According to the tradesmen, the cause was 'this
football.' The Bursley Football Club had recently swollen into a
genuine rival of the ancient supremacy of the celebrated Knype
Club. It had transformed itself into a limited company, and rented
a ground up the Moorthorne Road, and built a grand stand. The
Bursley F.C. had 'tied' with the Knype F.C. on the Knype ground--a
prodigious achievement, an achievement which occupied a column of
the Athletic News one Monday morning! But were the tradesmen
civically proud of this glory? No! They said that 'this football'
drew people out of the town on Saturday afternoons, to the
complete abolition of shopping. They said also that people thought
of nothing but 'this football;' and, nearly in the same breath,
that only roughs and good-for-nothings could possibly be
interested in such a barbarous game. And they spoke of gate-money,
gambling, and professionalism, and the end of all true sport in
England. In brief, something new had come to the front and was
submitting to the ordeal of the curse.
The sale of the Mericarp estate had a particular interest for
respectable stake-in-the-town persons. It would indicate to what
extent, if at all, 'this football' was ruining Bursley.
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