The aim of this essay will be to explore the evolution of sport in pre-industrial Britain and the process of sportisation that took place towards the end of the eighteenth century.

Very little is known about sport in pre-medieval and medieval times due to the lack of literature about the subject. At this time the only people that wrote on a regular basis were members of the church whose prime concern were those matters involving the church. There is little surprise then to find, that what we know about medieval sport comes from such sources such as sermons, court proceedings, ecclesiastical records and edicts to control or limit games. Fortunately for historians much can be learnt from pictorial evidence about how our ancestors played sport.

Sport in its earliest form can be traced back to pre-Christian rituals which promoted the development of competitive behaviour. Habits began to emerge out of this ritualistic play and developed outside of the framework in which they were formed. These habits were to live on in communal games where huge groups of people struggle to carry a ball to their home base. Whose original significance was probably the conflict over an animal or even human head whose blood would be deemed enriching to the crop fields of its captors. Examples of such games include the Kirkwall football game where the captors would dip the captured head in the harbour to ensure prosperous fishing returns. There is also evidence suggesting that similar games were played after battles, using the head of a vanquished opponent.

At this point in time opportunities for leisure were limited by the harsh demands of the environment in which people lived. There was no time to develop complicated or sophisticated games and most people probably lacked the nutritional energy to indulge in regular physical activity. However, one of the more formal aspects of these early communal games was the times at which they were played. Most of the early forms of sport and leisure were closely associated with specific dates in the agricultural and religious calendar. The medieval sporting year would begin in spring and its sports were often of a more violent nature, such as tug o’ war contests, wrestling and early forms of football. Whereas the games practised during the summer holidays were gentler in form and mainly consisted of running, throwing and jumping.

As sport grew through the Middle Ages it started to free itself from these set points of play and there began the growth of more distinctive games, some of which were recognisable ancestors of the sports we play today.

“A feature of the growth of sport in the Middle Ages was its gradual freeing from total dependence on set points in the agricultural and ecclesiastical calendar”

(Brailsford, D. 1992)

Mob sports were at a high point and the working class often played communal games of football much to the consternation of the aristocracy. The success of the long bow at the Battles of Bannockburn in 1314 and Crecy in 1346 was highly influential on the development of sport. King Edward II banned the playing of football on festival days, local sheriffs were given instructions to ensure that ‘everyone in the shire, on festival days when he has holiday, shall learn and exercise himself in the art of archery’. However closer research has shown that these edicts were often temporary, arising at times of war and were often hard to enforce, it is reasonable to suggest that popular sports were rarely stamped out and the continual appearance of new sports seems to confirm this.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw an expanding economy and subsequently an increase in the playing and watching of sport. This time period also saw a willingness of the social elite to separate themselves from the working class in the way that certain sports were played or the complete avoidance of certain sports. Authors of the time encouraged gentleman to avoid mob sports such as football with its association with the working class and violence. Restrictions were placed on football at the University of Cambridge after an affray at a village nearby in the 1580’s. A Renaissance theorist of the time, Richard Mulcaster, suggested that the game should be more closely regulated, with a referee to sort the players into ‘sides and standings’, to forbid rough play and the shouldering of one another barbarously. Brutal sports such as football, badger and bear baiting were seen to breed criminal, immoral men and were wholly condemned by the church.

“All classes were at the same time losing some of brutality of an earlier age. Bear-baiting, bull-baiting, and cock-fighting were almost dead.” (Gregg, P. 1986)

At this time archery was becoming more of a sport, the first organised archery competition was held at Finsbury in 1583 and attracted 3000 participants. In the late seventeenth century a new force emerged which would have a significant influence on the development of sport. Puritanism promoted absolute purity, the gates to heaven could only be achieved through what a person did during his lifetime. The key to salvation was prayer, a godly domestic life, help to others and hard work, play and sport did not figure and was seen as sinful.

“The unlawful games.......and debaucheries were feared to encourage vice, immorality.......and give rise to so many riots, tumults and other disorders, that numbers of fairs were suppressed by the magistrates” (Mingay, G.E. 1976)

Not that they were against physical manliness, because this was required to do a good days work. By the time of the restoration of the monarchy the puritan attitude was embedded into the national soul. A new sense of purity meant that if sport was to grow and achieve widespread acceptance it would have to shake off its association with rowdiness, dishonesty and bad language. Puritanism brought with it a new attitude towards sport, it was felt sport should not be about play and enjoyment but about taking knocks and bruises as a price for the pleasure.

The foremost historians of sport believed that the economic and demographic changes that occurred during the eighteenth century were detrimental to sport and the once thriving culture of sporting individuals was in rapid decline towards the end of the eighteenth century and had almost disappeared by the Victorian era. These views were shared by Malcolmson (1973), Dunning (1975) and Walvin (1978), the factors attributed to this demise it was argued was a combination of factors which led to a decline in the ableness and willingness of working class people to participate in sport. Influenced to some extent by the events in France at the time, it was claimed, there was a growing feeling of insecurity among the social elite due to the increasing size and influence of the urban population. This forced the land owning aristocracy and gentry back into there own exclusive social world leading to a reduction in patronage from the social elite, which was assumed to be vital to the survival of a mass sporting culture. This led to many working class sports lacking the necessary support they needed in order to function. However it was also argued that some working class men opted out of sport on their own judgement, due to growing desire for respectability and the growing unrest caused by the dependence on patronage from the social elite.

The establishment of better policing during this period was also seen to be detrimental to the more violent sports, urbanisation meant there was an increased need for better policing to protect property and maximise profits. With more efficient policing it was easier to stop the violent sports from taking place thereby depriving people of sport to take part in.

The resultant outcome of all these factors was that by the second quarter of the nineteenth century a thriving sporting culture only existed among the social elite whose

own violent sports were protected from criticism because they were practised on private land by civilised men who would not be corrupted by the brutal nature of their sports.

Towards the end of the eighteenth century there was a marked expansion of the traditional public schools. The number of pupils attending public schools rose tremendously, due to an increase in the number of families who could afford to send their children to these schools. The industrial revolution had created a new social class who wanted their children to receive a good education

“This [Industrial Revolution] created a class of wealthy merchants and manufacturers who wanted a boarding school education for their sons and were prepared to spend money to get it” (Hill, C.P. 1985)

This quote shows that this new breed of merchants and manufacturers had both the will and the money to send their children to public schools. This new influx of income meant that the public schools were able to spend lavishly on new facilities for sport and recreation. One factor that effected the development of sports in public schools was the fact that invariably the boys all came from different parts of the country and had different versions of many popular games. The boys soon realised that if they were to play these games on a regular basis a specific set of rules had to be drawn up. The rules of these games were often influenced by the type of facilities available at schools

“the ‘close’ at Rugby with its soft turf ; the ‘Quad’ at Charterhouse, where the dribbling game emerged ; and the unique version of mob football found at Eton where the ‘wall game’ was instituted (Davis, B., Bull, R., Roscoe,J., Roscoe,D. 2000)

Public schools gave their pupils considerable time away from the classroom and they used this time to play games that they had learnt at home. The pupils themselves were responsible for organising and setting up these sports. The ample time available to play them meant that participation became much more regular with games being played throughout a whole season.

During the 19th century the popularity and acceptance of sport was increased due to a phenomenon known as ‘Muscular Christianity’. This stated that sport was of some use when educating children because it was character building and taught children moral values. At Rugby school Thomas Arnold set out to create morally responsible Christians who knew the importance of right and wrong.

“Thomas Arnold set out to make his pupils Christian gentlemen with a strong sense of their responsibilities as leaders of English life.” (Hill, C.P. 1985)

It is important to recognise however that the athletic and sporting connection to these values came from the boys themselves. Their enthusiasm for sport was taken by Arnold and used as a way of showing them discipline i.e. obeying rules, leadership and teamwork.

It was not until twenty years following Arnold that the full leap to ‘Muscular Christianity’ was made. The influence of headmasters such as Arnold was carried on by their pupils and taken to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. At these universities athleticism was allowed to grow and develop and the Oxford versus Cambridge competitions often highlighted the best performers in a wide range of sports. These elite performers went on to become assistant masters at public schools and were often engaged with coaching the younger boys. As new colleges were opened across the country the headships were more often than not given to these assistant masters from public schools leading to a new breed of headmaster. These new headmasters were in favour of sport as an educative medium and actively supported sport in their schools. The amount of sport that was played in public schools was on the rise and it was not unusual for the boys to spend five hours a day, playing just a single sport. With the introduction of professional coaches the standard of amateur play increased dramatically. Matches between rival schools and public schools and gentlemen’s clubs increased the necessity for further codification and it was these matches that started regular organised ‘rational recreation’.

Up until the nineteenth century female participation in organised sport was very sparse, girls public schools were very wary of female participation in sport because it was deemed to be ‘not lady like’. By the middle of the nineteenth century however many girls schools and colleges were offering girls the opportunity to play in sport. Cheltenham Ladies’ College had a wide programme of afternoon games which included, callisthenics, swimming and horse riding. Even at these schools however, female participation in violent or aggressive sports was not permitted, as it was still seen as not being ‘lady like’. It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that girls schools had an extensive athletic programme and these schools were to pave the way for the growth of female athleticism in the society. Outside of the girls schools and colleges, the development of female participation in sport was much slower. For the most part of the nineteenth century the only sports to attract significant numbers of female participants were croquet and archery. However during the period between 1870 and the First World War the number of elite women’s performers was on the rise.

“By the outbreak of the First World War the percentage of upper- and middle-class

females taking an active part in sport outside the home was significantly larger than it had been little more than a generation before” (Guttmann, A. 1991)

They had also taken steps away from popular recreation towards a more formal and institutionalised form of sport. The sports that women had started to play were based around rigid organisations and governing bodies, they were also more physically exhausting and rigorous. In some sports such as archery and punting the first national championships for women were introduced in the 1880’s. One of the underlying factors of these changes was the increased acceptance of female participation in sport. It was now seen as necessary for women to be fit and healthy so that could produce fit and healthy babies. This was particularly emphasised by the upper- and middle-class because of the potentially destabilising nature of a society where there was an imbalance between the number of middle and working class citizens. As the acceptance of female participation in sport grew due to new ideals, women were given new opportunities to play in sport even at this time though, they were still severely restricted and not allowed the same freedom as males.

Outside of the public schools the industrial revolution meant that the way working class people participated in sport had to change. Before the industrial revolution, in the time of cottage industries the workers themselves were responsible for the times at which they played sport. Urbanisation swept the country the smaller close knit communities dissolved and gave way to larger more mobile groups of individuals. The commercialisation of agriculture and a switch in emphasis from agriculture to manufacturing and from domestic handicraft industries to factories meant that factors detrimental to a mass sporting culture arose. One of these was a reduction in the time available to take part in sport caused by longer and more regular working hours due to the requirements of commercialised agriculture and factories. Another reason was due to the constraints imposed by urbanisation, the enclosure of waste and common land reduced the areas within which sport could be played thereby leading to fall in participation levels. The machines and factories of the Industrial Revolution meant that workers were under the jurisdiction of the factory owners. They very often had to work 72 hours a week just to bring home enough money to survive, there was very little time for recreation. During the latter part of the nineteenth century however all of this changed with the advent of the Saturday half-day. This provided workers with a set time to play sport and by the end of the nineteenth century the working week of working-class males was cut to 57 hours. This meant that most sporting activities took place on Saturday afternoon a tradition which has lasted through to modern times. With the move towards a more concentrated ‘rational recreation’ sport became more commercial and professional than it had ever been. The improved transport system (e.g. railways) meant that journeys took hours instead of days, so participants and spectators were able to travel further to get to sporting occasions.

“Sports as diverse as cricket, horse racing and soccer were transformed from local into regional and, in some cases national events by the effect of improved transport systems on the mobility of participants and spectators.” (Tranter, N. 1998)

Gradually sport began to be embraced by the factory owners and employers, many of them starting sports clubs in the belief that it would improve the health, loyalty and morale of their workforce. Competitions between rival factories enhanced sports appeal and also changed its emphasis from merely a leisurely pursuit to something that was taken very seriously. It was from these sports clubs that the beginnings of what we know as sport began, Manchester City Football Club evolved from a club started by the Lancs. & York’s Railway Club (1885).

Due to the new scope and scale of organised sport, drastic alterations were required to the structure of the sports. New governing bodies were set up to produce rules and codes of play, often these governing bodies consisted of the former pupils of public schools.

“Standardised, written rules of play rapidly became the norm rather than the exception” (Tranter, N. 1998)

In 1863 the English Football Association was established by the ‘old boys’ from public schools. It was at this time that sports began to flourish and games that in the past that would have been associated with the gentry and middle-class were being overrun by the working-class. At the beginning of the twentieth century football had become predominantly a working-class game, the number of clubs affiliated to the Football Association had risen from 50 in 1871 to 10,000 in 1905.

“By the close of the decade it [Soccer] already had a substantial following among skilled workers and by 1914 was an overwhelmingly a working class sport.”

(Tranter, N. 1987b)

In conclusion, the development of a more formal type of sport in pre-industrial Britain was due to the civilising process and the condemnation of violent and brutal sports. Sport evolved from Christian rituals and moved away from set points in the agricultural and religious calendar. The civilising process of the sixteenth and seventeenth century and the influence of Puritanism meant that if sport was to survive it had to shake off its association with violence. The gentry began to separate themselves from the working class in the sports they played, and withdraw patronage from the more brutal sports. Without this essential patronage and the increased time restrictions due to the industrial revolution a sporting vacuum was created, whereby the main participants in sport were the gentry and upper class.

The process of sportisation that took place during the nineteenth century can be attributed to a number of factors. The first was the industrial revolution which created a new class of rich merchants and manufacturers who were able to send their children to public schools. This meant that the public schools had a new influx of income and were able to provide better facilities for sport and recreation. The second was the dawn of ‘Muscular Christianity’ which increased the acceptance of sport as an educative medium in the values that it taught children. This meant that more time was allotted for the playing of sport and so the games that the boys played needed further codification if they were to become viable over a long season. Soon inter-school competitions were being played and a new era of competitive sport was born. The third was the creation of the Saturday half-day and the decrease in working hours which freed the working-class and gave them certain times to play sport. Factory owners created teams to improve the health, loyalty and morale of their workforce and they often played against other factory teams in games that were very competitive. From these factory teams emerged the teams of the professional era and the teams which would eventually evolve into the teams of today.

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