Association Football, and How To Play It

"Association Football, and How To Play It" by John Cameron is a sports guide written in the late 19th century. This comprehensive work covers the rules, strategies, and techniques of playing association football, reflecting the game's growing popularity and structure during that era. The book serves as a practical manual for players looking to improve their skills and understand the intricacies of football through dedicated training and proper conduct. At the start of the book, Cameron introduces football as a sport with ancient roots, emphasizing the evolution of the game and the importance of adherence to established rules. The beginning discusses the significance of the Football Association in shaping modern football, touching upon its financial and organizational influence. Cameron highlights various positions on the field, starting with goalkeeping, and outlines the qualities and training needed for each role, setting a foundational understanding for readers who aspire to engage in or improve their play in association football. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

John Cameron was a Scottish footballer and manager. He played as a forward for Queen's Park, Everton and Scotland and was noted as an effective goal-maker and goalscorer. In 1899 he became player-manager at Tottenham Hotspur and guided them to victory in the 1901 FA Cup. As a result, they became the only club outside the English Football League to win the competition. In 1898 he became the first secretary of the Association Footballers' Union, which was the ill-fated fore-runner of the Professional Footballers' Association. He later coached Dresdner SC and during the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany. After the war he coached Ayr United for one season and then became a football journalist, author and publisher. He had previously worked as a columnist for various newspapers before the war.