Soccer, more properly called association football and the game more universally played than any other, is to England what baseball is to the United States. The annual Football Association Cup playoff in the spring is as great an event as our World Series. It practically paralyzes the nation for a day, and crowds of 100,000 fans are not unusual. Last year the British spent £74,000,000 on football pools, a weekly excitement that is legally indulged in by most of the population. To celebrate a long and hearty life the Football Association, granddaddy of the game, last year sponsored a fine arts competition. On these pages are shown a few of the entries, portraying soccer's more decorative aspects as seen by some English contemporary artists.
"Clapham common" by Daphne Chart, included in a London exhibition of football art, is mosaic of action and color seen through goal screen.
"Captain, supporter, mascot" form colorful painting by James Holland.
"Winter evening" by Fred Uhlman conveys the feel of crisp air and the gentle shades of evening sky as darkness falls on the village common and the young men at their game.
"Craven cottage," a large soccer field in the London area, is glimpsed in this angled view, painted by M. B. Critchlow, of tense action and packed stands in a professional game.
FOUR PHOTOS
COURTESY OF FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF GREAT BRITAIN
