Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

26 Chapter Three Raikes’ Meteoric Rise as a Top Quality Footballer In the period roughly corresponding to the early life of George Raikes there were many changes in the game of association football. It was not long before his birth in 1873 that there had been many ‘games’ in the plural, each with their own version of the rules, rather than a unified sport played to a single set of laws agreed nationwide. Many of the changes in the evolution of ‘socker’ (as it was renamed by Charles Wreford-Brown at Oxford around 1886) were overseen by C.W.‘Charlie’ Alcock, the secretary of the FA between 1870 and 1895, who invented almost singlehandedly the concept of the ‘Home International’ matches between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Although some sources disagree, it was not until 1871 that the right to handle the ball was limited to a designated ‘goalkeeper’. The role of the goalkeeper and the rules under which he operated changed as much if not more so than the conduct of the outfielders in the years before Raikes achieved maturity. For many years he was permitted to use his hands at any point within his own half, but, in 1912, his right to handle was restricted to his own penalty box. The crossbar was not made compulsory until 1882, the ‘penalty’ was not adopted until 1891, much to the dismay of high-minded amateurs such as C.B.Fry, who resented the implication that gentlemen might commit such beastly things as ‘fouls’, and the net as invented by John Alexander Brodie, became an integral part of the goal in the same year. The net served two purposes in that it both clarified whether a shot that passed the ‘goal line’ was ‘on target’ and thus a legitimate ‘score’ and also prevented hostile spectators from standing near the keeper and interfering with his performance. As chronicled by modern observers Jonathan Wilson and especially Paul Brown (who I have relied on for much of my information on Victorian football), commentators on the game such as Montague Shearman, Charles Samuel Craven and Charles Edwards stressed the role of the keeper (also referred to as the ‘custodian’). Shearman stated that “Perhaps the most important position upon the whole field is that of the goal-keeper. He must have a cool head, a quick eye and hand, and the longer reach he has with his arms the better. Although, too, he has only to defend the space between the posts, and all his work has to be done between the posts or within a few yards of them, he must be ready to display the greatest possible activity within his limited circle … A word should also be said as to the goal-keeper’s duties when the enemy have a corner kick. First he must see that he is well surrounded by his own side, for if the ball drops