State of Australian Soccer 1913

Sun (Sydney), Tuesday 1 July 1913, page 3

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GOING FORWARD.

PROGRESS OF THE SOCCER GAME

(By O.L)

Remarkable progress has been made by the Soccer code this season, not only in New South Wales, but throughout the whole of Australasia. New clubs and associations have sprung up like mushrooms, and the officials of the Commonwealth Association are of the opinion that the day is not far distant when the dribbling code will be as powerful in the Southern Hemisphere as it is in Great Britain. 

Until the present season the game in this State had been confined to the coastal areas, but now it has spread to Goulburn, Cootamundra, Broken Hill, West Maitland, Lithgow, Eskbank, Portland, and Bathurst. There is every prospect of the game being introduced at Tlngha, Emmaville, Tamworth, Glen Innes, and Dubbo, The development of the code is mainly due to the influx of players from Great Britain. It is interesting to point out that the majority of the players are Englishmen, but in the metropolis and suburbs there are over 50 schools taking part in the competitions, and the game is also gradually, being taken up by the high schools and colleges. In the competitions controlled by the New South Wales Junior Association and the Granville District Association the bulk of the players are native born, and they have given creditable exhibitions of Great Britain's chief winter pastime. 

Next season it is the intention of the Commonwealth Association to hold a carnival week in Sydney; and there is every possibility that representative teams from the whole of the States will be seen in action here. Inter-State games have already been inaugurated. Queensland was in Sydney last week, and out of four matches played they were successful in two, one of which was a test fixture. The Maroons, however, declare that last week's team was by no means the best, there being no fewer than five first-class players who were unable to make the trip, but they are confident that when the Blues visit the northern capital in September they will be lucky if they win a match. 

There are so many really first-class players available in Victoria that the selectors in that State are finding it difficult to narrow them down to a representative eleven. They have decided to play a series of "International" games between, English, Scottish, and Irish born players. When New South Wales visits Melbourne on August 16 they will be faced with a hard proposition, and according to Mr. J. A. Simpson, formerly of Victoria, the New South Wales selectors will have to select only the best. 

Mr. J. Wilde, one of the pioneers of the game in South Australia, who held the position of honorary Secretary of the controlling body, there for over 10 years, is now a resident of Sydney. He has seen all that New South Wales can produce, and is of the opinion that there are men in South Australia who can be relied upon to extend the mother State's best. The ex-South Australian secretary states as in New South Wales the game is spreading into the rural districts. For a number of years South Australia has been endeavoring to arrange fixtures with New South Wales, but owing to various reasons, chief of which is the enormous distance between the States, the Wheatfielders have so far been unsuccessful. Possibly the South Australians' wishes will be fulfilled next season, as the New South Wales body intends to entertain a proposition respecting a trip to West Australia, and it is more than likely that if the tour eventuates a break will be made at Adelaide.