Sport in History

Brother Walfrid (Andrew Kerins) is best known for founding Celtic F.C. in 1888. While his name is known well within the club's history, biographical details of Walfrid are often lacking. Listen as Conor speaks with Dr. Michael Connolly from Sterling University concerning Michael's new book,Walfrid: A Life of Faith Community and Football. The book can be purchased directly from Thirsty Books for a...

This episode features a paper given by Alec Hurley at the British Society of Sport History's Sport & Leisure History seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in London. Though sport clubs are universal, there exists – as nineteenth century French diplomat Alexis DeTocqueville claimed – a uniquely American disposition toward the formation of associations. This presentation will examine the r...

This episode Geoff talks to Jeremy Lonsdale about his latest work on Yorkshire cricket history, 'A Game Emerging: Yorkshire before the coming of the All England Eleven'.The book tells the story of Yorkshire cricket from c. 1750 to the 1840s and in their conversation Geoff and Jeremy discuss the way in which cricket fitted into wider societal change in the county in the 19th Century. Jeremy also di...

In this episode Rob Colls examines the ‘Fight of the Century’ - between the American John Carmel Heenan and the British boxer ‘Brighton Titch’ Tom Sayers - which took place on 17th April 1860. The fight was a landmark in the history of international sport whose staging and coverage encapsulated many of the dramatic social, technological and economic changes taking place on both sides of the Atlant...

Eric Blakely gives a paper on Zoom about his fascinating research into the social background of the 750 or so athletes who competed for Great Britain and Ireland in the 1908 London Olympics. Eric's paper is followed by questions from the audience. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast...

Join Conor Heffernan, Oliver Knabe and Alan McDougall as they discuss the new edited collection Football Nation: The Playing Fields of German Culture, History, and Society. Published in 2022, this collection draws from a range of different fields to discuss the socio-political and cultural importance of football in Germany across the twentieth-century. For more information seehttps://www.berghahnb...

This episode Geoff talks to David Woodhouse about his quadruple award-winning book, 'Who Only Cricket Know: Hutton's Men in the West Indies 1953/54'.Held at the London Library in central London it's a wide ranging discussion in which David explains why the MCC tour of that year was a key moment in the history of cricket and society more generally on both sides of the Atlantic. Inspired by CLR Jame...

This episode is a recording of the paper given by Max Portman at the Institute of Historical Research on 14th Nov 2022.If one is to talk about the importance of sport within East London, West Ham United is always a part of the conversation. As the premier football team within the area, West Ham United are ingrained in the popular culture psyche of East London as much as pie & mash or Eastenders is...

This episode Geoff talks to Dr Rich Parry about his latest book, Swallows and Hawk, which tells the history of South Africa through the medium of MCC cricket tours .Beginning at the end of the nineteenth century Rich tells us how cricket and the development of colonial capitalism went hand in hand throughout the twentieth century on the continent of Africa and how cricket was complicit with, even...

Join Conor Heffernan and David Patrick as they discuss David's upcoming co-edited book with Ian Phimister, A Boxing Legacy: The Life and Works of Writer and Cartoonist Ted Carroll (Rowman, 2023). Ted Carroll was one of the greatest American artists and sportswriters of the twentieth century, most notably as a boxing cartoonist and journalist. As a Black man working in an era when boxing was one of...

The Accidental Sports HistorianRamachandra Guha is a historian and biographer based in Bengaluru. For many years, Ramachandra Guha wrote scholarly, heavily footnoted, academic books and papers which dealt with subjects other than sport, while moonlighting during the weekends as a writer of popular, anecdotal, articles on Indian cricket and cricketers. The serendipitousdiscovery that India’s first...

Professor Richard Holt, whose critical sport on British sport history, opens the BSSH's 40th anniversary with a retrospective keynote on the development of British sport history and the areas still in need of historical attention. We are thankful to Professor Holt for a fascinating paper, which can also be found in print form online at https://www.sportinhistory.org/articles/taking-stock-british-s...

Join Conor and Professor Mike Cronin for a retrospective discussion on Professor Cronin's own career in Irish sport history, the rise of sport history as a discipline in Ireland and the areas still in need of attention. Professor Mike Cronin has been the Academic Director of Boston College Ireland since 2005. He was educated at the University of Kent and Oxford University where he was awarded his...

Join Conor Heffernan and Paul Hawkins as they discuss Paul's new book on English football, the triumph of 1966 and England's relationship with the broader European football community. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms here . Likewis...

Rob Colls is Professor Emeritus of Sports History at De Montfort University. In his Keynote speech at the BSSH Conference 2022 he talks passionately about his life as a historian of sport and his research for his award-winning book, 'This Sporting Life', which tells the story of sport in England from the 18th to the 20th Centuries. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) product...

EDI Rep on the BSSH Exec Dr Amanda Callan-Spenn hosts a round table discussion of the issues around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the world of sports history with a panel of academics at various stages of their careers at the BSSH 2022 Conference at De Montfort University. On the panel:-Dr Paul Campbell (University of Leicester)Dr Lydia Furse (De Montfort University/Twickenham Rugby Museum)...

Join Conor Heffernan and Dr. Alexander Jackson as they discuss Dr. Jackson's new book, Football's Great War: Association Football on the English Home Front, 1914–1918. Learn how English football survived without professional football, the players who played on regardless, illicit payments and so much more. Dr. Jackson's new book is available to buy from Amazon, Pen & Sword and other major bookstor...

South African cricket writer Rich Parry talks to India's leading cricket historian Ram Guha about his life in the game and the state of cricket in India and the world today. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms here . Likewise, Click t...

Join Conor Heffernan and Martin Johnes as they discuss the development of Welsh sport history, Martin's own career trajectory as well as some speculations on the field's future. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms here . Likewise, Cli...

Another podcast to celebrate the BSSH 40th anniversary this year. Today Katie Taylor chats with Dr Neil Carter from the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University. This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the history of sport.. You can find the podcast on all social media & major podcast platforms...

This special podcast episode is part of a series celebrating the British Society of Sports History’s 40th Anniversary. Throughout this series we will be talking to a variety of our members. From those who have been there since the beginning, those that have played important roles in the society, and those who have led changes. Today we are joined by Dr Carol Osborne and Dr Fiona Skillen. Carol is...

This episode Katie Talks to Max Portman about the history of West Ham Football Club in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. Max is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chichester and his current title is: How West Ham United operates as a nexus of communities since 1981? This podcast is a British Society of Sports History (BSSH) production from the UK's leading society for the...

This episode features a paper given by Jon Hughes at the BSSH's seminar series at the Institute of Historical Research. Jon's paper,'We met the most serious opposition in the Ministry of Propaganda': Borders, Limits, and Summits in the German-British mountain film Der Berg ruft / The Challenge (1938)' is a fascinating look at how Anglo-German film-making took place during the increasingly fraught...

Arthur Hopcraft’s much-celebrated The Football Man (1968) comprised chapters based on interviews with representative ‘football men’ of the 1960s – ‘The Player’, ‘The Manager’, ‘The Referee’ etc. But though there is a brief chapter on ‘Football and the Press’, the ever-present match reporter receives little attention. Bryan Stanley Johnson (1933-73) is best remembered for his experimental writing,...

This episode Geoff talks to Dr Duncan Stone about the history of English cricket. Duncan's new book, 'Different Class', examines how cricket in England has a long history of class and racial discrimination which continues to have an impact on the game today. The discussion looks at the difference in cricket culture between north and south, Duncan's own experience playing cricket growing up, and th...