the laws of the game. Thompson disagreed with Wills about many aspects, as he thought that Wills was trying to implement more Rugby School rules into the game. Wills, however, did manage to implement many of the Rugby School rules, such as place kicks and marks. The disagreements culminated in 1860, when Melbourne, whom Thompson was captaining, played Richmond, whom Wills was captaining, and Wills used his position as captain to declare that he and his team would not play unless they used the oval shaped, Rugby School-styled ball, as opposed to a round ball, such as is used in association football, which had been used in all matches up to this point. In the end the game was played with an oval-shaped ball and to this day Australian rules football still uses that particular shape of ball. Journalist Thompson wrote for Melbourne-based newspaper, The Argus, for many years, contributing a weekly sports column, generally writing about cricket in the summer and football in the winter. After his falling out with Wills he used the column to criticise Wills for not turning up to a Victorian cricket team practice and for failing to provide an excuse. Thompson was editor of The Victorian Cricketer's Guide for 1859–60. Death and legacy Thompson died in Melbourne, on 18 July 1877, at the age of 48, from a combination of excessive alcohol consumption and bronchopneumonia. Former Chief Executive of the Australian Football League (AFL), Andrew Demetriou, wrote in the introduction of The Australian Game of Football, "Our game does not belong to an idea by Tom Wills or dedicated management by H.C.A. Harrison, but it can be safely said that it was driven by a diverse collective of two journalists (Thompson and Hammersley), a teacher from Melbourne's Scotch College, Thomas Smith, and ... the hotelier, Jerry Bryant." Footnotes Notes References External links Demonwiki profile 1829 births 1877 deaths Melbourne Football Club founders Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Victoria cricketers Journalists from Melbourne Sportspeople from Yorkshire Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English players of Australian rules football Australian cricketers 19th-century Australian journalists 19th-century Australian male writers Date of birth missing Melbourne Football Club captains 19th-century male writers Melbourne Football Club (pre-VFA) players The Argus (Melbourne) people Australian male journalists