Participation in/Spectatorship of Sport Changing, 1918-79 Flashcards
1918-1960
Inter-War Period
Before TV,** radio + national press** created national community of interest
Attendance to sporting fixtures increased (football + cricket)
1918-1960
Emergence of National Leagues
Britain had well-established leagues by inter-war years
Britain industrialised - Factory teams
Mass transport - made national leagues possible
Football Association founded 1888
Three national divisions created 1920-1922
1918-1960
Popular Engagement
Source of local pride + loyalty
Regular working hours and Saturday half day allowed participation
Encouraged by employers + the church
Growth of national newspapers, radio, and cinema newsreels accelerated interest
1918-1960
Number of Clubs
1910 - FA had 12,000 affiliated clubs
1940 - 17,000
Mid 1960s - Over 30,000
1918-1960
Attendance
Average match-day attendance grew from 23,000 (1914) to over 30,000 (mid 1930s)
Helped by low ticket prices - Sixpence (1914), Shilling (1930s)
1918-1960
Television
Impact limited: Few could afford a TV
London Olympics (1948) only broadcast 25 miles around Alexandra Palace transmission station
1960-1979
Rise of Television
Led to decline in ticket sales
Domestication of leisure time
Sportsview (1954), Grandstand (1958), Match of the Day (1964), and World of Sport (ITV, 1965)
Peak 41.2 mil ticket sales in 1948-49, 24.6 mil by 1979-80
1960-1979
Quality of TV + Access
Colour television, multiple angles, slow-motion replays enhanced viewing experience
Widened access - 1966 World Cup Final watched by 32 million people
33% owned TV 1956, 97% by 1979
1960-1979
Violence and Hooliganism
Increased in 1970s
Inter-club violence as fans able to travel to away games in large numbers
Older fans stayed home to watch on TV
Alcohol fuelled violence occured
Cage fences around stands, British Rail cancelled ‘Soccer Specials’ (cheap travel to away games)
1960-1979
Increasing Cost
1918-1939 weekly max pay was £8, but strike by Professional Footballers’ Association in 1961 led to abolition of wage caps
Rapid increase in salaries: Keven Keegan earned £250,000 (reported by Sunday Times, 1978)
Drove up club costs, ticket prices rose from shilling (1930s) to up to £2 (1980, roughly 40x)
Sport and Gender
Gender Disparity
Viewing audiences almost 70% men in 1960s
Male participation increased from 9% (1961) to 30% (1979)
Women: 6% (1961) to 17% (1979)
Sport and Gender
Class Disparity
Much lower participation for working class + married women, hardly different for working class and married men
Sport and Gender
Exclusion/Control of Women
Not allowed to join many sporting governing bodies, excluded from many ‘male spaces’ like golf clubs
Rules on what women could wear, even in ‘female friendly’ sports eg cycling and tennis
Sport and Gender
Changes
Only changed when sports centres began to be constructed in large numbers in 1970s
**1970 - 27 in England
1974 - 167 **
Access to swimming pools + health and fitness centres allowed female participation
