A goal-keeper throwing the ball past the centre of the pond shall concede a free throw to his opponents. The free throw to be taken from the centre of either side of the bath.
12. Should the opposing team throw the ball over the end of the bath, the goal-keeper shall have a free throw from goal ; but should the defending team do so, they shall concede a corner throw.
53. No player shall be allowed to play the ball while holding on by the rail.
14. Any infringement of Rules 7, to, and 53 shall be considered a foul. In the event of a foul being declared against any player, his opponents shall be allowed a free throw in any direction from where the foul took place. A goal shall not be scored from a free throw unless the ball has touched another player before going between goal-posts. When a goal has been scored, the time from the scoring of the goal to the re-starting of the game, or any time lost in dispute, shall be added to the game.
For open water the rules as to goals and goal-keeper were the same as in England.
The Edinburgh League began active work in December i89o, 'and its matches were carried out with success right through ' the succeeding winter. All its games were. con ducted after the racing was over for the year, as the accom modation in Edinburgh was then, and is now at the time of writing, but meagre. Their rules differed somewhat from those adopted by the Scottish Association, the principal differences T 2 being as follows :—When a goal was scored, instead of lining up at their respective ends, the teams took up their positions, the forward lines being three feet from the centre of the pond, and when starting the ball the centre forward of the team against whom the goal had been scored had the throw-off, but had to pass to either wing, and not back. Ten clubs took part in the first competition, but this number was decreased to eight in the second year.
The Irish dubs in Dublin and Belfast had two different sets. That at Belfast was an amalgamation of the English and Scotch rules, but those adopted by the Sandycove and Black rock Clubs were totally different, the swimmers not being allowed to throw the ball at goal, but being required to place it between two painted marks. At the start the players took up their positions, and the ball was hit off from the centre by the side losing the toss for choice of ends.
In the year 1890 the London League greatly extended its sphere of action, and arranged matches between Middlesex and Surrey, Kent, Sussex, and Hants. This was the direct cause of the formation of county associations, the rise and progress of which will be dealt with later.
The League was also desirous of playing Glasgow, and in structed its secretary to try and arrange the meeting. Through error application was made to the central body of the Scottish Swimming Association instead of to its Western local centre.
The Scotch council were entirely in accord with the movement, but wanted an international rather than an inter-town match. As a result, the first international match between England and Scotland was arranged. It was played at Kensington Baths on July 28, 1890, the teams being as follows : England.—F. Browne (Burton-on-Trent), goal ; W. G. Caney (Amateur), and H. F. Clark (Stroud Green),. backs ; J. F. Genders (Nautilus), half-back ; J. Finegan (Liverpool Sefton), W. Henry (Zephyr), and J. L Mayger (Burton-on Trent), captain, forwards.
The English rules were used, but the Scotchmen ably demonstrated that their style of play was the better. They did not indulge in the ducking tactics so common with their opponents, and were far smarter in playing the ball. It was evident that the English ducking' rule was not stringent enough, and that the Scotch game was far superior as an exhi bition of scientific and fast play. It was very often impossible for a player, no matter how fairly he might wish to act, to pre vent fouling his opponent, because he could not always tell whether his opponent had the ball in his possession or not. The Scotchmen did not trouble about this in the least, but simply went for the ball, avoiding ducking in every instance. Another difficulty was the continued holding of a player after the ball had left his possession. When a player legally tackled took the ball under the water, it very often happened that in the succeeding struggle the ball was released, but that the tackler, not knowing this, still held on, and as a consequence had a foul awarded against him. In the shallow end of the bath the Englishmen repeatedly infringed the rule prohibiting standing when playing. It is, of course, hard to avoid standing in the shallow end of a bath, but the leaping from the bottom at the ball was so palpable an infringement that the onlookers quickly acknowledged that the Scotch game was better than that in vogue in England. From this it will be seen that, although England had made far more rapid strides than the sister country in the promulgation of the pastime, the Scotch men had developed and improved their rules to such an extent as to make their passing and swimming powers far superior to that of the best combination England could bring together. The Englishmen were far heavier and speedier than their opponents, but were sadly lacking in skill and strategy. They suffered defeat by four goals to nil.