SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



Another trophy competed for in the metro- 

 politan district is the Sheriff of London's 

 Shield presented by Sir Thomas Dewar during 

 his shrievalty, to be played for by the two 

 leading amateur and professional teams of the 

 year. The proceeds of the match are devoted 

 to deserving London charities. 



Lord Kinnaird is president of the Football 

 Association and the secretary is Mr. L. Walls. 

 The Middlesex representative on the com- 

 mittee is Mr. W. W. Heard, who is also 

 secretary of the Middlesex Association. The 

 cup tie competitions in the county comprise 

 the following Middlesex Senior and Junior, 

 Middlesex Charity, Inter-Hospital, Tottenham 

 Charity, London Senior, Junior, Charity, and 

 London Banks. 



The various schools in the county have 

 trained many notable internationals. West- 

 minster heads the list with a dozen players, 

 including N. C. Bailey, who not only captained 

 the English team, but played on no less than 

 eighteen occasions. Harrow ranks next with 

 seven, of whom the late C. W. Alcock will 

 ever be remembered. Mill Hill supplied two 

 distinguished internationals in the brothers 

 Heron, whilst the City of London School 

 furnished S. R. Bastard. 



Another far-reaching movement initiated 

 in London has been the formation of the 

 Amateur Foo lall Association. With the 

 great increase of professionalism of recent years 

 in the Association game it was felt that the 

 interests of the amateurs were hardly receiving 

 from the governing body the recognition to 

 which they were entitled, and when in 1907 

 legislation was brought in threatening the in- 

 dividual freedom of action of the player the 

 amateurs felt that the time had arrived for 

 them to form an association of their own. 

 The Amateur Football Association was accord- 

 ingly formed with Lord Alverstone as the first 

 president, and H. Hughes-Onslowas secretary. 

 The amateurs of the county are affiliated to 

 the new association. 



Rugby. After the Rugby clubs had decided 

 in 1863 not to join the Football Association, 

 the followers of the running game continued 

 to increase, but no governing body was formed 

 for some years. At that date the most promi- 

 nent Rugby clubs in the county were Ravens- 

 court Park, the Harlequins, the Wasps, the 

 Gipsies, Addison, Belsize, Hampstead, the 

 Pirates, the Black Rovers, and the Red Rovers. 



The London hospitals also played the 

 Rugby game as well as the following schools : 

 St. Paul's, Merchant Taylors, Highgate, King's 

 College School, Christ's College Finchley, 

 Godolphin School, Kensington Grammar 

 School, and many smaller seminaries. 



In the season of 1870-1 it became evident 

 that the best interest of the sport would be 

 served by placing the Rugby game on a con- 

 stitutional basis with a uniform code of rules. 

 The movement was confined to the London 

 clubs, and of those represented at a meeting 

 held, 26 January 1871, no less than eleven 

 out of twenty-one belonged to Middlesex. 

 At this meeting the Rugby Union was formed. 

 It is worthy of note that ' hacking,' the elimi- 

 nation of which caused the Rugby men to 

 decline to join the Football Association in 

 1863, was forbidden by the code drawn up 

 by the newly-formed Union. Middlesex was 

 well represented on the first general com- 

 mittee as well as in the first international 

 match with Scotland, which was played a few 

 weeks after the formation of the governing 

 body. 



The head quarters of the Union have 

 always been in Middlesex, and in 1908 its 

 new ground at Twickenham was opened, 

 which will be the centre of the game and all 

 international matches will be played there. 



Middlesex was the first of the southern 

 counties to put a football team in the field. 

 On 25 February 1879 they met Yorkshire 

 for the first time and won by 2 goals 2 tries 

 to 2 goals and I try. The same season 

 the county also played Surrey, but were de- 

 feated by a try. In the succeeding season 

 Middlesex suffered defeat from both York- 

 shire and Surrey. On 21 February 1881 

 Lancashire was met at Manchester for the 

 first time, but the visitors were not a repre- 

 sentative side and sustained an easy defeat. 

 In the following season Middlesex engaged 

 the powerful county of Kent for the first time 

 and were defeated by a goal and a try. 



In 1887 Middlesex as the strongest county 

 in the south was selected to do battle with 

 Lancashire, the champions of the north, on 

 the occasion of the Charity Festival organized 

 in London jointly by the Rugby Union and 

 the Football Association. A stubbornly con- 

 tested match resulted in Middlesex, though 

 having the best of the game, being defeated 

 by a try. As a matter of fact Middlesex 

 also gained a try, but the short space marked 

 out between the goal line and the dead-ball 

 line lost them the point. It is worthy of 

 note that his Majesty King Edward VII, then 

 Prince of Wales, was present at the match, 

 and at the conclusion of the game several of 

 the players were brought and introduced to 

 his royal highness. Causa honoris we give 

 the names of the Middlesex team : E. T. 

 Gurdon, A. Rotherham, W. E. Maclagan, 

 C. J. B. Marriott, John Hammond, A. E. 

 Stoddart, W. G. Clibborn, J. H. Roberts, 



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