Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, Chapter 8; Clubs cannot just do as they like
The post-war years brought innovation with floodlit football and the beginning of midweek European competitions. The reaction from the English authorities was predictably conservative.
For almost as long as the game had been played there had been an interest in playing it at night. The appeal was obvious. Until floodlights were introduced, winter kick-offs were between one and two in the afternoon in order to prevent matches ending in complete darkness. Bad light could often mean that this happened in the winter anywhere. Employers found themselves suddenly drained of staff when matches clashed with opening hours.
The first floodlit game can be traced all the way back to the 14th October 1878, a representative match between two Sheffield teams at Bramall Lane. This particular evening was considered a great success, but experiments elsewhere were patchier, and there was little question of the FA ever sanctioning their use for anything other than training, friendlies and charity matches.
And as the technology improved, so the FA became more reluctant to allow their use. Herbert Chapman saw them in use when visiting Belgium and Austria and had them installed under the roof of the stand at Highbury. Chapman believed that floodlit football could stem the growing popularity of floodlit greyhound meetings, but the FA’s reaction to this growing interest in playing football at night was in keeping with their attitude towards anything that could be considered innovative by 1930; they placed a complete ban on member clubs playing any matches under them at all. Watford were even rebuked for having floodlights, even though they only had them because Vicarage Road had a greyhound track.
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