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 Shankly 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.
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