Class, commercialism and community in the origins and development of the northern Rugby Football Union, 1857-1910
This thesis examines the role of class, regional, commercial and other social and economic factors in the origins and growth of Rugby football in Yorkshire and Lancashire during the period 1857 to 1910, focusing on the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (later to become the Rugby Football League) in 1895 and its subsequent development into a ~new~ sport of rugby league. Its main sources are documents of clubs and leading bodies of the sport and the sporting press of the period. Starting from an analysis of the spread of rugby from the public schools to the north of England, it links the rapid growth of the sport in the 1870s and 1880s to the sense of civic pride which prevailed among the industrial towns of the North and Midlands. In particular, it examines the means by which working class men and women became involved in the sport and looks at the nature and activities of rugby players and spectators. Its key focus is on the ways in which working class cultural practices became part of the fabric of the sport and the counter-development of the ideology of amateurism as a method of suppressing this, culminating in the Rugby Football Union's introduction of its first set of regulations intended
Collins, Tony
History
Class, commercialism and community in the origins and development of the northern Rugby Football Union, 1857-1910. This thesis examines the role of class, regional, commercial and other social and economic factors in the origins and growth of Rugby football in Yorkshire and Lancashire during the period 1857 to 1910, focusing on the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (later to become the Rugby Football League) in 1895 and its subsequent development into a ~new~ sport of rugby league. Its main sources are documents of clubs and leading bodies of the sport and the sporting press of the period. Starting from an analysis of the spread of rugby from the public schools to the north of England, it links the rapid growth of the sport in the 1870s and 1880s to the sense of civic pride which prevailed among the industrial towns of the North and Midlands. In particular, it examines the means by which working class men and women became involved in the sport and looks at the nature and activities of rugby players and spectators. Its key focus is on the ways in which working class cultural practices became part of the fabric of the sport and the counter-development of the ideology of amateurism as a method of suppressing this, culminating in the Rugby Football Union's introduction of its first set of regulations intended
class community origins_development northern football union examines_role class regional commercial social_economic factor origins growth football yorkshire lancashire period focus formation northern football union later_become football league subsequent_development new sport league main_source document club lead body sport sport press period starting analysis spread public school north_england link rapid_growth sport sense civic pride prevail among industrial_town north_midlands particular examines mean work_class men_woman become involved sport look_nature activity player spectator key focus way work_class cultural_practice become_part fabric sport counter development ideology method culminate football union introduction first_set regulation intend