Football history
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98 FOOTBALL
Rugby game, to be always near the ball, so that the backs had
less ticklish work to perform and a smaller number of them
was deemed sufficient. By
1875,
however, 'passing-on,' as
one form of play, had begun to be known and recognised as
dangerous, and every good team had followed the example
already set by the Scottish clubs of playing two half-backs and
two backs, and of making each forward keep strictly to his
place on the field.
This arrangement, then, of six forwards and five backs—a
fairly equal distribution of defence and attack—held good for
some time. When, however, the practice of passing on be-
came still more common, and the game thus more open, it
grew to be more and more evident that even two half-backs were
not able to cope with the increased rapidity of the play.
The next move—the most important of the many changes
that have taken place—was the removal of one of the centre
forwards to occupy the position -of centre half-back. This
position has become perhaps the most responsible place in
the field ; he who fills it must be possessed of dual capabili-
ties : he must be able to attack and defend, to aid his own
forwards and to keep his opponents' at bay; he forms, in fine,
the keystone of the principle of combination. It is to Scot-
land that the honour of having been the first to demonstrate
the possibilities of combination belongs. The famous Queen's
Park Club started a system of short passing, which proved very
effective and undoubtedly helped Scotland for many years to
show to greater advantage than England in the International
matches. But it would not be quite fair to attribute the
whole credit of introducing passing to Scotchmen. The
peculiar rules of the Sheffield Association caused the teams
from that place to play a loose and disjointed game, which
directly encouraged a certain kind of passing; and indeed the
main feature of their play was to pass the ball from one player
to another. Others of the Northern clubs were not slow to
follow the example set by the Sheffield players, and in those
districts combination soon became the thing to be aimed at.
98 FOOTBALL
Rugby game, to be always near the ball, so that the backs had
less ticklish work to perform and a smaller number of them
was deemed sufficient. By
1875,
however, 'passing-on,' as
one form of play, had begun to be known and recognised as
dangerous, and every good team had followed the example
already set by the Scottish clubs of playing two half-backs and
two backs, and of making each forward keep strictly to his
place on the field.
This arrangement, then, of six forwards and five backs—a
fairly equal distribution of defence and attack—held good for
some time. When, however, the practice of passing on be-
came still more common, and the game thus more open, it
grew to be more and more evident that even two half-backs were
not able to cope with the increased rapidity of the play.
The next move—the most important of the many changes
that have taken place—was the removal of one of the centre
forwards to occupy the position -of centre half-back. This
position has become perhaps the most responsible place in
the field ; he who fills it must be possessed of dual capabili-
ties : he must be able to attack and defend, to aid his own
forwards and to keep his opponents' at bay; he forms, in fine,
the keystone of the principle of combination. It is to Scot-
land that the honour of having been the first to demonstrate
the possibilities of combination belongs. The famous Queen's
Park Club started a system of short passing, which proved very
effective and undoubtedly helped Scotland for many years to
show to greater advantage than England in the International
matches. But it would not be quite fair to attribute the
whole credit of introducing passing to Scotchmen. The
peculiar rules of the Sheffield Association caused the teams
from that place to play a loose and disjointed game, which
directly encouraged a certain kind of passing; and indeed the
main feature of their play was to pass the ball from one player
to another. Others of the Northern clubs were not slow to
follow the example set by the Sheffield players, and in those
districts combination soon became the thing to be aimed at.
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| Sports publications > Football history > (126) |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/231627645 |
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| Description | The association game by W.J. Oakley and G.O. Smith. The rugby union game by F. Mitchell ... |
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| Shelfmark | NG.1661.d.2 |
| Attribution and copyright: |
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More information
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| Description | More than 230 sports publications from the National Library of Scotland's collections. Featured sports include football, rugby, golf, shinty, athletics, bowls, cricket and hockey. Among the material from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are match programmes, club histories, and handbooks. From the late 20th century are promotional materials to encourage greater diversity in sport. Most items cover sports activities in Scotland. There are also publications relating to the Olympics and international matches. |
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