judicious introduction of a spirit of competition, which not only gave a stimulus to the clubs already formed in populous towns like Chatham and Woolwich, but also emboldened the more ardent spirits in the outlying districts to form aggregations of players not unfrequently scattered over a wide area who would probably have had no chance of consolidation, unless by very slow process, but for the extraneous influences which necessitated the adoption of a system of combination, the outcome of the same spirit of rivalry which has made Inter-County or International matches the keenest of all contests.
I have gone into the subject of Cup competitions and their effects on the game at some length, because it must be conceded that for good or evil they have played an important part in the history of Association football. Nor will any one, I fancy, be bold enough to dispute that the institution of the parent Cup in 1863 was practically the initiation of a new policy which had very important bearings on the future of the game.
A record of Association football without some attempt to revive the memories of those who worked so hard to assure the early success of the Football Association Cup, and thereby to lay the foundation of the prosperity of the Association, would be utterly incomplete. The events which led to the inception of the trophy have been already referred to, the names of the clubs to whom its institution was practically due have been given. At that time the Wanderers monopolized the cream of the public school and University players for some years. To have graduated at one of the leading schools or at one of the two great Universities was an essential qualification for membership, though the rules were subsequently relaxed so as to admit of the introduction of a limited number of outsiders.
