Page:Association Football and How to Play It (1908) by John Cameron.djvu/77

Rh come into the list, especially through their great Cup-tie with Notts Forest, at the Crystal Palace, in the semi-final of the Cup. A great amount of correspondence was entered into at the time, and everybody really admitted that they were most unlucky to be beaten at the last minute in a blinding snowstorm. Many people will remember how this tie was stopped in the middle of the game, and after resuming it with only a few minutes before the finish the result was a draw. At almost the last moment Notts Forest broke away and scored a goal which many people considered should never have been allowed, simply because they did not see it. The snowstorm was heavier than when the referee stopped the game earlier on, but he allowed it to go on because he expected the game would result in a draw. Whether this is correct or not I cannot say, but the fact remains that the good people of Southampton still maintain that they had not their dues on that day.

Something has been written of late about a goal-keeper letting his side down in a final tie, but I cannot believe that any player, whether goalkeeper or forward, could or would let his side down.

I do not care to enter into the year when my old club, Tottenham Hotspur, won the Cup, but one of the biggest officials in the Football Association came along to compliment me, and said that my side gave the best display of football since Aston Villa won the Cup—indeed, he implied that it was even better than that given by the Villa, which compliment I naturally appreciated. It was indeed a great day at the Palace, and I do not propose to