In later life Lord Baden-Powell advocated the positive aspects of playing football whilst also emphasizing his opinion that, as a spectator sport, it was both morally and physically corrupting:
Football is a grand game for developing a lad physically and also morally, for he learns to play with good temper and unselfishness, to play in his place, and to play the game, and these are the best of training for any game of life.but it is a vicious game when it draws crowds of lads away from playing the game themselves to be merely onlookers at a few paid players.
He also wrote of the unwholesome and hysterical natures of football crowds, painting a most unflattering picture of young British working class males.
By the 1920's, however, the Scout magazine, which carried Baden- Powell's endorsement on the cover, was offering its young readers football tips from some of the professional stars of the day.
The players mentioned on the cover of the issue shown above are:
Ted Hufton- goalkeeper for West Ham United.
Charlie Buchan- the legendary Sunderland and Arsenal inside forward.
Sam Chedgzoy- Everton winger.
Jackie Carr- Middlesbrough centre half.