Winchester College football
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Winchester College Football, also known as Winkies, Win: Co: Fo: or simply "Our Game", is a code of football played at Winchester College. It is akin to the Eton Field and Wall Games and the Harrow Game in that it enjoys a large following from Wykehamists and old Wykehamists but is unknown outside the community directly connected to Winchester College. The Winkies season is during Common Time (spring term).
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[edit] History
Winchester Football was originally played down the length of Kingsgate Street, with each team attempting to move a football from one end of the road to the other, with little or no rules or regulation to spoil this most primal version of the beautiful game. The only tribute modern winkies bears to this earliest form of the game are the measurements of a modern canvas, fitted to a particular section of Kingsgate Street.
Most likely after one broken window too many the game was moved a safe twenty minutes walk away from the College to the flat, grassy top of St. Catherine's Hill. The game persisted with few rules, but now required a long line of junior men to keep the ball from rolling down the slope and disappearing into the canal below, the myriad "kickers in" were long ago replaced by a few "watchers out", responsible for collecting the balls Stapleton skies out of the canvas. The first addition to winkies which remains almost unadulterated in the modern game were then made when the lines of kickers in became depleted due to injuries caused by overenthusiastic players colliding into them whilst in the pursuit of rogue balls, and ropes were erected down the lengths of the pitch, supported by nine solid posts.
In the early nineteenth century, the necessary changes to the rules were made for winkies to evolve from a horde of crazed Neanderthals chasing a ball, to the cultured, civilized affair that it is today. The fundamental rules of "dribble" and "tag" were added at this stage, presumably followed by the other rules. The game was also moved from the top of St Catherine's Hill to where it is played now, on Meads, as well as in Palmer Swamp. At the same time as this move, the lines of kickers in were finally replaced by canvas sheets, and very soon afterwards by netting, in order to allow others to appreciate the game without the aid of a ladder.
[edit] The Pitch
Winkies is played on a pitch known as a "canvas", which is approximately 80 metres long and 15 metres wide flanked on either side by 2 metre high netting designed to prevent balls from being kicked off the pitch. Approximately a metre in front of the netting and running parallel to it is found a thick one-metre high rope supported by nine stout posts at intervals along the canvas (seven on some of the smaller pitches on Palmer Field). The distance between two adjacent posts is known as a "post"; hence the total length of the canvas is eight posts. The inaccessible area between the ropes and the netting is known as "Ropes". The area off the end of the pitch is known as "Worms". School lore holds that the dimensions of the pitch is modeled after a particular section of Kingsgate Street in the town of Winchester.
[edit] Teams
Teams are made up of 6, 10 or 15 people. Until 2002, there was also a junior competition (Jun IXs) with teams of 9; this is now played with teams of 11. In VIs, there are two "kicks" (full-backs), one "hotwatch" (half-back) and three "hot" (scrum) players; in Xs, there are two kicks, two hotwatches and six hot players, and in XVs there are three kicks, four hotwatches and eight hot players.
[edit] Rules
The aim of the game is to kick the ball (a standard association football) into Worms - the area at either end of canvas.
There are a few main rules in Winkies and most revolve around the basic principle that each team can only kick the ball once before the other team touches it. These are called "tag", "dribble", "behind your side", and "handiwork". "Tag" occurs when a team-mate kicks the ball, and a man on his own team then kicks it without waiting for the other team to touch the ball. If, however, the ball goes backwards off the first kick, the second man may play the ball "down", ie kick the ball lower than five feet up. "Dribble" is much the same, but occurs if the same man touches the ball twice. "Behind your side" is designed to stop people loitering up the pitch. Once a man on your team kicks the ball, you must endeavour to get back to the point where he kicked the ball from before you can move forward up the pitch. "Handiwork" is any illegal use of the hands. Only the kicks (full backs) can use their hands to control the ball. Any other man may catch the ball on the full toss, but use of the hands at any other time is deemed handiwork. A catch on the full toss by any player enables them to take up to three steps and then "bust" (punt) the ball, usually as far as possible. Breaking any of these rules means that play is brought one or two posts back for a hot (scrum).
In a standard team of 15 men, there are 8 forwards, known as hotmen, collectively known as the hot, who play like a rugby scrum. Whenever the ball goes out of play, or a minor foul is committed, a hot is held. This can be held on ropes at the side, where the object is to flick the ball past the opposing team, thus making them all offside and forcing them to retreat under the "behind your side" rule, or into the middle of the pitch. However, unlike in rugby, the ball cannot be hooked by any player until the front row of one hot is entirely over the ball, at which point the ball is "through".
Once the ball is out of the hot, the hotwatches (half-backs) try to get the ball past the hot, either to kick the ball into Worms, or to kick the ball into Ropes. Alternatively, they can choose to knock the ball backwards to a better placed 'kick', remembering that the kick must play the ball down. If at any stage during the game the ball enters Ropes, it is usually the job of the hot to go in and retrieve it, by getting the other hot out of the way.
The winner is the team with the most points.
[edit] Scoring
Points are awarded as follows: Behind: 1 Point; Conversion: 2 Points; Goal: 3 Points.
A 'Behind' is scored if the ball enters Worms after first been touched by an opposition player or if, at any stage after having been kicked by the attacking player the ball is in Ropes (the area between the nets and the rope). They can also be awarded if a team is penalised enough Posts to cross back into worms. Once a Behind is awarded play resumes as follows. All members on both teams except the Kicks on the scoring team must cross into Worms. The ball is placed one metre in front of Worms along the centre line of the canvas. The ball is then played forward by one of the opposition players, usually one of the Kicks. The ball must be "down" and go at least two posts before stopping or entering ropes. At this point the Kicks on the scoring team aim to kick the ball back over into Worms. If they succeed in doing this they score a 'Conversion', and the 'Behind' is converted to a 'Goal' - 3 points rather than he initial one ar awarded. Play then resumes from a 'Bust Off'(punt). This is where one of the opposition Kicks plays the ball out of his hands from Post 1, his objective being to get it as far down the canvas as he can manage.
A 'Goal' is scored when the ball enters Worms without being touched by an opposition player and without being in Ropes. After a Goal is scored play resumes from a 'Bust Off'.
[edit] OTH, Commoners and College
The houses of Winchester College are split up into 3 groups. These are the Old Tutor's Houses (OTH, in brown and white shirts), consisting of Furley's, Toye's, Cook's, Chawker's, and Hopper's; Commoners (in red and white shirts), consisting of Kenny's, Freddie's, Phil's, Trant's, and Beloe's; and College (in blue and white shirts), the scholar's house which has the unenviable job of battling it out against the other houses. Each group has a captain who is responsible for organising their Canvasses and selecting the teams for matches.
[edit] Major Matches
The single biggest match of the Winkies season, and the most attended, is XVs (Fifteens). It takes place before leave-out in Common Time and is played between Commoners and OTH with teams of Fifteen.
The following Tuesday and Thursday after XVs are the two College Xs (Tens) matches. This is where College play Commoners and OTH with teams of ten.
Towards the end of the Common Time is VIs (Sixes) which is the same situation as XVs but with teams of six. This usually isn't so well attended as XVs but the popularity has been rising due to the greater speed and standard of the game.
VIs is preceded by College VIs, again this is the same as Xs but with teams of Six men instead. In these 6 matches each side plays 4 games allowing each a chance at a Grand Slam, though Commoner/OTH grand slams are generally more celebrated than College grand slams. College grand slams, although being less celebrated, are far more impressive as it means that this single house has succeeded in beating the best teams that can be fielded by the ten other houses - however, it has to be said that College usually face slightly weakened teams to account for the advantage given held by the other houses. This was not the case, however, in 2003, when the College X and VI faced full-strength teams from OTH and Commoners, beating all of them, completing a Grand Slam. The last grand slam was in 2004 when Commoners, captained by George Masefield, were unbeaten. Until recently the canvases were only reseeded at the end of each season and this led to a gradual degradation of the surface. Now areas are returfed each year and the College Canvas (the Wembley of the game) is properly drained. This has encouraged the development of so-called New Winkies, a much faster set of tactics invented by OTH and principally associated with the names of Andre de Haes, Tom Rae, William Herbert, Mike Bailey and coach Nick MacKinnon. New Winkies had its first success in 2005 VIs when a good Commoner side was beaten 52-26 by OTH. It is thought that this VI is maybe the best six that have played together for any Commoner or OTH team. Each department had individual brilliance surrounded by a great team spirit. A skillful two footed hotwatch in Bailey, a powerful yet skilfull hot in Prichard, Herbert and Hawkins and two exceptional kicks in Rae and De Haes. It is thought by some that New Winkies will lead logically to the end of XVs in favour of Xs, but this is not the opinion of the originators.
On the last day of Common Time is 'Long Game'. This is a 15-a-side match played by 1st year men (who have been playing the games for just one season) from Commoners and OTH. This is usually quite popular as it is a preview of new talent on both sides. There are also 2nd and 3rd year Long Games but these are usually quite minor.
[edit] Other Matches
Two other notable matches are Herman Pot and Poon Pot. Both are played on the morning of the last day of Common Time. Herman pot is played by the VIth Book I men from Trant's and Phil's. These two houses are traditionally two of the strongest Winkies houses (though possibly not in recent years) and they are both on Culver Road (as such it is a Culver Road Derby).Everyone stays up all night drinking and they have a fun match which is not serious. Last year james keay and jack orlik both broke their legs doing it so drinking has been forbidden due to health and safety. The match is attended by both houses in full and, as all the players are out of their usual position and slightly the worse for wear, it's quite an entertaining game. The result is always twenty seven and a half all. Poon Pot is the Same premise but played between Beloe's and Furley's (a Kingsgate Park (KP) derby) and is always refereed by Mr. Nevin. Recently these two matches have been copied with matches between Chawker's and Cook's (Edgar Road derby) and College and Toye's (Kingsgate Street derby)also being played.
Jun XXIIs is another end-of-term game, although somewhat less competitive as the score is by tradition seventeen and three quarters all. It is played between the junest twenty-two Collegemen who are not otherwise engaged and two top-year Collegemen, usually including the captain of College VI. It is refereed by the Aulae Prae, who will award free busts to all and sundry, giving any reason he chooses. The Bogle Prae (the most Sen Collegeman to keep a bicycle in College) will cycle up and down Ropes, and the crowd will periodically throw buckets of water over the players. By tradition, the result is seventeen and three-quarters all, no matter how many goals have actually been scored. Afterwards, a Hot is held in Logie, the stream which runs between the College buildings and the Warden's Garden.
[edit] Tactics
The principal tactical determinant is the wind. This usually blows from the South West towards College, the ad Coll. direction. H.A. Jackson (coach of OTH for many years and the Bill Shankley of the game) is said to have first posed the riddle: "Under what circumstances in Winchester Football does one win the toss and elect to play against the wind?"; to which the answer is: "Under NO circumstances in Winchester Football does one win the toss and elect to play against the wind". The normal approach therefore has been to win the toss, rack up a big lead, and then run the clock down in the second half by use of a variety of time-wasting tactics, the main one being to use hotting superiority to deprive the opponents of the ball. For this reason it was always reckoned that strength in hotting was crucial, not so much to secure the ball, for once won the ball must be immediately surrendered, but to delay open play. In the era of very wet canvases it was possible for the side with the inferior kicks to win a game provided they had enough weight in the hot and expertise in delaying tactics.
[edit] Factors leading to tactical innovation
Several factors have come together to make this tactical plan out-dated. In season 1997 College managed to win their VIs against OTH and Commoners by utilising an enormous OP called Sam Wass. Wass secured College very clean ball after pushing the hot two posts. The OTH captain James Pickering suggested at the end of the season that the rules should be amended to reduce the effect of a Wass-type player in what was meant to be a game of kicking skill not brute force. The following season the Pickering Rule was introduced, offering the offended against captain the option of a hot on ropes if the ball was kicked out of the canvas, an option that had hitherto been restricted to offences in close play down ropes. In 2005 season, partly in response to concerns about safety, it was decided that the ball would be called "through", and the hot ended, once the hot had travelled half a post. With dry Januaries and returfed canvases the possibility of the heavier side staying in control of the ball was much reduced. OTH coach MacKinnon, drawing on experience from the court game Fives, then observed that one or two good players in the court game Winchester Football could easily take on eight opponents, especially if their average skill level was low. The final piece of the jig-saw that produced New Winkies was Andre de Haes's observation following the drawn XVs in 2005, that the plants raised by his own team were stopping him from scoring goals. He thus articulated the main paradox of Winchester Football: uniquely among team games your own players can be a disadvantage to you even when they are onside and playing well. If they are offside they are unquestionably playing for the opposition.
[edit] New Winkies
In New Winkies the whole team defends, but once defence switches to attack only four hotwatches strung out parallel to the ball, and the front kick, take part at all. Ideally once breakthrough is made only one player carries the attack, thus removing the possibility of offside and tag. That player (who will often have made a diagonal run from the middle of the parallel line, thus outflanking the melee created by the beaten opponents) kicks the ball repeatedly hard and cannot be penalised for dribble. The remainder of the team are spread four posts back, waiting for easy catches and flyers from defensive panic. It is then easy for the referees to see the opponents breaking the rules. The hoped for outcomes include free busts for prevention of goal by offside and obstruction, and behinds for dribbles and tags. It is a tenet of New Winkies that a behind is better than a goal. Thus far the tactics described are essentially those of Commoners during the High-Fontes era. The true innovations are designed to evolve in every rally the ideal situation of a small number of active attackers against a large number of weak defenders, with the attacking side's weaker kickers well back. This is achieved by only sending one or two boys into the hots on ropes (now much more common because of Pickering) and even sending only three boys to the hots in the middle (now that the maximum loss of ground is half a post, and bearing in mind that the hot is already two posts forward, because a side playing New Winkies does not often break the rules in attack; if they break the rules in defence there is no hot because a behind will usually be awarded). Success in New Winkies presently depends on a side having the better front kick, and the method has gelled around the commanding figure of Tom Rae. When both sides finally adopt these tactics it will depend on which side best understands the implications, and can harness the greater speed of thought. It has already been described as "just a kicks' game" but in fact it is the hotwatches who carry the game to the opponents. Teddy Pybus's formulation best catches the spirit. "Arrive at the ball and do anything you like so long as you kick the ball really hard. Eventually a situation will be created that will allow you, or the front kick or exceptionally the hot men deployed well back, to score."
[edit] VIs tactics
Tactics in VIs remain closely guarded secrets, though it has already been observed that the mammoth 2005 victory margin for OTH was created by simple use of the parallel man, allied to de Haes's technical mastery of defence. Strategic matters (heavyweight hot or six footballers?)are much more out in the open, because the selection of a canvas is public, and selection of the final VI has also always been public, though it seems to the game's gurus that this is an error, and that the team that the opponents will face should be secret up until the first hot of the game. VIs is the most interesting version strategically because six boys are never enough to cover all the conditions a side may face. A balance has to be struck between good footballers and strong hotters and the danger is always of falling between stools. There is a school of thought that a single very strong hotter playing at OP who is unable to do anything else is worth his weight, and this was amply proved by the example of Collegeman Sam Wass in VIs 1997. Also a left-footed kick may be worth selection over an otherwise better right-footed rival.The selection in VIs is like that for a fantasy football team: compromises have to be made. In New Winkies XVs the strategic attitude is more that of American Football's Special Teams: only 25% of your team might be playing at any moment so there are resources to cover all eventualities.
[edit] Future developments
The next developments in the game will be defensive. It is already a truism that in the practice canvases "defence is the last thing to come, and sometimes it never does". It is much harder to coach defence because it will often depend on the skills of the weaker players, and if the opponents are playing New Winkies the attack players will inevitably be stronger. Furthermore the defence are trying to defend a behind, not just a goal; at the present state of development it is believed that a side playing New Winkies cannot be prevented from scoring at least a behind per attack if worms is approached along the rope, thus preventing the "kick out from defence" or "release". There is a radical solution which OTH will be investigating in season 2007 now that the first phase of New Winkies has been validated in 2006 XVs by a 44-35 victory for OTH. It is believed that these developments would be inapplicable in a Xs game, so that the future of the much-enjoyed and socially important XVs version is not jeopardised by New Winkies.
At the Rules Committee meeting of Feb 9 2006 it was decided (subject to the HM's approval) that the ball would be called "through" after it had moved one post. This compromise may prohibit the pell-mell development of the game in the New Winkies direction: OTH were seriously proposing to play their XVs with 3 hot men, 6 hotwatches and 6 kicks. It probably remains true that there is no direct benefit in winning a hot in XVs; it is the view of some that this is a deficiency that should be remedied. One solution is to permit the first kick after the ball is through to be a flyer, thus clearing the inevitable conjestion in front of the first kick behind the hot. However in VIs and Xs this would confer far too great an advantage to that first kick, and the wisdom of the original rule-drafters is once again apparent: should the XVs tail wag the VIs dog?
[edit] Defence
The cornerstone of defensive tactics in Winchester Football matches for many years has been the assumption that conceding a behind (1 point), is always preferable to a goal (3 points). Therefore the defending team endeavours to keep the ball in ropes hoping to keep the score for that rally to at most one point. However with the advent of New Winkies, coupled with the now flat and dry pitches, teams with good kicks are becoming gradually more and more likely to convert a behind, making the long-standing ropes defensive strategy less useful. Although no teams have yet made a move to abandon the strategy altogether defending players are now more often taking chances to fly the ball as far up the canvas as possible instead of tapping the ball into ropes, hoping to out distance the other team's flyers and busts, in exactly the same way as they would if they were attacking. From season 2007 any OTH kick who habitually tucks the ball into ropes will be returned to Palmer Field; it is a sign of incompetence because they must have been standing on the wrong length to kick the ball properly; and it is an act without parallel in any other court game. Similar strictures will apply to those who are unable to keep the ball in the canvas, thus condemning their side to the Old Winkies of a hot in the middle. There is a myth among players that it is a good thing to "kick for touch". Logically however it cannot be, or the game's creators would have specified a higher penalty for doing so than a 50-50 hot (the offended side not having rugby's throw-in or put in advantages, while in soccer kicking the ball out cedes vital possession to the opposition) merely one post back. A player who cannot keep the ball in play must be causing a sizeable opportunity cost if the punishment is so slight.
The principal problem of defence though is that a XVs side has greatly reduced space to park their men when they are defending one post, so Old Winkies inevitably results, with the result that your own men are mostly playing for the other side. It is the belief of the New Winkies gurus that paradoxically the most important area of turf when you are defending is the infinite space behind your own worms, just as in tennis it is the area behind the baseline that gets the most wear. A 20% improvement in defence would have been sufficient to win almost every lost or drawn game of XVs in history, yet at present defence is largely the responsibility of a single one-footed kick, usually the weakest of the three, and fatally he is often drawn forward by his attacking instincts until he is standing at two posts.
[edit] Winchester Football in South Africa
Winchester Football was the most popular football game before the arrival of Rugby in the early 19th century, and later association football. It has long been rumoured that there are still schools left in South Africa which play Winchester Football, but these rumours have never been confirmed.
