History of Sport & Games

Sporting events and changes are influenced by the current economic, social and political situations. In sociology we have the following 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 the changes in sport over time.

Medieval period (1200 - 1485)

People had little time or energy for recreational activities
Leisure time activities were confined to feast days
Games were local in nature, each village having its own traditional activities
From time to time the government would ban these 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 link with merrymaking

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 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 enabled greater participation in sport for most social groups
Amateur administrators only reluctantly allowed commercial forces to enter the world of sport
Professional sports people 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

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

MACKENZIE, B. (2004) History of Sport and Games [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/history.htm [Accessed

Associated Pages

The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page: