History of Sport

Sporting events and changes are influenced by the economic, social and political situations in place at the time. In sociology, there are a number of approaches to the study of sport - Functionalism, Marxism, Social action and Interactionism. Each has a different view on society, the place of sport in society and hence the changes in sport over the centuries.

Medieval period (1200 - 1485)

• People had little time or energy for recreational activities
• Leisure time activities were originally confined to feast days
• Games were local in nature, each village having its own particular activities for feast days
• From time to time the government banned traditional activities in favour of archery training

Tudor and Stuart period (1485 - 1714)

• Traditional folk games and activities flourished in Tudor times
• Puritanism greatly reduced the opportunities to play and types of activity allowed
• After the restoration in 1660, traditional activities were revived
• Sport moved away from its former links with merrymaking and lawlessness

Hanoverian period (1714 - 1790)

• Play and sport were largely ignored by the government
• People of all classes enjoyed their leisure to the full
• Increasing industrialisation demanded regular working patterns
• There was some pressure for Sunday to be a day of rest
• Large gatherings for sport often meant social disorder
• Regular, organised, rule-governed sport on a national scale emerged

Changing times (1790 -1830)

• Traditional sport was under attack from all sides
• Factory owners wanted a regular working week
• Property owners feared the damage caused by large crowds
• Churches criticised idleness, drunkenness and slack morality
• Commercialisation of sport developed, especially in horse racing, cricket and prize fighting

Victorian Sport (1830 - 1901)

• Sport developed in the context of industrial capitalism and class inequality
• Sport became linked to a moral code defined by the middle classes:
• it was accepted that sport developed character and morality
• competition had to be fair and rule-governed with similar conditions for all players
• sport was to be played, not for reward, but for its own sake
• Nationwide sport developed through the influence of technology, the public schools and the national governing bodies
• For the masses, Saturday afternoon free from work was the turning point, enabling them to play and spectate
• Amateur and professional sport became increasingly separated
• Working class sport in school was limited largely to drill and therapeutic gymnastics

Edwardian Sport (1901 - 1918)

• Organised sporting involvement expanded rapidly across all classes
• Increasingly, the different classes played their sport separately
• Public school athleticism still dominated sport
• Male working class influence increased, notably in football in England and rugby in Wales. However, working class women were largely excluded from sporting involvement
• Commercialisation of sport continued with large numbers of spectators and increased numbers of professionals in major sports
• Sport was increasingly a matter of national concern

Between the world wars (1918 - 1940)

• Steady growth in sports participation continued for all classes of society, although working class worm were least involved
• Most sports were still class orientated
• Football (in all its versions) continued to increase in popularity and by the 1930s, was the most popular sporting activity
• Lack of facilities became an issue, particularly when national teams failed
• There was little government involvement in sport, apart from physical education in schools
• School physical education moved from therapeutic exercises to creative physical training
• Commercialisation of sport expanded rapidly, especially the provision for spectator sport
• Sport, as a part of a national culture, now extended to the majority of the population

British Sport (1940 - Today)

• An improved standard of living has enabled greater participation in sport for most social groups
• Amateur administrators only reluctantly allowed commercial forces to enter the world of sport
• Professional sportspeople had a long battle to be given fair rewards
• Television coverage increased in importance for sport and the sponsors
• The definition of amateurism for competition was replaced by the concept of eligibility
• Central government involvement in sport has always been fragmentary
• There has been a long standing under funding of sport by central government
• An advisory Sports Council was established in 1965 and the independent executive Sports Council in 1972
• Physical education was established in the 1944 Act for its educational value
• The movement approach conflicted with traditional games teaching
• Physical education moved away from educational values towards physical recreation and more recently towards health-related fitness
• Various academic qualifications in physical education stimulated scrutiny of the subject (for example, BEd, CSE, GCSE, A-Level)
• Physical education is now established in the national curriculum as a foundation subject
• There has been an increasing influence of market forces on schools, physical education, sports facilities and sport.