The History of Sport

 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

 Pre Industrial Society – Prior to the 18 th 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!

 MeIhM MeIhM  LC9g LC9g  KfYIY KfYIY  The UK was not the only place to have these strange sporting traditions  Wcuw Wcuw

 In the 18 th 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

 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

 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)  0Fs0 0Fs0

 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!

 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

 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 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!

 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.

 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 29 th 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 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

 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 23 rd June 1894  The first modern Olympic games were held in Athens in 1896  13 Countries took part  63IQ 63IQ  AxU&NR=1 AxU&NR=1  JY8s&feature=related JY8s&feature=related  In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing 204 countries took part

 With WW1 from and WW2 from 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 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