Newcastle’s record of 96 goals scored aiid 58 conceded in 1926-7 made for an interesting comparison with Huddersfield’s performance two years earlier. In their second championship-winning season the Yorkshire club’s goals column read 69-28, their defence proving even meaner than Liverpool’s. For Newcasde to have scored 27 more goals but let in 30 more suggests a cavalier approach. But the chief reason for the surge in goalscoring v/as a change in the offside law which had been brought in in 1925.
Since the 1870s three players were required between the attacker and the goal for him to be onside. Over that 50-year period defences had got the offside trap down to a fine art. Newcasde themselves were arch-exponents. It is said that when one visiting team pulled into die city’s train station and heard a guard’s whistle, a wag chimed: "Bhmey! Offside already!"
Under the new law only two players were now required between the attacking player and the goal for him to be onside. As most teams played the traditional 2-3-5 formation, forwards could now be onside with just the two full-backs to beat. There was a goal avalanche, which was exacdy what the FA had wanted. On 29 August 1925 the first matches took place under the new system and the effect was immediate and dramatic. Villa beat Burnley 10-0, and in the following weeks there was a plethora of high-scoring games. 1703 goals were scored in Division One in 1925-
26, an increase of over 500 on the previous season. Sterile, negative play might have been eliminated but not everyone was thrilled by the goal-fest. Some felt that goalscoring had become devalued and that the ingenuity and skill required to find the back of the net before the rule change was somewhat lacking under the revised system.
The 1923 Cup Final, played at the new Empire Stadium at Wembley between West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers, attracted the largest crowd ever seen at a football match in the country. The King was present and was one of the most keenly interested spectators. Here the nearest fans are seen cheering as the National Anthem is played.
World History
