HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CHANGES IN SPORT

Historical and Cultural Changes in Sport

pre-industrial england

the years of 1750-1850 sparked the advent of the industrial revolution which brought about a change in how english society operated. for hundreds of years england's economy was focused on and supported by profits made from agriculture, landowners, and trading however the industrial revolution marked the beginning of urbanisation upon 18th century england which would succeed in expanding the number of opportunities for england to maximize its assets.

How did sport reflect british society?

In pre-industrial England, the proleteriates were forced to work long hours spanning through until the end of harvest, the only leisure hours they would be permitted was due to religious holidays or bank holidays. This meant members within the community would often come together at the end of harvest to participate within or spectate sports.

Class divisions within British society was a social problem of great significance in terms of England's issues within that era. The segregation of classes stood to perpetuate this inequality by ensuring classes would not mix; as a result many different sports with localized rules would appear, some of which being variations of official sports that exist and are played today.

How did sport reflect british society?

Here are two other examples of sports / Pastimes played in pre-industrial england:

Can you guess which sport was played by the lower class and which by the upper class?

How did sports differ between classes?

lower class sports

upper class sports

Tennis

Brawling

dog fighting

Cricket

urbanisation

Urbanisation can be defined as the change which occured to britains infrastructure as a result of the onset of the industrial revolution. Large areas of land which were once used for agriculture or farming would be uprooted by factories for the manufacture of goods. Dirt paths which once acted as trails for carriages were now replaced by railways which would interconnect city to city to be utilised by trains.

industrial revolution

The industrial revolution can be marked as the revolutionary change england experienced as the result of steam powered machinery coming into invention. The steam engine not only increased the capacity for work but it also increased the number of job opportunities availble to the working class and for the upper class to capitalize upon. Men, women and children could now work on assembly lines manufacturing goods such as glass, paper and pottery as well as working to mine the coal necessary for the function of the steam engines found within factories or trains.

Impact of the industrial revolution

Urbanisation and the industrial revolution had both pros and cons in terms of the impact it made on british society, although it did open up a number of great opportunities for the working-class to find roles and jobs to fulfill in order to provide for their families, they were still under the ruling thumb of the upper-class. All that had changed was instead of working on farm land for their property owners they were now working in factories.

Furthermore, the great influx of people the industrial revolution brought to England densely populated cities such as Manchester, Sheffield and Stoke which manufactured specific goods such as cotton, pottery or steel to be exported; the consequential result of this is that a lack of capacity resulted in lower wages, poor housing as well as working conditions which left members of the working class disease-ridden or exhausted. For the upper class, their situation reamined very much indifferent to before, they capitliazed upon the new industries brought about by the revolution by investing in the manufacture of various goods which allowed them to maintain their lavish and leisurely lifestyle.

Impact upon sport

The impact of the industrial revolution brought about many changes to the sports and pastimes participated within the pre-industrial era. Due to cities and towns now experiencing greater levels of migration, there was now a concurrent need for law and order; this meant inhumane and mass-participant sports such as Mob Football, Street Fighting and Baiting which usually brought about an aftermath of discord were now banned.

On the otherhand, a more structured and routine work life for the lower classes meant more organised leisure hours to participate within other sports. On saturdays, the working class were permitted a half-day in which the latter half could be used to participate within or spectate Football, Rugby or Cricket matches. The introduction of the middle class via increased wages also saw the introduction of paid working-class professionals in which they were permitted time off from work and costs were covered to play.

Codification of Sports

This reponse also gave justified reason to the existence of official governing bodies of certain sports such as:

The codification of sports was another response to the enforced changes brought about by the industrial revolution. In a now urban society where sports could no longer be played locally on the street or in the vast spaces of the country side, a demand for official playing areas and facilities within urban cities were now necessary. Interconnected cities and increased routes of transport also made it more of a regular occurence that people from different areas within the country would play against each other in the same sport. The problem with this was, was that in originating from different areas of the country they would have often played under different localized rules.

The Football Association (FA) - 1863 -

In order to regulate this necessity, an official code and rulebook for sports came to fruition, these rules adapted the sports in such a way that they were now suitable to co-exist with life in industrial cities and standardised the sports so that everyone would be playing under the same laws and regulations which sparked competition on a wider scale.

Rugby Football Union (RFU) - 1871 -

Religion's impact upon the development of sport

The cofidication of sports caught the eye of the most prominent faiths held within industrial England as it assimilated and stood to promote the same morals and values found within religious texts and beliefs.

As such Muscular Christianity was a movement formed on the basis of this, first originiating within public schools, it correlated the idea of athleticism with being strong-willed, hardworking and committed, prepared to deal with any task that may be thrown in one's way. Non-contact team sports such as Football also promoted non-violent values and the idea of working together in harmony.

Christianity saw it fit to rid England of all of its prevalent sins of gambling, drinking and promiscuity and observed sport as an effective solution, higher participating levels within sport meant decreased levels of sin which aligned with the Church's objectives.

Rational Recreation

Just as Muscular Christianity sought to act as a deterrent to the working class from participating within disorderly activities by promoting its ideas, the term rational recreation also sublimed in the late 19th century as a more official and governmental solution to solving uncivillised behaviour.

Quite simply, rational recreation refers to enjoying recreation in a rational way that is socially acceptable, like for instance - sport. The project drew support from middle class groups such as Muscular Christianity and even gained attention from groups such as the YMCA and Boys' Brigade.

The middle class believed that recreational activities should be used in a way that improves the working-classes quality of life and productivity. The government stood in support of these ideals and provided the funding for sports grounds, libraries, swimming pools and many other facilities. Games that were once considered vulgar such as Mob Football were now rationalised by having rules and regulations evolving into the sports of today

At the time, aside from sport the only other forms of recreational activities that would occur would be uncouth activities such as gambling, drinking, fighting or illegal activities. Rational recreation was a developmental project first introduced into public schools and funded by the government as a method of social control in order to prevent participation within such vulgar activities.

Physical Education

The advent of the 20th century saw it fit that, in recognization of sport and physical activity's signifance within maintaining order and control in society in addition to the many other mental and physical benefits they host, public schools would begin implementing physical education within the national curriculum officially. The impact this held was that sport was no longer seen as recreational, it now had an educative and competitive purpose which would popularise sport increasing levels of participation and assisting in childhood development towads manhood through the moral integrity it advocated.

It was the 1944 Education act that would enforce this change making it compulsory of public-state schools to provide free secondary education to all adolescents up until the age of 15. This meant that the government provided funding for all sporting facilities that could be used by teachers to educate students.

Wolfenden Report

First published in the Autumn of 1960, the Wolfenden Report was a documented review of Sport cultivated as a result from a number of in-person ruminations which stood to discuss its current significance within modern society. The report covered various factors relative to our present being such as the historical impact sport had made in influencing today's society as we know it in addition to the continually growing relevance it still holds today. Social and physical benefits of sports were deliberated extensively; for instance how sport serves to support communion and moral values coinciding with its ability to increase aptitude and competence in other areas of life promoting character development. Sport's economical value was another factor weighed in the report, its rapidly growing significance in society highlighted there was money to be made parallel to the positives it contributes, as such provisions regarding sports facilities as well as relevant job roles were similarly purveyed.

Sport as a means for social control?

19th Century

20th Century

This idea can be continued into the 20th century where the positive benefits of Sport were explored more extensively and began to be embedded within modern society. It was clear sport made a positive developmental impact upon people, however especially on adolescents, it preceeded the moral and social values they would carry into adulthood, thus it was made to be an official part of the national curriculum possibly since it dettered from anti-social and immoral behaviour. Another arguement to be made is that allbeit within the 20th century social divide through economical classification had been reduced, it still existed just to a lesser extent and still does, those lower on the chain still have dissatification with their working lives however an increased funding supported by the upper class of society outputed towards sporting events and facilities such as gyms, leisure centres and sporting grounds act as remedial methods to outlet such discontent ensuring they still fulfill their roles maintaing stability and order.

Sport in the 19th century had begun its evolution into something more significant than a simple recreational activity, however this result can be argued to actually be an outcome of social control. The working class were tired and exhausted, in desperate need of an escape from the long and fatiguing monotonies of working life, this began to affect productivity eventually causing them to vent their frustrations into anti-social recreation whether it be visits to public houses, gambling, drinking or illegal activity. Social divide was still widespread and it was clear the lower classes were not content. As participation within Sport grew, the middle and upper classes observed the positive impact it made on the well-being of their subservients, perhaps it could be debated, was this observation the incentive for the importance of sport to be developed for social control in order to maintain stability within society rather than deriving from its recreational origin?

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References

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