SPORT & SOCIETYThe History of Sport

Content

Development of Sport in the UK The current state of the Sports Industry in

the UK Contemporary issues in sport in the UK Understanding Cultural influences and

barriers

The Origins of Modern Sport

Pre Industrial Society – Prior to the 18th Century

Population was mostly rural Sport was played for 2 reasons

Prepare men to defend their Country Christianity become more widespread and more

holy days or more commonly known as ‘holidays’

Sports were unorganised, rough, violent with little or no rules

Sports were traditions (some of which continue to this day)

Mob Football was a game of ‘football’ played with a pigs bladder as a ball between 2 villages. The goal was to get the ball to the opposing town square!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyQBSMeIhM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJhJSmQLC9g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pWoH9KfYIY

The UK was not the only place to have these strange sporting traditions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmp4DjtWcuw

The Industrial Revolution

In the 18th Century what was an agricultural way of life became more industrialised with people moving away from the countryside to the city in order to find work

Those who worked in the factory were expected to work from Monday to Saturday from 7am-7pm EVERY DAY!

Longer hours led to increased wages BUT less leisure time

Question! Would you play a violent sport with a huge potential for injury IF you knew if you took the day off of work you would not get paid and be able to support your family?

Because of the pressure of work, sport changed and people became spectators and gambling become a powerful force in British sport

Class Distinctions

There has always been a difference in social class in the UK

Upper Class Middle Class Working Class Lower Class

In the Industrial revolution the factory owners and managers lived in the better houses, had better working hours and had access to a better up bringing for their children

Children of the upper and middle classes were typically SENT OFF to boarding schools

Some famous examples are Eton Windsor Rugby Marlborough

The Formation of Rules

With the boarding schools having students from across the country they discovered that there were not common rules for similar games

Someone playing football from London would have different rules to someone from Bristol

The Elder Students (eg. Head Boys etc) within their own school developed their own rules for the sports played in their school (some still exist)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anoIGVz0Fs0

This meant that schools had similar games but different rules which made fixtures very difficult.

To play another school they had to agree on whose rules to use!

1860’s

With the introduction of train lines and an increase in wages and fortunes for the factory workers more people could afford to visit the countryside to watch sport

The better transport links meant that more inter-school fixtures were being played so something needed to be done about the rules

The head boys got together and began to codify common rules for sports such as Football, Cricket & Athletics

The factory owners encouraged their workers to take part in sports as they believed (seeing the effect it had on their children) it encouraged the skills of teamwork and loyalty

The church used successful sportspeople to promote ‘Muscular Christianity’ and use it to teach the core values of the bible

By the start of the 1900’s most factories had their own sports and social clubs and competed regularly against other teams.

Better working conditions meant that workers only had to do a ½ day on Saturdays. The other ½ reserved for sporting pursuits. Hence the reason for 3pm kick-offs for Football Matches on Saturdays.

This tradition still continues in Universities with Wednesday afternoons being reserved solely for sporting activities

Formation of Governing Bodies

The upper and middle classes saw the need for a national set of rules for everybody to follow.

The FA was officially set up in 1863 and it the UK’s (and the Worlds) oldest National Governing Body (NGB)

Clubs had to affiliate (join) the NGB in order to participate according to their rules

12 London football clubs met in 1862 to agree common rules. The founding clubs present at the first meeting were;

Barnes Bucks FC (High Wycombe) Civil Service Crusaders Forest of Leytonstone (later to become Wanderers) N.N. Club (No-Names Club) (Kilburn) Crystal Palace Blackheath Kensington School Perceval House Surbiton Blackheath Proprietary School

Most of these clubs now play Rugby Union

As the NGB’s grew in size they started to introduce competitions (such as the FA Cup or the Football Association Challenge Cup, to use its official name) which started in 1872

The success of these competitions and leagues led to more clubs joining the NGB’s and organised sports generating more and more spectators which led to another debate

Amateurs & Professionals

Amateurs play sport for the ‘love’ of the game and not for remuneration

Professionals get paid The upper and middle classes believed in the

purity of sport and taking part for the love of the game

“its not the winning that is important, it’s the taking part”

Sometimes the best players could not afford to play as they would lose wages!

Some NGB’s accepted this. BUT it caused a crisis in Rugby!

Formation of Rugby

In 1823 a student of Rugby school called William Webb Ellis (the name of the Rugby World Cup) whilst playing football (remember there were no official rules) decided to pick up the ball and run with it

Unsure of this development his opposing team-mates were unsure of how to stop him scoring. Hence, the tackle was born!

Rugby is very similar in its original formation to football.

Hence the NGB names of Rugby Football Union Rugby Football League

The first official set of Rugby rules were formed in 1843

When the students who played these games left school they took the games and the rules back to their towns and villages and subsequently (like any other major sport) this is how the sport developed.

Rugby’s Crisis

In the late 1800’s there was a distinct North/South divide. The north being poor and the south being affluent

In order to play Rugby, players from the North had to lose a days wages, whilst those from the south could afford to lose the days wage.

This led to players from the North being PAID to play on the Saturdays to recompense for their days loss of work

The RFU (based in London) objected to this as it was not promoting the spirit of Amateurism (even though they themselves paid players on International duties)

On the 29th August 1895 at the George Hotel in Huddersfield, 20 Northern Rugby clubs decided to leave the RFU and form the Northern Rugby Football Union (which became the Rugby Football League in 1922)

The break from the RFU meant that some rules had to be changed (most famously, the 6 tackle rule in Rugby League)

The RFU only became professional in 1997!

The Ancient Olympics

The original Olympics took place in Greece between 776BC till 393AD

They were held every 4 years

Only men were allowed to compete

No female spectators were allowed because…all of the competitors were NAKED

Baron Pierre de Coubertin

French Aristocrat and Historian

Visited the Wenlock Olympic Games in the 1880’s

This inspired him to create a truly global athletic competition

Formed the International Olympic Committee on 23rd June 1894

The first modern Olympic games were held in Athens in 1896

13 Countries took part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KREy

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5YAxU&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Xcl

GwJY8s&feature=related In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing 204

countries took part

The War Years

With WW1 from 1914-1918 and WW2 from 1938-1944 there was an acknowledgement for the need of a healthy nation

During WW1 & WW2 all sporting activities on a national and international scale were stopped and all energies went into training young people to go to war

Training methods used by troops began to find their way into school sports curriculums

PE in Schools

PE has changed significantly since the end of WW2 from a prescriptive regimented style to a more fluid dynamic approach

The National Curriculum was only introduced into schools in 1988!

The National Curriculum prescribed what schools should teach to students in all subjects (including PE)

Before this PE teachers could quite literally teach what they wanted!

The National Curriculum has undergone some revisions since 1988 but in its 23 years it still prescribes what can and cannot be taught in English Schools