This episode Geoff talks to cricket historian Jeremy Lonsdale about the MCC tour to India in 1926-27. The tour, led by Arthur Gilligan, was a pivotal moment in Indian cricket history with Indian cricketers proving that they were worthy to play Test matches in the very near future. Jeremy also talks about the political implications of the tour at a time when demands for self-government were becoming ever harder for the British government to ignore. He also describes the way in which class tensions arose between the European community in India and the cricketers from 'back home ..read more

This episode features the keynote presentation at the 2023 BSSH Conference at Manchester Metropolitan University. Dr Heather Dichter gives a wide ranging overview of the relationship between sport and soft power over the past century from the turbulent politics of the 1930s through the Cold War to the Beijing Games. Dr Heather Dichter of De Montfort University is a leading scholar on twentieth century sports history and won the 2022 Lord Aberdare Prize for Sport Literature for her book, 'Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO' (Amherst: University o ..read more

'The enemy within' football hooliganism and the miners' strike' During the 1980s Margaret Thatcher’s government attempted to reduce the economic power of the industrial working class by legislating against the trade unions and defeating the 1984-85 Miners’ Strike. At the time English football was an important part of male working-class culture, particularly for northern industrial workers and was under attack from the Government and Press over football hooliganism. It has often been argued that Thatcher’s trade union policies were designed to break the economic power of the industrial working ..read more

Join Conor Heffernan as he interviews Turlough O'Riordan and Terry Clavin, co-editors of the wonderful 2022 collection Irish Sporting Lives. We are also delighted to be joined by Irish Sporting Lives contributor (and force behind a successful conference) Carol Osborne. Irish Sporting Lives can be purchased directly from the Royal Irish Academy at https://www.ria.ie/irish-sporting-lives ..read more

Roger Domeneghetti is Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Northumbria University while maintaining a career as a freelance journalist where he has worked for Associated Press, Sporting Life and the Morning Star among others. In 2015 Roger’s book, From the Back Page to the Front Room, a history of England’s football media, was short-listed for the BSSH’s Aberdare Prize and he has now followed up with Everybody Wants to Rule the World: Britain, Sport and the 1980s published by Yellow Jersey Press in 2023. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442996/everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world-by-domeneghetti-roger ..read more

Conor Heffernan on US Women's Weightlifting in the 80s by British Society of Sports History ..read more

The geographies and finances of bare-knuckle prize-fighting in Britain, 1860-1880 From the mid-nineteenth century bare-knuckle prize-fighting in Britain was reported as being in retreat. Yet, despite opposition and condemnation prize-fighting retained a ubiquitous social and cultural presence, both inside and outside the ring. Large crowds made up of people from all classes and walks of life continued to enjoy the bloody and atavistic spectacle of two boxers fighting until one was unable to come 'up to scratch'. Well-known fighters enjoyed considerable fame and fortune, however, for many it wa ..read more

This episode features a paper given by Katie Holmes at the IHR on women's running. Until October 1975, women in the UK did not compete in marathons, nor were they allowed run in any other long-distance road races. Women’s Amateur Athletic Association rules prohibited them from racing further than 6000m. Road racing was an almost entirely male preserve. In May 1964, Scottish runner Dale Greig competed in the Isle of Wight Marathon, a lone woman in a field of 67 men, with the permission of the race organisers. Her run was covered by the national press but did not act as a catalyst for change. By ..read more

Brother Walfrid (Andrew Kerins) is best known for founding Celtic F.C. in 1888. While his name is known well within the club's history, biographical details of Walfrid are often lacking. Listen as Conor speaks with Dr. Michael Connolly from Sterling University concerning Michael's new book,Walfrid: A Life of Faith Community and Football. The book can be purchased directly from Thirsty Books for a delightfully reasonable fee of £20 ..read more

This episode features a paper given by Alec Hurley at the British Society of Sport History's Sport & Leisure History seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in London. Though sport clubs are universal, there exists – as nineteenth century French diplomat Alexis DeTocqueville claimed – a uniquely American disposition toward the formation of associations. This presentation will examine the role of nineteenth-century urban sports clubs through the nexus of place, space, and cultural identity. In doing so, I will bring together digital history, urban history, and local community histor ..read more