The Olympic
Ideal & Modern
Sport
This chapter…
 How
sports developed from 18th & 19th
centuries
 How the British way of playing fair & to the
letter of the law – ethics of sport – came
about
Sport is an important aspect of
life within society
Sport like society has gone
through several clear stages

popular recreation
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post - industrialisation
Pre - industrialisation
Pop Rec was a feature of life before industrialisation.
It means ‘recreations for the populace’
Were all classes involved in the same forms of
recreation?
Upper classes – the aristocracy – played …….?
Working classes – the peasants – played……..?
When could the working classes play?
Characteristics of early games
like mob football
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Characteristics of early games
like mob football
 Local,
often rural
 disorganised / unstructured
 few/simple rules
 working class involved
 violent
 participants NOT spectators
 limited equipment/facilities
 played on festivals/holidays
 Based on force not skill
Industrialisation
Society began to change and so did sport!
Leisure time was sparce. Why?
Upper & middle classes unaffected by urbanisation
& continued playing their sport
Urbanisation affected sport
WHY?
Urbanisation affected sport
 No
sporting rivalry
 No space
Traditional sports had to change to suit new
environment
 Machines
dictated working hours – 6 day week
(eventually reduced to 5 ½)
 Church on a Sunday- day of rest
 Poorly paid
 Lack of facilities
What did middle-class factory
owners & the church begin to
do?
What did middle-class factory
owners & the church begin to
do?
Provided land & sports clubs/teams
 Saw
benefits of improving morale & loyalty
 Improving health
 Means of social control
Conditions gradually improved
The improvement
The effect it had on sport
Five & a half day week
Wages increased
Railways developed &
communications improved
Competitions grew in size and so did spectator interest this lead to
PROFESSIONALISM & INCREASED MEDIA INTEREST
Five & a half day week
Sport could be played (only by a
few because of space) so main
involvement was to spectate
Wages increased
Could afford to watch & play
sport
Railways developed &
communications improved
Assisted development of fixtures,
competitions, leagues. Easier
travel meant spectator sport
blossomed
The middle classes controlled sport.
• Dictated leisure time
• Used women & children for cheap labour – disease was common
• Initially no parks & street games were illegal
• Pubs were the cultural centre of the working population
Sports were developed to suit this new
environment
Exam questions
1. Sports were rationalised in the 19th
century English public schools.
What is meant by the term rational
recreation? (2 marks)
2. Why were the majority of sports
rationalised in the 19th century? (4 marks)
Exam questions
1. Sports were rationalised in the 19th century English public schools.
What is meant by the term rational recreation? (2 marks)
1. (Played) regularly/often;
2. (Rules) – written/complex/sophisticated;
3. (Behaviour) – etiquette/codes of behaviour/civilised/fair play/sportsmanship;
4. (Highly Structured) – set times/number of players/boundaries;
5. (Skill) – refined/complex/developed. 2 marks
2. Why were the majority of sports rationalised in the 19th century? (4 marks)
1. Society becoming more civilised/manners/less violent;
2. Middle class were in control of society’s values/social control of working
classes;
3. Industrialisation – need for disciplined workforce;
4. Era of social reform/philanthropists;
5. Mass of population needed entertaining;
6. Lack of space meant no room for old popular recreations;
7. Administration needed as more clubs/national governing bodies.
Emergence of rational recreation
 Traditional
aspects of popular sport
(gambling/drunkenness)became less of a force
because of the moralising influence exerted by the
middle classes via the developing traditions of
public school education
What did middle class sport entail?
Why did the middle classes take part in sport?
3 major contributions to the
emergence of rational recreation:
1.
2.
3.
Codification
 Rules
permit you to compete on equal terms
 Major
influence came from the public schools
where sports were promoted as a means of
providing boys with discipline
 The
boy then took these rules with them to
university & the armed forces – where they
established sports clubs
 The
leaders of these clubs lead to an agreed set
of rules which led to the formation of NGB’s –
what did this do?
Sport & PA was the British dominance
in the world in terms of industrialisation
British way of life went to Europe and further afield
• European & South American football & athletic clubs were soon
developed for the British travelling abroad – however the locals
began enjoying these new games
• In far-flung corners of the world British dominance was evident –
armed forces, British missionaries, engineers & administrators
Exam question
 How
did the 19th century public schools and
universities influence the development of games
and their spread into wider society? (4 marks)
 Why was participation in sport by the working
class delayed compared with participation by
the middle and upper classes in the 19th
century? (3 marks)
Development of games
1. Developed rules/boundaries/playing
numbers/facilities
2. Competitions/House/inter-school
3. Training/coaching
4. Skills/tactics / strategies
5. Leadership/captain
6. Kit to define teams
7. Ethics/morals/muscular/Christianity/athleticism
Must relate to Universities or beyond to credit
8. Acted as melting pots
9. Codification
10. More variety
11. Higher standards
Spread into society
12. Factory /church teams
13. Provided facilities .
employers/church
14. Officers to troops
15. British Empire . across the
world/diplomats/politicians
16. Old Boys/ Old Girls
network
17. Clubs/governing bodies
18. Teachers to schools
1. Little leisure time/had to wait for leisure time e.g. Wednesday
half day/little disposable income;
2. No facilities of their own/little public provision;
3. Traditional activities lost in urban areas (eg mob
football)/legislation/banning;
4. Lack of space for mass of population;
5. No schooling until 1870/then only drill/no sport or recreation
focus;
6. Poor health of population/little energy;
7. NGBs/administration was controlled by upper/middle classes.
Home learning
 Read
chapter 17
 Answer Q’s on page 251
Revise – Revise - Revise 
Public school influence on sport
& the gentleman amateur
QUICK QUIZ
 Who were public schools for?
 What was the aim of the schools?
 What personal qualities were encourage in the
schools?
 What is athleticism?
 After the public schools men went to university
what did they do?
QUICK QUIZ
 Who were public schools for?
Fee-paying middle & upper classes
 What was the aim of the schools?
Produce further generations of men who would guide
the government and industry of the UK and the
developing empire
 What personal qualities were encourage in the
schools?
Leadership, loyalty, courage, discipline & commitment
 What is athleticism?
A fanatical devotion to sport that developed physical,
social & moral aspects of young men
 After the public schools men went to university what
did they do?
Returned to school to teach or entered the clergy
Professional or amateur?
What's the difference between the two?
 Individuals
who played wanted to keep a class
divide and they used sport as a means of social
control
 The distinction between professional & amateur
was enforced through strict rules about
membership
Gentlemen amateur – a sportsmen who, because of his
social position & financial situation, had no need for monetary
reward from participating in sport
pictures
The upper classes not only managed to play sports the
way they wanted, but they also managed to keep the
working classes out of their sport
Football was different?

After realising that the better players were unable to
take time off work to play and that clubs had
sufficient spectators to be able to pay players, the
amateur football administrators had to accept
professionalism in 1885 when the football league was
established.
Chruch Teams – Fulham, Aston Villa, Birmingham city
Workplac Teams – Man Utd, West Ham Utd, Arsenal
School Teams – Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland,
Leicester City
Differences between class was
never more apparent in this period
Upper & middle classes becoming more affluent
whilst working classes become more impoverished
Until late into the 20th century the following
generalisations were made:
 Professional performers – working classes
 Agents/mangers/promoters (the businessmen) –
middle classes
 Sponsors/patrons – upper classes
The rise in media
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Income of the various agencies has increased
Those sports where amateurs & professionals coexist –
the professional tends to play at a higher standard
Increased status of professional sportspeople – role
models/media personalities
Now people aspire to emulate their sporting heroes –
may be because of financial rewards but also for the
social mobility that is much more possible today
Exam questions
Sport became more structured, organised and
available in post-industrial Britain.
The Figure identifies the characteristics associated
with post-industrial Britain.
Development in
transport and communication
urbanisation
Civilised lifestyle
machine time
state education
Post-industrial Britain
Emergence of middle class
More law and order
(i) Outline the impact of the following on the
development of sport;
 development in transport and communications
 emergence of middle classes. (5 marks)
Development in transport&
communications
Middle Classes
Rail allowed transport of teams
and
spectators/horses/spectator sport
increase;
2. Competitions became regional
and
national/leagues;
3. Access to countryside /
rambling /
fishing/ climbing;
4. Roads development in cycling
clubs;
5. Spread knowledge of sporting
heroes/role models;
6. Gave moral focus to
sport/rational;
7. eg abiding by rules/ etiquette;
8. Banned popular recreations
etc
mob football;
9. Organisers/ administers of sport
clubs / competitions/
NGB/amateur;
10. Used sport as social control of
w/c/works teams/time/rights;
11. Established their own sports for
their own identity eg lawn tennis /
cycling/more variety.