Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural History

ISBN-13: 9780415396158 / Angielski / Miękka / 2006 / 272 str.

Tony Collins

Opis

Called 'the greatest game of all' by its supporters but often overlooked by the cultural mainstream, no sport is more identified with England's northern working class than rugby league. This book traces the story of the sport from the Northern Union of the 1900s to the formation of the Super League in the 1990s, through war, depression, boom and deindustrialisation, into a new economic and social age. Using a range of previously unexplored archival sources, this extremely readable and deeply researched book considers the impact of two world wars, the significance of the game's expansion to Australasia and the momentous decision to take rugby league to Wembley. It investigates the history of rugby union's long-running war against league, and the sport's troubled relationship with the national media. Most importantly, this book sheds new light on issues of social class and working-class masculinity, regional identity and the profound impact of the decline of Britain's traditional industries. For all those interested in the history of sport and working-class culture, this is essential reading.

Spis treści

Preface  Introduction  1. Rugby League and the First World War  2. League on the Dole? The game in the depression years  3. Masters and Servants: The Professional Player 1919-39  4. Wembley and the Road from Wigan Peir  5. Rugby League in the ‘Peoples’ War’  6. From Boom to Bust 1945-75  7. ‘Chess with Muscles’: The Rules of the Game  8. The Kangaroo Connection: Anglo-Australian Rugby League  9. ‘Sporting Apartheid’: Rugby Union’s War against Rugby League  10. The Working-Man’s Game: Class, Gender and Race  11. The Other Amateurs: Beyond the Heartlands  12. From Slump to Super League 1975-1995  13. A Proletariat at Play  Appendices  Bibliography

O autorze

Tony Collins is Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University,Leicester,UK and editor of the jour□nal Sport in History. His publications include the award-winning Rugby’s Great Split