1st XI v Victoria College, Jersey
On: Wednesday 26 November
Venue: Home
Result: 1 - 5 loss
Charterhouse were very much like the League of Nations in this fixture. The first half was akin to the 1920s. A few successes, with the highpoint (or Aaland Islands moment) coming with Orlando Allen's smart finish, which gave Charterhouse the lead. But though there were other positives in the first half, akin to the work of various committees and commissions of the League, there were also some doubts and a few bits and pieces that made one worry about the long term health of the institution. Victoria College were given a great opportunity to draw level as Charterhouse conceded a penalty after some self-inflicted sloppiness, reminding many a spectator of that incident in 1923, when one of the League's own undermined it by just going and riding roughshod in Corfu for heaven's sake. And they took it. But the balance sheet was largely even when the game stopped for half time and there was no question of lamenting the absence of the so-called 'big powers' from this youthful but hopeful side.
However when the second half started it was like the home side were reeling from the effects of some sort of Wall Street Crash, with the result that they failed to deal with a number of crises, winding up by looking pretty impotent and toothless, like that David Low cartoon showing Japan walking all over the League on its way into a building simply marked 'Geneva'. Charterhouse, like the unfortunate League of Nations, were unable to deal with the aggressive intent of an opponent. Appeasement didn't work in the 1930s and it was never likely to work on Big Ground either. As Santayana said, 'those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it'. And the thing is, if you don't mark opposing players in the six yard box from a corner, they will probably score. And then if you don't do it again, they'll probably score again. It's very possible that was exactly what Santayana had in mind.
But look the League of Nations was simply a first draft on the way to building a successor, which has proved far more enduring and let's just leave it there before we get into the politics of its effectiveness since 1945. One game to go.