Posted by Tim on November 10, 1998 at 18:13:19:
In Reply to: Re: John and the football team posted by Robert Dilley on November 10, 1998 at 15:55:42:
In my copy of Winter Holiday John is worried about not getting into the fifteen (ie rugby): there's no mention of the eleven (soccer). Have I missed something? The traditional (snobbish) distinction between the two was that soccer was a game for gentlemen played by ruffians, while rugby was a game for ruffians played by gentlemen (eg AR, who was in his 'house' XV at Rugby School).
For myself, as a hopelessly myopic and ill-coordinated child, one of the great attractions of the S&A series was that there was very little mention of organised team sports, and neither the Swallows nor the Amazons showed any tendency to kick a ball around or to try to hit it with a stick. Swimming round the island, now that was something different.
Tim