November 13, 1899
Liverpool did very well at Newcastle. Fairhaven must be doing the team good. It is an expensive game the special training of football teams, and the item should not appear in the books of the club, unless under special circumstances.
The Liverpool club have gone through the mill, and perhaps the officials, considering the position of the club in the League table, come under the heading of special circumstances, but I think non-interested persons will agree the season is very young for the delicate handling of the players. So do I.
Our Liverpool Association have voted £10 to the war chest for the benefit of the reservists families, and I am awaiting details of the amounts given by our two leading clubs. It is all very well to announce that so much was collected at the Liverpool v So-and-So, and Everton v So-and-So, but what will the clubs give – their sympathy, and allow other people to collect from the men who pay for admission to the grounds?
The public have to stand the racket, and the clubs claim the credit. It is just the same with the benefit matches. I contend if the clubs intend giving a player a benefit, go the whole hog and devote the proceeds of a League match to the occasion, not didale the public out of a six-pence by inducing them to patronise a good fellow and view a farce. The people who go to a football match have various calls under the heading of the relief to reservists’ families, and when they go to a football match may not object to this additional levy, but would like the clubs to do something. So would I.
(Athletic News: November 13, 1899)
XX
"Play Up, Liverpool" 