Gary James
Well-Known Member
My latest research on how football became established (published in January) is free again for a limited time:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2016.1276238
It'd be worth taking a look as it's free. Thanks Gary
The abstract for it is:
Abstract
In recent years studies of footballing regions has added much to the origins of football debate and it is clear that understanding how each conurbation or region adopted the sport adds significantly to our knowledge. Research into Manchester’s footballing landscape has added new evidence on how the people of the conurbation adopted association football. However, the influences on Manchester’s sporting activities were multifaceted and varied and it was actually rugby football that was perceived as the conurbation’s leading team sport between 1870 and 1900, while lacrosse was promoted as a viable alternative by 1880. These sports were more popular than association football prior to the establishment of the Manchester Football Association in 1884, and it was not until the split in rugby in 1895 and the first successes of Manchester’s soccer clubs that soccer could be said to have become the leading Mancunian team sport. This paper explores how soccer came to displace other popular team activities, and it questions why Manchester’s soccer development followed a different course to that of the city’s neighbouring towns of east Lancashire.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2016.1276238
It'd be worth taking a look as it's free. Thanks Gary
The abstract for it is:
Abstract
In recent years studies of footballing regions has added much to the origins of football debate and it is clear that understanding how each conurbation or region adopted the sport adds significantly to our knowledge. Research into Manchester’s footballing landscape has added new evidence on how the people of the conurbation adopted association football. However, the influences on Manchester’s sporting activities were multifaceted and varied and it was actually rugby football that was perceived as the conurbation’s leading team sport between 1870 and 1900, while lacrosse was promoted as a viable alternative by 1880. These sports were more popular than association football prior to the establishment of the Manchester Football Association in 1884, and it was not until the split in rugby in 1895 and the first successes of Manchester’s soccer clubs that soccer could be said to have become the leading Mancunian team sport. This paper explores how soccer came to displace other popular team activities, and it questions why Manchester’s soccer development followed a different course to that of the city’s neighbouring towns of east Lancashire.