being kicked from the centre of the field by a member of the team that lost the to for choice of ends. Subseauent occurrences depend upon the skill of the opposing sides. The idea, as has been stated, is to carry the bali acro the goal-line of the other side, and this is achieved by running, dodging, and swerving, and pa ing to a colleague at the critical moment, drawing the opposition, perhaps, so that he has a clear run at the time when he receives ‘the pa .’ The three-quarter backs are e entially the players who are expected to score in this way. It may be crudely said that the forwards open up the game asa whole, the half-backs develop the game and get the ball for their three-quarters, whiist the métier of the full back is defence, so that he is usually selected for his strength in tackling and his powers in long-distance kicking. The three-quarter backs should combine speed with skill; they should be able to get into their strido with the minimum of delay, to swerve at speed, and yet be strong enough to ‘hand-off’ opponents who endeavour to stay their progre , and to break up the combination of the opposing threoquarter line. It will be readily believed that a player who unites all these attributes is not often obtainable, and a compromise in selection is inevitable. Many Rugby football players of great pace have been far inferior to les a speedy runners who had a better general conception of the game and were more clever in their tactics. The duration of the game is from am hour to an hour and a half, divided into two equal periods of play, with a 511 FOOTBALL short interval at half-time, when the teams change ends. Bias Whilst the game is slowly increasing in popularity to the extent that it is being adopted by certain of the great public schools, e.g. Harrow, who have hitherto preferred the other code, it is certainly not the favourite of the ma es. The great exponents of the Rugby game are the Scottish public schools, particularly Fettes, Loretto, and Glen almond; WHnglish public schools, such as Bedford, Rugby, Upping ham, Dulwich, Merchant Taylors, St. Paul’s, Oundle, Tho Leys, and Mill Hill; the hospitals, colleges, and universities throughout the British Isles; and a number of clubs in London, such as Black heath, Richmond, and The Harlequins, who usually draw upon old public school and university players. In addition, many towns may be mentioned as the homes of Rugby football, e.g. Leicester, Gloucester, Coventry, North amp ton, whilst the yogue in South Wales is greatest of all, so that even a comparatively small town has a first-cla team, and the teams of the larger towns, such as Newport, Swansea, and Cardiif, challenge comparison with the best. A ociation Football. The A ociation code of football was originally devised in the old public schools. At Westminster School a form of football, suitable to the cloisters, was practised 200 years ago. - Almost since the school’s foundation football was played at Harrow. In greater or le degree matches were played among the boys at the schools of Shrews bury, Charter house, Upping ham, Winchester, Eton, and Rugby. The area of the playing spaces, as well as the ideas of the masters and the pupils, produced different rules, which are set forth under such titles as ‘The Upping ham Game,” *‘ The Winchester Game,” “The Rugby Game,” and “The Eton Game” (in two styles). When the boys went to the universities, and into other spheres of life, they desired to continue such maniy exercise, but the wide divergence of rules was a serious ditliculty. Obviously universal laws for the game were e ential, and in 1863 an effort was made to obtain such uniformity by players in London and by a committee at Cambridge University. But on 26th Oct., 1863, the representatives of thirteen London clubs held a meeting and resolved: ‘That the clubs represented at this meeting now form themselves into an a ociation, to be called the Football A ociation.” The scheme of the promoters was to include the best points of all rules, and to bring all players into one body. They were not succe ful, for the Black heath Club, adhering to the practice of carrying the ball, withdrew, and the rules fin a.ly ratified on 8th Dec., 1863, were in principle, but not in detail, the same as those drawn up by Cambridge University. Thus there was a cleavage which has endured, the Football A ociation, the pioneer body of governing A ociations, maintaining the control of the game, which for some years was chiefiy confined to clubs formed by the former pupils of the public schools, and by middle-cla men connected with the law and banking. Progre was slow, for at the beginning of 1866-7 only Barnes, Civil Service, Crystal Palace, Kensington School, London Scottish Rifles, the No Names, Royal Engineers, Sheflield, The Wanderers (all public school men) and Worlabye House were affiliated to the A ociation. The game was popular in Sheffield; and the Sheffield club proposed a match between London and Sheffield. The game was played on 31st March, 1866, at Batter sea Park—the first representative match. The game spread farther afield, and in July, 1867, the Queen’s Park Football Club, Glasgow, was formed, having obtained a copy of the rules from Mr. John Lillywhite, of London, who had published them. Clubs were organized at many centres, and in the last three months of 1867, 300 matches were played under the laws of the A ociation, compared with 122 for the same period in 1866—these figures being founded on reports in newspapers of the day. In 1870 Queen’s Park became members of the Football A ociation, and sixteen clubs in Sheffield were affiliated. On 20th July, 1871, the Football A ociation resolved: “That it is desirable that a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with ths A ociation for which all clubs should be invited to compete.” This was carried into effect, and the £25 nece ary for the purchase of the Challenge Cup (now known popularly as Ths English Cup) was subscribed by the clubs. Fifteen clubs, including Queen’s Park, entered, and this competition not only brought the game into considerable popularity, but was. the indirect means of bringing about the first match between England and Scotland on 30th Nov., 1872, at Partick, Glasgow. The Queen’s Park prreumes the match and supplied the eam. Between 1867 and the middle of the *seventies various other organizing and controlling bodies came into existence. Clubs were formed in all parts ot England and Scotland—provincial clubs which had their own county and district administrative executives, and 512 FOOTBALL 5 these in turn became allied with national a ociations. Owing to the initiative of Queen’s Park, the Scottish Football A ociation was founded on 13th March, 1873, and the pastime gained ground far more speedily in Scotland than in Wngland. Thus in 1875 the Scottish A ociation had 27 clubs in membership; in 1876-7, 91 clubs; and in 1880, 140 clubs. The Scottish A ociation in 1876-7 had an entry of 81 clubs for the Scottish Cup, while the parent A ociation in London had but 57. Scotland began a series of international matches with Wales at Glasgow in 1876, and after that encounter the Welsh A ociation was brousht into being on 24th May, 1876. In 1878 Queen’s Park and the Glasgow exhibition game on the ground of the Ulster Thus were the seeds of ‘“‘the noxious Scottish Caledonians played an Cricket Club, at Belfast. weed” planted in Ireland, and in 1879 the Cliftonville Club was established. The example was followed, and the Irish A ociation was organized in Novy., 1880. With all Great Britain playing this game, the A ociation code was carried overseas, and became throughout the world. The outcome of the foundation of these governing bedies in the British Isles was the International Board, which first ee is consisted of two representatives of in London during June, 1887. each of the four national A ociations, who discu ed and decided ‘‘ proposed alterations in the laws of the game, and generally any matters affecting A ociation football in its international relations.”” When the game extended to most parts of the world, an International Federation was estabJished at Amsterdam, and this body was eventually permitted to send delegates to the International Board, which, however, maintained its power as the makers of the laws. As Great Britain eventually seceded from the Ye deration, the Board remains, as wee the supreme authority on the awe. The spread of the game throughout the industrial centres of England, and the entrance of many ambitious clubs for the English Cup, brought in a democratic element. Fiventually intense rivalry induced clubs to seek out capable players, without any local attachment, and make them members. Many men left Scotland for English clubs between 1880 and 1884. There was no doubt that these importations were secretly paid, and, after great arguments for a year or two, the Football A ociation, in the summer of 1885, made payments—which they were powerle to prevent—legal, and thus gave official sanction to pro recognized fe ionalism. The Scettish A ociation published a list of ‘outlaws,’ but in spite of that in 1890 there were 230 Scottish profe ionals in Erigland. In May, 1893, the Scottish A ociation legalized payments to players, ond other countries eventually accepted what was considered inevitable. From 1885 there was thus a distinet division in English football, the players being cia ified as amateur and profe ional. The profe ional side of the game has become entirely spectacular, and has attracted more public attention, but there is far more amateur football. In order to obtain money to pay wages, the big clubs in England met in April, 1888, and formed the Football League. This consisted of Preston North Wand, Welverheampton Wanderers, Bolton Wanderers, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Derby County, Notts County, Burnley, Steke, Acc ring ton, and Black burn Rovers. There were only five rules. The first bound the clubs not to cancel League Matches, and the third decreed that League Matches must be played in full strength. This departure caused the instilution of preliminary qualifying stages fcr national trophies, and the exemption of powerful clubs so that they could carry out their League programmes. The Football League gradually grew in importance, and in the season of 1921-2 had 86 clubs, in four sections, playing matches under its management. The League system has not only been of great value to clubs employing profe ionals, but has tended to the order and discipline of amateur clubs both in football and other sports.; In1890 the Scottish Football League was arranged, the clubs then consisting of the Heart of Mid loth i an (who took the first steps), Glasgow Rangers, Glasgow Celtic, Paisley St. Mirren, Third Lanark, Paisley Abercorn, Dumb art on, Cambuslang, Vale of even, and Cowlairs. Tho Qucen’s Park, which has ever remained the most prominent amateur club in the world, declined an invitation to join the League, but in 1900-1, after holding out for ten years, Queen’s Paric joined the League, but preserved their Constitution, thus being the only amateur club a ociated with either the English or Scottish Leagues. A federation of eight clubs banded themselves together to make the Irish League in 1890-1, and for the season of 1921-2 the Welsh League, conceived on a national basis with northern and southern sections, commenced its operations. The pastime of the schools has become a highly organized spectacular 513 FOOTE sport provided by profe ionals, rigidly controlled by a ociations and leagues. With all this development of one side of the game, it should not be overlooked that in England, where there are 8,000 registered profe ionals (the great majority being artisans attached to relatively small clubs), there are 800,000 amateurs. For every one profe ional there are 100 amateurs—a fact which is too often overlooked because the profe ionals’ matches attrach mammoth crowds, whereas the amateurs play for their own recreation and amusement, and not to entertain those who look on at games. —RBIBLIOGRAPHY: K. R.. Hunt, A ociation Football; J. EK. Raphael, Modern Rugby Footbali; Sir Montague Shearman, W. J. Oakley, G. O. Smith, and Frank Mitchell, Football (Badminton Library); Official Footbail Guide (Spalding’s Athletic Library); R. H. Barbour, Zhe Book of School and Coilege Sports.