Welcome to the latest edition of the BSSH Newsletter. In this edition, we have two feature articles, covering various aspects of athletics history, along with news of research in progress, conference reports, and forthcoming conferences.

The major news for members at the moment is the forthcoming annual conference, to be held at the University of Liverpool on 28 and 29 April. In keeping with recent practice, there is no single theme this year, and papers will cover a wide variety of subjects. We are pleased to see that a number of speakers are giving their first BSSH conference paper this year. It is still not too late to book a place on the conference: full details are given below. We are also pleased to announce that the BSSH’s 2001 conference will be held in Cardiff: full details will be published as soon as they are available.

We are also pleased to welcome new members to the Society. Recent newcomers are:

Chris Caws of Great Missenden Scott Mitchell of Cleckheaton

R.F.B. Jones of Solihull Bob Phillips of Creysse, France

Peter Lovesey of Chichester Gary Shaw of Liverpool

Richard Meacher of Harrogate

We are always keen to recruit new members. Please do all you can to publicise the work of the Society to others interested in sports history. Membership forms can be obtained from the Membership Secretary, Dr Steve Ickeringill, whose contact details appear on the inside front cover of this newsletter.

Please continue to send items for inclusion in the Newsletter. We are particularly interested in the following: feature articles; conference reports; news of forthcoming conferences; reports on exhibitions and museums; reviews of sports history resources on the internet; reviews of sports history materials in archives; summaries of research in progress; and calls for assistance. We are also keen to include members’ news, so please send in any new information on job changes, publications, prizes etc. If at all possible, please send the material by email or on PC disk to the contact points listed below.

The deadline for the receipt of material for the next Newsletter is 20 September 2000. - See you in Liverpool

Dr Martin Polley, Editor, Senior Lecturer in History, School of Humanities and Heritage Studies, King Alfred’s College, Winchester, Hampshire, SO22 4NR

Tel: 01962-841515 ext 2557, e-mail: M.Polley@wkac.ac.uk

The 19th Annual Conference of the BSSH will be held at the University of Liverpool on 28 and 29 April 2000. Our host will be Dr Rex Nash.

The conference is being held at Dale Hall, about 15 minutes by car from the centre of Liverpool. All conference sessions and the AGM will be held in the Garden Room in Dale Hall, and all meals will be held in Dale Hall too. The Hall has ample free parking, a bar and splendid rolling hills for those who need a break from the conference itself. For delegates staying in city centre hotels, a taxi is recommended for journeys to and from the conference centre. Recommended firms include K&D (922 7676) and Delta (924 7373).

For delegates arriving on the Friday night, keys for Halls of residence rooms can be obtained from 6pm from the Porter's Office at Dale Hall. Sam Johnstone will be on hand to help with any problems. Delegates who arrive after 11.30pm on Friday night will have to locate one of these organisers, who will be around Dale Hall, to obtain room keys. All keys have to be returned to the Porter by 9.30am on Sunday, although a luggage room will be available for the storage of bags.

THE CONFERENCE

The conference will be organised on an open theme basis. Papers should normally last twenty minutes, followed by ten minutes for discussion. Delegates are welcome to bring copies of their presentation to distribute to the conference.

CONTACT DETAILS

The conference is organised by Dr Rex Nash and Sam Johnstone, Research Officer in the Football Research Unit. Additional support will be provided by three post-graduate students in the Research Unit, Paul O'Higgins, Helen Grills and Caroline Williams. Any questions about registration should be directed to either Dr Nash or Sam Johnstone.

You can contact the organisers on: tel. 0151 794 2401 (including answer-phone), fax: 0151 794 2402, email: HYPERLINK mailto:rex@liverpool.ac.uk rex@liverpool.ac.uk or samj@liverpool.ac.uk.

The porter at Dale Hall can be contacted directly on 0151 794 6224. The porter will be supplied with the names of those who have booked accommodation, and will be able to help with any questions or queries you may have up until 11.30pm on the Friday night.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE

The following is the provisional timetable for the event: it is only intended as a guide, and is subject to minor change as circumstances demand. This timetable does depends on presenters strictly observing the twenty minute deadline for papers, followed by ten minutes for questions and discussion. There will, of course, be plenty of opportunities to discuss presentations outside the discussion sessions.

6pm onwards: collection of keys for delegates who have booked accommodation in Dale Hall

There is a bar open at Dale Hall until 11.30pm, and the Finch and Firkin is a good pub about 10 minutes distance from the Halls.

8-9am Breakfast for Friday arrivals: registration for Saturday arrivals, welcome

9.00 am: Session One (Chair: Professor Tony Mason)

THE ANNUAL SPORTSPAGES LECTURE by

Dr Jeff Hill, "England v Hungary: November 1953"

Professor Peter Beck, "Political football: the British government and Anglo-Soviet footballing relations 1945-54"

Aaron Beacom, "Sport in international relations: a case for cross-disciplinary investigation"

10.30 am: Tea and coffee

11.00am: Session Two (Chair: Professor Alan Tomlinson)

Ray Physick, "Golf Caddies from the 1890s to 1930s"

Dr Neal Garnham, "Would the real Jack Reynolds please stand up?"

Gary Shaw, "The rise and fall of the colour bar in British boxing, 1911-1947"

Dr Mike Huggins, "Regular Re-inventions of Sporting Traditions and Sporting Identities"

1.00 pm: Lunch

2.00: Session Three (Chair: Dr Richard Cox)

Julie Anderson, "A Games of their own: Stoke Mandeville"

Dr Martin Polley, "Before the bonanza: amateurism and professionalism in British athletics from the 1940s to 1970s"

3.00 pm: Tea and coffee

3.30 pm: Session Four (Chair: Professor Wray Vamplew)

Dr Martin Johnes, "Safety, Politics and Fans"

Alun Evans, "Thicker than blood: sport, citizenship and nationalism"

Dr Lynne Duval, "The emergence of womenís track and field: The growth of club life and domestic competition 1920s-1960"

5.00 pm: BSSH Annual General Meeting (See below)

6.30pm: Conference Dinner

8.00 am: Breakfast

9.30 am: Room keys to be returned to the Porter at Dale Hall: a luggage room is available

9.30 am: Parallel Sessions

In the Games Room (Chair: Dr Martin Polley)

Brian Griffin, "Cycling in nineteenth century Ireland"

Thomas Hayes, "Organized sport and nationalism in the decades before the formation of the G.A.A.- just what was the Gaelic sports movement reacting to?"

Dr Mike Cronin, "The Celtic Olympics 1924-32"

In the Garden Room (Chair: Professor Wray Vamplew)

Claire Parker, "Improving the ìconditionî of the people: the health of Britain and the provision of public baths 1840-1870"

Gail Niven, "Physical Education in Scotland since 1945: some preliminary observations"

Dr Marc Keech, "The ties that bind: South Africa and sports diplomacy 1958-63"

10.45: Tea and coffee

11.15am: Parallel Sessions

In the Games Room (Chair: Professor Grant Jarvie)

Liz Taplin, "When did the light shine brightest? The case of Marjorie Pollard (1899-1982)"

Matt Taylor, "The Foreigner in English football before the 1980s"

Neil Carter, "Vital ingredient or non-essential additive? Managerial efficiency in Football's production process"

11.15am

In the Garden Room (Chair: Professor Alan Tomlinson)

Dr Benny Peiser, "Ancient Sport and Human Sacrifice"

Pablo Alabarces, "The epic of the poor: the Estudiantes de la Plata-Manchester United matches"

Dr Irene Reid, "Civil society and autonomy: a reinterpretation of the sport-nationalism axis in Scotland"

1.00 pm: Lunch

2.00pm: Closing Session (Chair: Dr Mike Cronin)

John Bromhead, "All the worldís a stage"

Dr Paul Darby, "The Scramble for Africa: A Preliminary Analysis of African Football Labour Migration to Europe"

4.00pm: Close of conference

1. Minutes of the AGM 31 March 1999

(Previously circulated in BSSH Newsletter No 10, 1999)

2. Matters Arising:

3. Officers Reports:

* Report of the Chairman (GJ)

* Report of the Membership Secretary (SI)

* Report of the Secretary (JA)

* Report of the Treasurer(JW)

* Report of the Editor Sports Historian(BW)

* Report of the Newsletter Editor(MP)

4. BSSH Conferences (GJ)

* 2000 Conference

* 2001 Conference

5. International Conferences Report (RC)

6. Occasional Publications (GJ)

7. Aberdare Prize (TM)

8. A.O.B (GJ)

9. Date of Next Meeting April 2001

Chairman: Grant Jarvie Web-Page/Intern.Conf. Richard Cox

Secretary: Julie Anderson Aberdare Prize etc. Tony Mason

Treasurer: Jack Williams Membership Sec: Steve Ickringill

Journal Editor Benny Peiser Conference 2000 Rex Nash

Newsletter Ed. Martin Polley Business Manager: Wray Vamplew

Newsletter Ed: David Terry Schools/P.E.Matters Frank Galligan

Proof Reader: Lorna Jackso

Those members seeking Sports Council grants to overseas sports history conferences should apply to the Secretary for an application form. The following criteria will be needed.

1 The candidate must be a paid-up member of the BSSH.

2 The candidate must provide evidence of having had a paper accepted by the

conference organisers. An abstract will be asked for.

3 The paper must promise to be of an acceptable standard as determined by

the BSSH Executive and their advisers.

4 The candidate must be prepared to submit a report of the conference to both

the Sports Council and the BSSH (this may be the same document).

5 The candidate must supply the BSSH with a typed (preferably word

processed) copy of his/her presentation.

6 The candidate must offer the paper for publication.

7 The candidate must not be in receipt of any other funding for the same

conference at the time of attending the conference in excess of the 20% not

provided by the Sports Council.

8 Where there are more candidates than places on offer, preference will be

given to the candidate who: (i) has not been recently supported under this

scheme; (ii) have made a significant contribution to the work of the Society

This Encyclopaedia is under the editorship of Richard Cox, Grant Jarvie and Wray Vamplew with contributions from many of our members. The final copy has now been passed into the hands of the publisher and is projected to be released near the end of the year to meet the Christmas book market.

At the recent conference of the European Committee for the History of Sport held in Florence, the Scientific Committee awarded Dr Mike Cronin the Nachtegall Junior Scholar Award for the best paper presented by a scholar under 35. The award is financed by the Danish Gymnastic Federation in honour of Franz Nachtegall who was responsible for the initial development of gymnastics in Danish schools.

The International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University is one of three university institutions selected by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to teach the International Master (MA) in the Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, a postgraduate degree designed to equip sports administrators to meet the challenges of a changing sports world. Successful applicants to the course will spend their first term in Leicester studying the history, culture, sociology and ethics of sport. The second term is spent at the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland where the focus will be on law. The final term on management and sport is taught by the Business School at Bocconi University in Milan. There follows an industrial placement and the writing of a dissertation.

At the launch of the project in Neuchâtel, De Montfort was represented by Professors Pierre Lanfranchi and Wray Vamplew from the International Centre for Sports History and Culture who will be co-ordinators for the course. Professor Vamplew spoke of looking forward to the commencement of the course in Leicester in October 2000. Michel Zen-Ruffinen, Secretary General of FIFA noted that his organisation was sponsoring the development of "this ambitious project which takes a modern approach to the study of sport and the formation of a new generation of sports managers". He added that the innovative degree "will give students a chance to deepen their knowledge of sports administration and to further their qualifications by completing a new and specially designed course of study".

The fee for the course, whose language of instruction is English, is 18,000 Swiss Francs. Further details and application forms can be obtained from CIES, Palais du Peyrou, 2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland (tel. 0041 32 718 3900

fax 0041 32 718 3901)

email Secretariat.CIES@clients.unine.ch website www.cies.ch

Professor Vamplew will be pleased to answer any enquiries

Tel: 0116 2577315

Fax : 0116257719

email wv@dmu.ac.uk

At the recent Florence meeting of the CESH Executive, Professor Tony Mason was elected a member of the College of the Fellows of CESH. He joins thirty-two other fellows including Professors Richard Holt and Wray Vamplew from the Centre.

Reaktion Press has agreed to publish a book series on the theme of "Historical Studies in Leisure, Sport and Pastimes" (provisional title) beginning in 2000. The books will cover various themes from an historical perspective. Themes may include any of the following: cinema, cooking, film, games, gardening, gastronomy, hobbies, museums, music, radio, sex, shopping, sport, television and tourism. The series will have an editorial team comprising Mike Cronin, Jeff Hill (Nottingham Trent University) and Tony Mason. If anyone has a project that relates to any of these themes or others that you feel may fit alongside the series focus, then please contact Mike Cronin (mjcronin@dmu.ac.uk) to discuss your ideas further.

By Nigel Bishop

Brighton and Hove Albion Collectors’ and Historians’ Society (BHACHS) was formed in March 1998 with the aim of preserving and promoting interest in the history of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club. The goal is to establish a museum and archive of historical material at the club's proposed new stadium. Within a year of formation the membership had increased from twelve to thirty nine. The twelve were those people who Tim Carder, the driving force behind the Society, knew would be interested in being a part of the Society.

As part of the commitment to preserve interest in the history the Society is starting an oral history project to record the memories of players, staff and supporters of the club. Brighton and Hove Museum Service is presenting five exhibitions this year and one of these will be devoted to "The past, present and future of Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club" It will be held in the Gallery of Hove Museum from 23rd September to 12th November 2000 as part of the Brighton and Hove Millennium celebrations. The Museum Service has asked the Society to supply exhibits for this exhibition and will supply all the display cases, insurance, security and staff and. It is intended to include some of the interviews in the exhibition and it may be followed by a book of Albion memories.

A press release, to seek out supporters who first watched the Albion play before 1950, has been put out. Training in interview techniques has been provided for Society members by the museum service and the members will visit volunteers in their own homes to carry out the interviews.

The Society is compiling a database of memorabilia so that interesting items could be used in displays at future exhibitions or for publishing purposes. It is hoped to raise the awareness of the interest that exists in Albion memorabilia and reduce the chances of material being thrown away. The Society is more than happy to receive donations of items but of greater importance is the identification and recording of what does exist.

An exhibition was organised by the Albion’s Promotions Manager in Eastbourne in early 1998 and the first exhibition held by the Society was in Worthing in December 1998. As a direct result of this exhibition a photograph of Sam Jennings, the Albion captain, being presented with the Berks and Bucks Charity Cup after beating Reading 1-0 at Elm Park on 14th May 1927, was donated to the Society by his great nephew.

Mel Hopkins, the Welsh International and an Albion player from 1964 to 1967, gave an hour-long talk at the AGM in April 1999 and in addition to meetings the Society has produced four newsletters. Sadly the fourth of these began with an obituary of Roger Harris, a founder member of the Society and co-author with the Society Chairman, Tim Carder of two books on the club: Seagulls! The Story of Brighton and Hove Albion F.C., published in 1993, and Albion A-Z: A Who’s Who of Brighton and Hove Albion F.C., published in 1997.

The Society has also been the vehicle for the production of A Brief History of Brighton and Hove Albion F.C. 1901-99, a sixteen page A4 stapled booklet, and Albion Programme Collectors Guide 1946-98.

The plan is to have meetings on a regular basis, the target is quarterly, and a number of other projects are already in the pipeline. The local daily Brighton paper, the Evening Argus, has a large but uncatalogued collection of photographs from around the middle of the 1960s through to the mid 1990s, and these will be catalogued as will the postcard collections held by several members. The Eric Krieger paperback Good Old Soccer: The Golden Age of Football Picture postcards has a section which includes the item "Whether or not a detailed photographic record of a football club exists, is dependent on the town having busy and energetic photographers. Brighton was more than generously endowed in this respect." Before the First World War and especially between the two World Wars, more than one photographer was recording team groups, action shots and, in great quantity, shots of the crowd. The crowd shots were sold in a shop at the top of Trafalgar Street, close to Brighton Station, and spectators who saw themselves clearly portrayed were no doubt strongly tempted to buy a copy.

There must be many items of Albion memorabilia around the country in addition to the Southern Football Alliance 1913-14 winners medal won by A. E. Longstaff, which a descendant of his living in the North West of England now has. Exactly what constitutes Albion memorabilia has already been a subject for discussion. The Scottish International jersey worn by Harry Pinkerton, he who played three games for Brighton in 1944, in the first wartime international against England in 1939 which is on display in a case in Kilsyth Library may not really count but it would be of interest to anyone recording Falkirk memorabilia.

The Football Club is believed to be planning another exhibition to be held in Eastbourne, with assistance from the Society, around Easter time.

The Club has given its support to the Society in its aims and the Society is the main source of information on the history of the club. Chairman Dick Knight has said that an "archive of Albion material and memorabilia down the seasons is the perfect way to preserve the history of our proud club, demonstrating to present and future generations the unique place the Albion holds in the hearts and minds of Sussex people. I fully support the aims of the Society, which will endorse the role of the Albion as a cherished local institution."

The Society has a web site: http://www3.mistral.co.uk/timc/bhachs/bhachs.htm

Bill Sidebottom, The Cheshire Tally Ho Hare and Hound Club

The Cheshire Tally Ho Hare and Hound Club, though largely unkown today in the cross-country world, was one of a handful of clubs which pioneered cross-country running. The club played a major part in the establishment of the regional associations and the National Union. Of special historical interest is the fact that the club has extant comprehensive records from 1872, including newspaper cuttings and journal reports, which tell the story not just of the club, but also of the birth and development of the sport itself. The records describe the tremendous social and economic changes that took place in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and how these formed and influenced both the club and that sport. From 1900, although the club was no longer in the forefront of the sport, the reports give a fascinating insight into the paper trail hare and hounds runs and the social and entertainment events that the club enjoyed.

One of the issues illustrated in the club’s minutes and histories is the battle for amateur control of the sport. The strength of feeling, the prejudice, and the bitterness that went into the arguments are recorded. The Tally Ho was strongly on the side of the amateurs. The sharp practices and gambling, which were prevalent

as championship racing became established, led the Tally Ho to abandon

competitive racing and retain the hare and hounds paper chase concept, running over varied countryside settings. To this day, this is the club’s style. The club is, in nearly every respect, a historical throwback to the period of the sport’s birth.

I am currently writing up a comprehensive history of the club.

Deaf United: A celebration of Deaf football

held at the University of Central Lancashire

12 October 1999

Report by Martin Atherton

As part of the Deaf United: football and the Deaf community research project, a one day conference was held at the University of Central Lancashire to celebrate the history and place of football in the Deaf community. Representatives of several Deaf football clubs attended, along with others involved with the game, as well as members of the Professional Footballers Association and the Scottish Football Museum. Sadly, because of the draw for the European Championship playoffs, David Davies of the Football Association was unable to attend. Mr Davies has personally supported the project throughout, not least by providing substantial sponsorship funding for the research.

The conference was opened by Dr. Dave Russell of the Universityís Institute of Football Studies, who has been one of the supervisors of the project. He welcome guests and outlined the history of the project. The first formal presentation was given by the projectís Principal Researcher, Martin Atherton. Martin outlined the history of Deaf football, starting back in 1871 with the formation of Glasgow Deaf

Football Club, and continuing through the development of Deaf cup competitions and international football, up to the present day. These developments have included the establishment of Deaf Cup competitions in Scotland (1889) and England (1926); home international football (Scotland first played against England in 1891); and the growth of international football across Europe from 1924, leading to the first Deaf World Cup competition in the summer of 2000. Martin also illustrated the careers of some of the Deaf players who have appeared for professional teams, such as Billy Nesbitt of Burnley and Raymond Drake of Stockport County.

The conference and project also looked at the role of football within the Deaf community, and a panel discussion chaired by the project supervisor Graham Turner, and including Alithea Melling, Gary Quinn and Noel Traynor, dealt with

the way in which football has been one means of maintaining the Deaf community, and has served as a means of entry into the life of the Deaf community. The way in

which football has served to bring the members of the dispersed Deaf community together, and as a way of forming and reinforcing friendships, and social and cultural links between Deaf people were also discussed. Alithea Melling gave examples of other minority groups’ involvement with football, such as women and ethnic groups, and demonstrated how such cultural and social links were common across football, and played an important part in developing and maintaining cultural identities. The Deaf members of the panel gave examples from their ownexperiences of how this process manifests itself within Deaf football.

In recent years, Deaf football has experienced a period of steady decline, and in his keynote address, Doug Alker of the FDP outlined some of the reasons for this decline. These include the emphasis placed on football at international level, to the detriment of grassroots football, and the effects on Deaf children’s access to football and sport generally caused by changes in Deaf education in Britain. Doug went on to suggest ways in which this decline can be arrested, and he called for more investment in the development of training and access to the game for young Deaf players.

Doug’s views were echoed in the closing address, given by Martin Atherton, which outlined the recommendations of the project to the Football Association for the future development of Deaf football. These recommendations are aimed at addressing the decline in Deaf football, and cover a wide range of topics which arose during the course of interviewing Deaf footballers for the project. These include improving opportunities for Deaf people to become qualified coaches, through the FA setting up courses run in BSL; Deaf awareness courses for hearing players and officials who play against Deaf players and teams; and the need for the FA to support Deaf football in seeking funding not linked to disabled sport.

The conference was well received by all those attending, and many were keen to be actively involved with the FA in helping to promote and resurrect Deaf football. The University would like to thank everyone - both Deaf and hearing - who contributed to both the research project and the conference. Without their help and enthusiasm, the project would not have been successful or worthwhile. It is hoped that further funding will be attracted to continue what has been an exciting and valuable research exercise. Agreement has been reached for the Final Report of the project to be published as a book in 2000, and further information will be given when the details are finalised.

Stirling University has introduced combined Honours Degrees on a major-minor basis. The scope is sport with either accountancy, exercise health, business studies, economics, finance, human resources, management, marketing, entrepreneurship, film &media, politics, psychology, social policy and sociology!

28-29 April 2000, Liverpool, UK

Annual Conference of the British Society for Sports History

See the programme and papers listed in this Newsletter on pages

3 & 4 for details.

 

26-30 May 2000, Banff, Canada

Conference of the North American Society for Sport History

Contact: Gary Koroluk

4825 Richard Rd., S.W

Mount Royal College

Calgary

Alberta

Canada T3E 6K6

Tel: (403) 240-6511

Fax: (403) 240-6744

e-mail: gkoroluk@mtroyal.ac.ca

8-10 June 2000, Helsinki, Finland

"Social Impacts and Functions of Sport"

Contact: Finnish Society for Research in Sport and PE

Stadion

Etelãvãaarre

Helsinki

FIN-00250

Finland

Tel: 358 9 45 42 720

Fax: 358 9 45 42 7222

e-mail: lts@stadion.fi

19-23 JuIy 2000, Jyvãskylã, Finland

The 5th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS)

Contact: ECSS, University of Jyvaskyla

PL 35

FIN 40351 Jyvaskyla

Finland

Tel: (+)358-14-603160

Fax: (+)358-14-603161

e-mail: ecss@pallo.jyv.fi

6-13 August 2000, Oslo, Norway

19th International Congress of Historical Sciences

Contact: PO Box 1008 Blindern

N-03 15 Oslo, Norway

Tel: (+)47 85 69 07

Fax: (+)47 85 47 00

Website: http://www.oslo2000.uio.no

29 August-3 September 2000, Twin Waters, Sunshine Coast, Australia

12th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Comparative Physical Education and Sport: "Beyond 2000: Sport and Leisure between Global and Local Cultures"

Contact: Dr Tara Magdalinski

University of the Sunshine Coast

Maroochydore

Queensland 4558, Australia

Fax: (+61) 7 5430 2885

e-mail: iscpes2000@usc.edu.au

Website: http://www.usc.edu.au/iscpes/

7-13 September 2000, Brisbane, Australia

Pre-Olympic Congress sponsored by ICSSPE

Contact: Mr Matt Reid

PO Box 897

Belconnon

ACI 2616, Australia

Fax: 0011 61 2 6253 1489

e-mail: smanat@ozemail.com.au

13-15 October 2000, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tercer Encuentro Deporte y Ciencias Sociales

Contact: e-mail: tulio@sicoar.com

Website: http://sportquest.com/revista

2-4 November 2000, Lyon, France

Le sport et les Français pendant l’Occupation (1940-1944)

Contact: Dr Pierre Arnaud

Faculté des Sciences du Sport UFR-STAPS

Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport

Université Claude Bemard - Lyon I

27-29 Bd du 11 Novembre

F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France

e-mail: parnaud@univ-lyon.fr

15-19 November 2000, Madrid, Spain

European Committee for Sport History (CESH), 5th Congress of the History of Sport in Europe: "Understanding Sport through Written Texts" (ancient and modern literature and poetry)

Note: Speakers may give their paper in their own mother tongue, but should be prepared to discuss their methodology and results in English or French. CESH encourages the participation of young scholars (35 years and younger, not already a recipient of a CESH award) Registration fee: 250 Euro for CESH members, 300 Euro for non members if received before 15 Sept. 2000. The fee covers accommodation and meals in the place established by the organizers.

Contact: INEF

C/Martin Fierro s/n. .Ciudad Universitaria

28040 Madrid, Spain

e-mail: tgonzalez@inef.upm.es or mbueno@inef.upm.es

website: http://www.inefcom

21-22 April (provisional) 2001, Cardiff, Wales

30^th BSSH Conference

Contact: Dr. Martin Johnes

28-31 August 2001, Montpellier, France

7th ISHPES Congress: "Sport and Nature"

Contact: Jean-Michel Delaplace

Faculté des Sciences du Sport

700, Av. du Pic St. Loup

34090 Montpellier

France

e-mail: delaplace.sport.histoire@wanadoo.fr

.

Compiled by Ronald A. Smith (NASSH)

Listed below is about 50% of the full NASSH Booklist. Omitted are local and regional books covering baseball, American football and basketball, plus books relating to fiction topics and certain short histories of popular sports. If the full list is required, please send 5 x 19p stamps to cover for photocopying and postage to Dave Terry, 34 Windmill Hill, Ruislip, Middx. HA4 8PX.

Lars Anderson and Chad Miliman, PICKUP ARTISTS: STREET BASKETBALL IN AMERICA (1998). (New York: Verso) 180 Varick Street, 10th Floor, N.Y., NY 10014-4606 $ 19.00 (paper) $ 25.00. [800-233-4830]

Joanna Avery and Julie Stevens, TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE: WOMEN'S HOCKEY IN NORTH AMERICA (1997). (Victoria, BC: Polestar Book Publishers) PO. Box 5238, Station B, Victoria, BC V8R 6N4 $ 19.95 Canadian (paperback).

Pete Axthelm, THE CITY GAME: BASKETBALL FROM THE GARDEN TO THE PLAYGROUNDS 1999, reprint of 1970). (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) 312 North 14th Street, PO. Box 880484, Lincoln, NE 68588-0484

$ 12.00 (paperback). [800-526-2]

Carl M. Becker. HOME AND AWAY: THE RISE AND FALL OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL ON THE BANKS OF THE 0H10, 1919-1934 (1998). (Athens: Ohio University Press) Scott Quadrangle, Athens, Ohio 45701

319.95 (paperback) [800-621-2736] $ 36.95.

Jay Bennett (ed.), STATISTICS IN SPORT (1998). (New York: Oxford University Press) 198 Madison Avenue, N.Y., NY 10016 $ 70.00. [800-445-9714]

M.L. Biscotti. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN SPORTING BOOKS: 1926-1985 (1997). (Far Hills, NJ: Meadow Run Press) PO. Box 270, Far Hills, NJ 0793 1 $ 75.00.

Peter C. Bjarkman, HOOPLA: A CENTURY OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL (1996). (Lincolnwood, IL: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group) 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL 60646-1975 $ 15.00 (paperback). [800-323-4900]

Bob Bloss, BASEBALL MANAGERS: STATS, STORIES, AND STRATEGIES (1999). (Philadelphia: Temple University Press) 1601 N. Broad Street, Room 305, Philadelphia, PA 19122-6099 $ 29.50. [800-447-1656]

Michael Boo, THE STORY OF FIGURE SKATING (1998). (New York: William Morrow) 1350 Avenue of the Americas, N.Y., NY 10019 $ 7.95 (paperback).

[800-843-9389]

Douglas Booth, THE RACE GAME: SPORT AND POLITICS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1998). (London, England: Frank Cass) Newbury House, 900 Eastern Avenue, London 1G2 7HH, United Kingdom $22.50 (paper). $52.50 [800-944-6190]

John Christgau, THE ORIGINS OF THE JUMP SHOT: EIGHT MEN WHO SHOOK THE WORLD OF BASKETBALL (1999). (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) 213 North 141h Street, P.O. Box 880484, Lincoln, NE 68588-0484 $ 15.00 (paperback). [800-755-1105]

CLASSICAL BULLETIN, THE, Vol. 74, No. 2 (1998) Special issue: "Entering the Stadium: Approaches to Ancient Greek Athletics" Editors, The Classical Bulletin, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1000 Brown Street, Unit 101, Wauconda.IL 60084. $ 20.00 (additional copies $ 5.00).

Jose Colin, THE AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE: THE GOLDEN YEARS OF AMERICAN SOCCER.1921-1931 (1998). 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706 $ 56.00 [800-4621-6420]

Pamela Cooper, THE AMERICAN MARATHON (1998). (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press) 1600 Jamesville Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13244-5160 $ 29.95. [800-365-8929]

Mike Cronin and David Mayall (eds.) SPORTING NATIONALISMS:

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Gina Daddario, WOMEN'S SPORTS AND SPECTACLE: GENDERED

TELEVISION COVERAGE AND THE OLYMPIC CAMES (1998).

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John D. Fair, MUSCLETOWN USA: BOB HOFFMAN AND THE MANLY

CULTURE OF YORK BARBELL (1999). (University Park: Penn State University Press) 820 North University Drive, University Support Building 1, Suite C, University Park, PA 16802-1003 $ 23.50 (paperback). [800-326-9180]

John L. Fizel (ed.), SPORTS ECONOMICS: CURRENT RESEARCH (1999).

Westport, CT: Greenwood) 88 Post Road W., Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881

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Ahison Futrell, BLOOD IN THE ARENA: THE SPECTACLE OF ROMAN

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Gerald R. Gems, WINDY CITY WARS: LABOR, LEISURE, AND SPORT

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Todd Gould, PIONEERS OF THE HARDWOOD: INDIANA AND THE

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$ 14.95 (paperbackback) Convention price $9.00. $ 35.00. [800-842-6796]

Pat Griffin, STRONG WOMEN, DEEP CLOSETS: LESBIANS AND HOMOPHOBIA IN SPORTS (1998). (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics)

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Robert S. Griffin, SPORTS IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN AND

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$ 35.00. [800-225-5800]

Richard Gruneau, CLASS, SPORTS, AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

(1999, originally 1983). (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics) P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076 $ 22.00 (paperback). [800-747-4457]

David J. Halberstam, THE WORK PICTURE: THE HISTORY OF NEW YORK SPORTS ON THE RADIO (1998). (Lincolnwood, IL: NTC/Contemporary Publishing) 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL 60646-1975 $ 24.95. [800-323-4900]

William Hallberg, THE RUB OF THE GREEN (1998). (New York: Ballantine Books) 201 East 50th Street, N.Y., NY 10022 $ 12.95 (paperback. [800-726-0600]

Fan Hong, FOOTBINDING, FEMINISM AND FREEDOM: THE LIBERATION OF WOMEN'S BODIES IN MODERN CHINA (1997). (Portland, OR: Frank Cass) ISBN, 5804 N.E. Hassalo Street, Portland, OR 97213-3644

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Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, LACROSSE: THE NATIONAL GAME OF THE

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Kevin Hubbard and Stan Fischler, HOCKEY AMERICA: THE ICE GAMES

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Colin Jose, THE AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE 1921-1931: THE

GOLDEN YEARS OF AMERICAN SOCCER (1998). (Lanham: Scarecrow Press)

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Jackie Joyner-Kersee, A KIND OF GRACE: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST FEMALE ATHLETE (1997). (New York: Warner Books) 1271 Avenue of the Americas, N.Y., NY 10020 $ 23 .00.

Leonard Koppett, KOPPETT'S CONCISE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE

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Marie R. Lowe, WOMEN OF STEEL: FEMALE BODYBUILDERS AND

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Sue Macy, WINNING WAYS: A PHOTOHISTORY OF WOMEN IN

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WI 53714-0260 $ 11.09. [800-448-8939]

Bill Mallon, THE 1900 OLYMPIC GAMES: RESULTS FOR ALL

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Marc C. Maltby, THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF

PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL, 1890-1920 (1998). (New York: Garland)

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J. A. Mangan, THE GAMES ETHIC AND IMPERIALISM: ASPECTS

OF THE DIFFUSION OF AN IDEAL (1998). (Portland, OR: Frank Cass)

ISBS, 5804 NE Hassalo Street, Portland, OR 97213-3644. $27.50 (paperback). [800-944-6190]

J.A. Mangan, SPORT IN EUROPE: POLITICS, CLASS, GENDER (1999).

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William Marshall, BASEBALL'S PIVOTAL ERA, 1945-1951 (1999).

(Lexington: University Press of Kentucky) 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508 $ 29.95.

Keith McClellan, THE SUNDAY GAME: AT THE DAWN OF

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[877-UAPRESS]

Jackie McGlen, SOUTH AFRICA'S CRICKET CAPTAINS FROM

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John McGran, WORLD'S GREATEST SPORTS BRAWLS (1998).

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H. R. Muhammad, THE SACRED ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SPORTS AND CULTURE (1998). (Louisville: Islamic Texts Society U.S.A.) Distributed by ISBS, 5804 NE Hassalo Street, Portland, OR 97213-3644 $ 16.95 (paper). [800-944-6190]

BilI Murray, THE OLD FIRM IN THE NEW AGE: RANGERS AND CELTICS SINCE THE SOUNESS REVOLUTION (1998). (North Pomfret: Trafalgar Square) P.O. Box 257, North Pomfret, VT 05053 £ 35.00. [800-423-4525]

Bill Murray, WORLD'S GAME: A HISTORY OF SOCCER (1998).

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61820 $ 15.95. [800-545-4703]

National Golf Foundation, CALLAWAY GOLF COMPANY: BUSINESS

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John Nauright, SPORT, CULTURES AND IDENTITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA (1998). (Herndon, VA: Books International) P.O. Box 605, Herdon, VA 20172-0605 $ 27.95. [800-359-7340]

John R. Nauright and Timothy J.L. Chandler (eds.), MAKING MEN: RUGBY AND MASCULINE IDENITITY (1999, reprint). (Portland, OR: Frank Cass)

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Carole A. Oglesby (ed.), ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WOMEN AND SPORT IN AMERICA (1998). (Phoenix: Oryx Press) 4041 N. Central Avenue, 7th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85067-388$ 65.00. [800-279-4663]

Michael Oriard, READING FOOTBALL: HOW THE POPULAR PRESS CREATED AN AMERICAN SPECTACLE (1998, paperback edition).

(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press) P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288 $ 18.95 (paperback). [800-848-6224]

George Peper (ed.), GOLF IN AMERICA: THE FIRST ONE

HUNDRED YEARS (1998).(New York: Harry N. Abrams) 100 Fifth Avenue, N.Y., NY 10011 $ 24.98. [800-957-1209]

Ian Prior, THE HISTORY OF GAELIC GAMES (1998). (Minneapolis: Irish Books and Media) Franklin Business Center, 1433 Franklin Avenue, E., Minneapolis, MN 55404-2135 $ 14.95. [800-229-3565]

Douglas Putnam, CONTROVERSIES OF THE SPORTS WORLD (1999).

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Lawrence S. Ritter, THE STORY OF BASEBALL, 3rd edition (1999).

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$ 39.95 (paperback). [800-843-9389]

Rob Ruck, THE TROPIC 0F BASEBALL: BASEBALL IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (1998). (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) 312 North l4th Street, PO Box 880484, Lincoln, NE 68588-0484 $ 12.00 (paperback). [800-526-2617]

George H. Sage, POWER AND IDEOLOGY IN AMERICAN SPORT, 2nd ed. (1998). (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics) P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076 $ 29.00 (paperback) [800-747-4457]

Allen L. Sack and Ellen J. Staurowsky, COLLEGE ATHLETES FOR HIRE: THE EVOLUTION AND LEGACY OF THE NCAA'S AMATEUR MYTH (1998).

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Joli Sandoz (ed.), A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME: WOMEN'S LITERATURE ON WOMENS SPORT(1997). (New York: Noonday Press) 19 Union Square West, NY., NY 10003 $ 13.00 (paperback).

Alfred E. Senn, POWER, POLITICS, AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES: A HISTORY OF THE POWER BROKERS, EVENTS, AND CONTROVERSIES THAT SHAPED THE GAMES (1999). (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics)

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Calvin H. Sinnette, FORBIDDEN FAIRWAYS: AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE GAME OF GOLF (1998). (Chelsea, MI: Sleeping Bear Press) 121 South Main Street, P.O. Box 20, Chelsea, MI 48118 $ 24.95. [800-487-2323]

Lissa Smith, NIKE IS A GODDESS: THE HISTORY OF WOMEN SPORTS (1998). (New York: Grove/Atlantic) 841 Broadway, 4th Floor, N.Y., NY 10003-4793 $ 24.00. [800-788-3123]

Troy Soos, BEFORE THE CURSE: THE GLORY DAYS OF NEW ENGLAND BASEBALL, 1858-1918 (1998). (Hyannis, MA: Parnassus Imprints)

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David Quentin Voigt, AMERICAN BASEBALL (1983). 3 vols. (University Park: Penn State University Press) 820 North University Drive, University Support Building 1, Suite C, University Park, PA 16802-1003 $ 18.95 each (paperback) [800-326-9180]

David Quentin Voigt, BASEBALL: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY (1994).

(University Park: Penn State University Press) 820 North University Drive, University Support Building 1, Suite C, University Park, PA 16802-1003

$ 24.95 (paperback [800-326-9180]

H David Quentin Voigt, THE LEAGUE THAT FAILED (1998).

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Gregory K. Stanley, THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SPORTSWOMAN:

WOMEN'S HEALTH, FITNESS AND ATHLETICS, 1860-1940 [Vol. 180] (1998). (New York: Peter Lang) 275 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001

$ 24.95 (paperback).

Dean A. Sullivan (ed.), MIDDLE INNINGS: A DOCUMENTARY

HISTORY OF BASEBALL, 1900-1948 (1998). (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) 312 North l4th Street, P.O. Box 880484, Lincoln, NE 68588-0484

$ 40.00. [800-526-2617]

Malcolm Templeton, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SPORTING CONTACTS: NEW ZEALAND ATTITUDES TO RACE RELATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1921-94 (1998). (Concord, MA: Paul and Company Publications) P.O. Box 442, Concord, MA 01742 $ 29.95 (paperback.)

Jan Todd, PHYSICAL CULTURE AND THE BODY BEAUTIFUL: PURPOSIVE EXERCISE IN THE LIVES OF AMERICAN WOMEN, 1800-1875 (1998). (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press) 63l6 Peake Road, Macon, GA 31210

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Simon Wilde, NUMBER ONE: THE WORLD'S BEST BAT AND BOWLERS, 1800-1996, 1998 (North Pomfret, VT: Trafalgar Square) PO. Box 257, North Pomfret, VT 05053 340.00. [800-423-4525]

Dick Wimmer (ed.), THE GRIDIRON GAME: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FOOTBALL WRITINGS (1997). (Lincolnwood, IL: NTC/Contemporary Publishing) 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood, IL 60646-1975

$ 15.00 (paper). [800-323-49001

Rich Wolfe and George Castle, I REMEMBER HARRY CARAY (1998).

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Charles E. Yesalis and Virginia S. Cowart, THE STEROIDS GAME: AN

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by John Goulstone

During much of the Georgian era we find slight evidence of contact between English and overseas runners, just occasional references like those to the great Levi Whitehead winning the five Queen Anne’s guineas from a field of ten including ‘the famous Indian’ and ‘Long Joe’ failing in an attempt on 10 miles in 58 minutes in 1794 after beating ‘the famous Spaniard’. Certainly the end of the period saw a sudden influx of foreign gymnastic instructors - Clias, Voelker, Voarino, Tedeschi, etc. (see my ‘The Gymnastic Society’, Sports History, 6 (1985), pp. 11-16; and Trevor Hearl ‘Fitness of the Nation’, Physical and Health Education in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries (History of Education Society 1983), pp. 46-69). Yet their involvement with athletics proper seems to have been minimal. When Clias staged his sports at Sandhurst in 1823 the only suggestion of genuine ‘track and field’ was the award of 5 guineas to Cadet Fryers as ‘the best runner’. And whereas Carl Voelker, a former pupil of Jahn in Berlin, claimed to teach running, high and long leaping both with and without a pole, javelin throwing and hopping, except for ‘jumping with the pole’, no athletic events, as opposed to gymnastic exercises, were reported at the festivals held under his auspices in 1827 and 1828.

The pole jump itself only emerged as a recognised sport in the Lakeland games of the late 1830s and 1840s. On the other hand it might be argued that through displays at the city’s military academy and the work of Clias’ admirer, George Rowland, foreign gymnastics prompted the founding of Edinburgh’s Six Feet Club in 1826 and through that body inspired the even more influential Border Games organised by so-called ‘gymnastic’, clubs or societies. However, although the Club maintained its own gymnasium, which Rowland attended twice a week, its outdoor ‘field practises’ appear to have disavowed gymnastic disciplines in favour of the more traditional quoits, hop-step-and-jump, and throwing the hammer. Moreover, apart from the employment of German-style jumping frames instead of ‘cat-gallows’, we have little indication of an essentially gymnastic element in the Border meetings. And soon even the word ‘gymnastic’ was replaced by ‘athletic’. Thus Alnwick was staging its ‘gymnastic games’ in 1845, but Ulverston its ‘Great Northern Athletic Meeting’ in 1851.

Nevertheless around the time of the first gymnastic craze we do begin to glimpse a growing international dimension to competitive athletics. It is this development, particularly through English pedestrianism’s links with Continental Europe and North America, which I attempt to illustrate in the following survey covering the period 1826 to 1878.

1826. John Berry of Lancashire beat the German velocipedist, Maurice Rummel, over 10 miles on the Uxbridge road from the first milestone near Kensington

Gardens to the sixth beyond Acton and back. Many foreigners attended and for the

irst three miles the roadside was packed with spectators, the Germans backing their man freely though in small amounts. Rummel took an early lead but Berry caught him at Acton and on the return stretch nearing Notting Hill bounded, away to win by 30 yards. ‘All the spectators whether English or foreign, admitted a better contested match had never been witnessed’. Rummell, a very fine active youth - small, but symmetrical person’, had previously won a wager for the prince de Leon by covering 2½ French leagues (almost 7 miles) in, 36 minutes (on his velocipede?).

1827. At Sunbury Rummel lost to Berry over 5 miles and to James Wantling over 250 yards. The last defeat is scarcely surprising since Wantling, at least by reputation, was the top sprinter of the pre-Victorian era. Later in, the year, principally because of the extreme heat, Rummel failed in his attempt to run 10 miles in one hour on the Lewes road.

1827. Robert Skipper, long-distance walker, beat ‘the celebrated Frenchman’ in Paris. For Skipper, see my monograph John Townsend, the Sussex Pedestrian (1999), note 1.

1828. George Hall from the Potteries won a hard-fought 350-yard, race by half a yard against Dufont for 2,000 a-side at St Germains near Paris, before ‘a numerous attendance of the English residents’. Doubtless many of the latter were connected with the Paris CC (in 1829 called the Albion club and an English cricket club) whose membership in 1828 included ‘60 persons of the first families in the French capital’ who attended in force its matches on the plains of Monceaux.

1828. The French velocipedist, John Joseph Grandserre, offered to run (ride a velocipe, ?) 19 times round the Inner Circle In Regents Park, an estimated 19 miles, in 2 hours. A few months later John Shepherd beat him with remarkable ease over a 10-mile course around a circle, a ‘third of a mile round, staked out at Lord’s. At the end of the 20th lap Shepherd was half a mile in front and occasionally drew up to take some wine and water. Seeing this, Grandserre put In a terrific burst to go 50 yards ahead. Then Shepherd passed him with the rapidity of lightning, and at the end of his 10 miles went to the adjoining house for a nap. Those who had betted on ‘the Frenchman thereupon claimed he had run one lap short. When told about this, ‘out of bed he jumped, ran out of the house, and proceeded round the circle for the thirty-first time, and before his opponent had completed his twenty-ninth round’ (for further details see my ‘John Shepherd, The Yorkshire Phenomenon’, Sports History 9 (1986), pp. 7-9).

1831. Augustus do Berenger (said to be Prussian-born) founded the Stadium at Chelsea. It was intended to cover foot racing and leaping. Also, ‘leaping, jumping, &c’ (a distinction left unexplained) were on the programme of its projected ‘Olympic Festival’ in 1832. But so far as one can tell, track and field never featured at his ‘school of athletes, (see my pamphlet, The Chelsea Stadium or British National Arena, 1831-1843, 1999).

1837. Pedestrian Challenge from France’ issued by ‘Bipedis’ to Burn or Fuller to walk 10 miles at Boulogne for 2,000f - Burn evens, but Fuller ‘I expect to give my man (at present in Paris) two minutes’.

1839. The German Henry Wolfe or Wolff challenged any man in Birmingham at one mile. He was accepted by, and lost to, William Sheppard, one of the great milers of the 1840s.

c1842. Ambrose Jackson left Lancashire to compete as a professional runner in America where he was still taking part in races in 1845 (see also below).

1842. A match staged between a Kentish runner and one from Calais at Tilmanstone, eight miles from Dover.

1843. George Seward arrived in Liverpool from America. For an outline of his career, see BSSH Newsletter No. 9, pp. 37-42.

1843. Foot racing for the last nine months has been very fashionable in Paris, and a groom known as Flying Ben ‘has often thrown down the gauntlet to all Paris.’ Numerous tradesmen, mostly from Nottingham and Sheffield, ‘towns standing, high in reputation for pedestrianism, undertook to find a man from the gas-works to run the groom at 100 yards for 100f in ‘the Bois de Boulogne. The ‘Gasman’, trained by a celebrated pedestrian then living in Paris won before a considerable number of French and English amateurs. ‘The French were highly delighted with the sport, and have promised their support upon future occasions’. On Christmas Day Flying Ben lost by 20 yards in the Bois de Boulogne, over one mile for 200f, to a lad under the superintendence of ‘the Old London Pedestrian’.

1844. The ‘sporting landlord, Bob Cowans, arranged a match in which the Rochechorcott Gas Man, beat ‘Bob Logic’ for 200f by 6 yards in 150 in the Bois de Boulogne on 7 January (Sunday, a favourite day for amusements in France.

1844. The ‘perseverance and exertions with the nobility and, gentry in [sic] behalf of athletic sports’ of ‘an old London professor, now in Paris, succeeded in raising a prize of 200f to be run for (distance, one mile) by persons of all countries, who have resided at least six months within ten miles of Paris. Prizes were given by a sporting English lord and his friends, with a 10f sweepstakes, for a mile race in the

Bois de Boulogne watched by several members of the Jockey Club ‘and other patrons of athletic amusements’ - won by an English lad in 5 min 50 sees, with a Frenchman, considered the first runner in France, 2nd and a groom 3rd.

1844. A 2-mile race in the Bois de Boulogne announced for pedestrians resident at least 6 months in Paris for 100f plus a 20f sweepstakes payable to Mr Cootes, the second runner to have his money refunded.

1844. The proprietors offered a $1,000 purse, to be divided among the first four (those from outside the USA receiving an additional 10% to cover expenses), for a one hour race on the Beacon Course, Hoboken, NJ. In August John Barlow and Thomas Greenhalgh left Bolton for America and competed with Ambrose Jackson and others on October 16th before 25-30,000 spectators. John Gildersleeve of NYC finished 1^st, Greenhalgh 2^nd, Barlow 3rd. ‘No sporting event of the kind within our knowledge has excited more general interest’

reported one New York paper.

1844. On 19 November, 3 and 10-mile races at Hoboken attracted huge, crowds from NYC, NJ, Long Island and the river towns along the Hudson, including 400 from Albany making the 250-mile round trip by steamboat. The 3 miles for a $50 lot prize was won by Ambrose Jackson from three Americans, the 10 miles by Barlow with the Indian Steeprock 2nd, Greenhalgh 3rd. Under the headline THE FASTEST TEN MILE RACE EVER RUN IN THE WORLD. - OLD ENGLAND AHEAD. TEN MILES IN 54:21, the Spirit of the Times hailed it as ‘one of the most extraordinary performances of which we have record’. ‘They won’t believe this in England, even if you print it’ Barlow remarked to its reporter. He returned after this race, enduring a perilous 29-day voyage before reaching Liverpool.

1844. 4 and 12-mile races were staged on the Beacon Course on 16 December, the first won ‘by Jackson in 22 min 10 secs after starting favourite, the second by Greenhalgh, beating Gildersleeve ‘by about a quarter of a mile. Thus runners from the Bolton-Manchester area won four out of the five great International races in America and in ‘the other finished 2nd and 3rd. Greenhalgh arrived back in Bolton with his trainer, William Harrison, in February when he acknowledged the gentlemanly manner in which they were treated in the USA and ‘the very kind support extended to them.

1844-45. After his races against Sheppard at Gannick Corner William Howitt received a business offer to tour America where interest in running was said to have been excited by the visit of Barlow and Greenhalgh. He ran in Canada, at Hoboken, near Albany and in Baltimore, New Orleans, Savannah and Philadelphia, defeating Gildersleeve at least five times. From Philadelphia he challenged any American to race over 20 miles giving 300 yards and other distances with shorter starts down to 2 miles evens. Howitt returned via Boston and, arrived in Birmingham in October 1846. The publicity generated by the three English runners

probably accounts for the enthusiasm for ‘the sport in New York reported in 1848 ‘pedestrianism has become all over the state one of the most popular of our rural sports, and with the manly game of cricket, is fast taking the place of wrestling, ball playing, &c’.

1846. English foot races, in the Champs d’Elysees and Bois de Boulogne, ‘created a great deal of interest among the French and English residents’.

1846. In Washington, Bannister, an Englishman who ‘is in some way was incorporated into the family of Mr Packenham, the British Minister, lost to G.W. Morgan, reportedly from ‘the West’, over 100 yards for $500 a-side. It is unclear whether the loser, said to be aged 23, was the Henry Bannister of Audenshaw running in Lancashire in 1840. Soon afterwards Morgan was beaten by Seward over the same distance.

1847. Paris is rapidly becoming a perfect Newmarket in sporting affairs among the working Englishman, in foot racing, horse racing, cricketing, &c.’

1849-51. Howitt undertook a second American tour with races at Saratoga, Buffalo, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Nashville, St Louis etc (cf. Sports Quarterly Magazine 8 (1978) pp. 21-24). His principal rivals were ‘native’ Americans. At ‘this period all ‘the outstanding distance runners tended to be either English or Indian. At Buffalo he ran against 10 or 12 ‘of the Indians of the Four Nation … some from Alleghany, and others from Canada’ and was said to have been idolised by several Indian tribes.

1850. For a 5-mile hurdle race won by Howitt (giving 200 yards start) in New Orleans at least half the eight entries came from England: Howitt himself, Joseph Windrow of Liverpool, William Williams of Manchester and R. Lee of London (who on the day was unable to run through illness). ‘Mickey Free’, of Ireland who finished 3rd was actually one Robert Harriot. His real nationality is uncertain but later in the year, immediately after completing a pedestrian match in Liverpool, he made news by being arrested by the police for shooting his wife. According to J. Cumming (Runners & Walkers: a nineteenth century sports chronicle, Chicago, 1981, pp. 48-9) Mrs Free/Harriott, as well as her husband, appeared as a pedestrian in America.

1852. Miss Kate Irvine from America undertook to walk 500 miles in 500 consecutive hours at the Albert Grounds, Golden Cross, near Birmingham. She returned to the USA but was back in Birmingham in 1853 to walk 580 (sic) miles in successive hours at the same ground (see P. Lovesey, Nineteenth Century Women Walkers, pp. 5-6).

1852. International match for $200 held on Toronto cricket ground as the result of a challenge from the USA to Canada - Lefevre (pseudonym) of America beating

Lieut. Sayer of the 23rd Regiment by a yard in 160. Frederic(k) Sayer, who received severe wounds at the Battle of Alma in the Crimea, while a half-pay captain served as police magistrate for Gibraltar.

1853. Howitt v ‘Black Hawk’ who retired after four laps. It was later asserted that the Hawk, a reputed Tonawanda Indian, was really a native of Calcutta or Bengal (information: P. Lovesey).

1854. John Searles ‘the English Deer’, John Howard and John Thomas ‘the Salopian’ received a joint-benefit at Liverpool’s Royal Adelphi Theatre prior to their departure for America. Searles, whose wife looked after his pub, the Bee Hive in Liverpool, whilst away, returned in November having won a 7-mile walking match for $1,000 against the American pedestrian, Mr Boyd (presumably Boyd, then described as English, who ran against Howitt, at Saratoga in 1849). As late an 1876, while performing at the Casino des Galines, St Hubert, Brussels, ‘the Salopian’, issued a walking challenge to E.P. Weston.

1854. Londoner John Devonport ‘carried off the championship of all the Colonies’, by beating Thomas Parnell over 125 yards on Homebush Pace Course outside Sydney. Devonport first came to prominence as a swimmer, winning silver medals at Holborn Baths in 1845 (as a boy) and ‘51, before running at the Old Cope in 1851-52. He was later shot dead in Australia.

1856. George Frost the Suffolk Stag’ beat Antonio Genaro ‘the celebrated Spanish pedestrian, at the New Surrey Pedestrian Ground, Wandsworth - a 4-hour race which partook somewhat of a national character, the nimble-footed son of Hispania having been warmly taken by the hand, and spiritedly patronised, by some of his fellow-countrymen residing in the metropolis’.

Genaro arrived in a cloak and a blue cap, embroidered Genaro Andarin Espanol (Genaro the Spanish Runner) and surmounted by the crown of Spain. ‘The peculiarity of his gait, unusual to an English eye, struck everyone; he did not lift his feet more than 2 or 3 inches and let them descend quite flatly upon the ground’ in short rapid steps. He gave up after the 14^th mile in 1 hour 38 mins. 2 sees, with Frost 11 laps ahead. For full details see Sports Quarterly Magazine 19 (1981), pp. 19-21.

1858. Miss Lucy Reynolds of Liverpool named as one of the women to race in Jackson Square, New Orleans (information: Dr D.Shaulis, University of Nevada). Through ‘King Cotton’ the town had close links with Lancashire, which perhaps helps explain why runners from both Liverpool and Manchester were competing in

New Orleans in 1850 (see above). The event might therefore be viewed as an extension of smock racing, the English rural custom which found another late survival in the female race advertised for Manchester’s Olympic Games of 1864.

1861. John Nevin, Charles Mower and John White competed in a USA tour organised by George Martin ‘the wizard of pedestrianism’. The first two won races over 440 yards and 1 mile while more notably White beat Deerfoot over 10 miles on the Fashion Course near New York. In this race he and Mower were matched against two Indians when ‘the difference between the gaits of the white and red men was very marked, the former going with an easy cat-like step, and the latter

with that peculiar "lope" and side-swing of shoulders and head that any prairie traveller has remarked among the runners of the western tribes’ (information: P. Lovesey ), also Sports Quarterly Magazine 6 (1978), pp. 12-14).

1861. Deerfoot, after making his English debut against Teddy Mills in September, ran with tremendous success, setting several records, before returning to America in May 1863 (see P. Lovesey, The Kings of Distance, 1968).

1861. Capt. William Henry Patten Saunders matched against M. Gambiere of France for 2,500f a-side in ‘the Great Running Match for the Championship of France’ near Paris. Gambiere forfeited when he heard of Saunders’ trial time. The Captain was styled the undefeated European Champion, having contended victoriously for ‘the sash’ in Russia, Spain, Austria, Prussia and England. His Russian race was against ‘the Tartar Chief’, believed invincible in the eastern Russian Empire. When brought to Moscow, however, Saunders ‘astonished the Muscovites’ by winning over 2 miles with ease in 9 mins 18 secs. For his career as an athlete, steeplechase jockey, swimmer, swordsman, big-game hunter, yachtsman, bull-fighter, political theorist and statistician, poet, novelist and claimed ‘master of Coptic lore’ see Sports History 2 (1982), pp. 18-22.

1862. International athletics meeting on Bonn cricket ground held under the auspices of the English residents. The competitors, mostly students at Bonn University, came from France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Greece and North and South America as well as from Britain (cf. Sports Quarterly Magazine 18 (1981), pp. 5-6).

1862. The German Gymnastic Society (established in London in 1861) staged its first annual festival. Although primarily concerned with PE exercises, its open meetings at the Crystal Palace included high jumping and running. In 1864 there were two one lap (600 yds) races, one won by Mr Eaton of Liverpool Gymnastic Athletic Society, the other by Mr Stanniland who also won the high jump with 6’1" (if correctly reported the first 6-foot clearance at an amateur, meeting). Its English members formed a breakaway Amateur GS in 1862 and held their own open athletic fetes at Crystal Palace. In 1864, under a new title, London GS, it

featured a challenge cup competition for athletes scoring most points for 440 yards, high and long jumps and rope climbing - won by Henry Brooke of London with Henry Ahrens of Bremen 2nd. Ahrens came 1^st in the long jump with 15’5". Sometime Director of Exercises and GGS President (1862-71), Frankfurt-born Ernst George Ravenstein (1834-1913) used to deliver his presidential addresses (in German and English) at Crystal Palace. In 1865 he represented the GGS as founder-member of the National Olympian Association which (besides prompting the formation of the rival AAC mounted what was arguably the first national amateur championship meeting in 1866. On behalf of the GGS Ravenstein attended the inaugural meeting of the short-lived Athletic Association in 1871 when he

spoke out against its subsequent ruling that no amateur could compete with professionals or receive prize-money.

1862. Moorex ‘the Italian giant’ began a 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours walk at Warren House, Lindley Moor (information: P. Lovesey).

1862. Long distance runner Henry Howard, author of Physical Training and how to Run, Walk and Jump (1862), embarked for America where he was said to have previously competed.

1862. The Illustrated Sporting News published a portrait of William Birks as ‘Champion Pedestrian of France’. He followed an early running career in Nottinghamshire (with a win over Seward at Trent Bridge in 1847), then lived in Calais (by 1851), Radford, Nottingham and Oxford before becoming landlord of the Nottingham Castle, Calais, by 1862.

1864. Margaret Douglas ‘the great Australian Pedestrienne’, attempted to walk 1,000 miles in as many consecutive hours on a 176-yard indoor circuit at London’s Alhambra - every mile ‘carefully watched and recorded, and properly vouched for by the umpires’. She apparently failed, but from early August to the beginning of September must have completed at least 850 miles (P. Lovesey: Nineteenth Century Women Walkers pp. 8-9).

1864. The annual Manchester Athletic Festival established by the Manchester Athletic, Manchester Gymnastic and (local) German Gymnastic clubs.

1864. John Steeprock toured England, under the aegis of George Martin, when a portrait with his squaw appeared in the Illustrated Sporting News. It was alleged, probably maliciously, that he was an imposter, real name John or Albert Smith. However he must have been older than his stated 36 years because as well as running against Howitt at Buffalo in 1849 he finished 2nd behind Barlow at Hoboken in 1844.

1868. The Australian (Aboriginal) cricket tourists took part in some athletic events, including the ‘Australian and European’ sports day held on Whit Monday at Gravesend’s Bat and Ball ground.

1868. George Topley (accompanied by James Smith and J.Oddy?) went to the USA where the leading American walker, Weston, refused to compete with him. He failed in an attempt on 50 miles in 10 hours at the Fashion Course, with Jack Golding judged the 1 mile walk at the initial meeting of NTAC, and trained F.D.Davies of NI for his sprint with Iowa’s J.W.Cozad. After a benefit at the Alhambra on Broadway he returned in January 1869 and was afterwards styled ‘Champion Walker of England and America’.

1868. William Lang, record-holder for the mile sailed to America intending to challenge William Harding. In December he exhibited his running trophies at Jimmy Smith’s cricketing headquarters on Broadway and in January 1869 received a benefit at Hodgkins’s Hall, Boonetown, NJ. His challenges were refused so he came back to England the following month without finding an opponent.

1869. Topley, Frank Hewitt and A.E. ‘Alf’ Bird departed for Australia on a 100-day engagement by the theatrical manager George Choppin. Bird and Topley returned in 1870 but Hewitt, who is said to have created the biggest sensation since Stephenson’s cricket team of 1861-62, stayed on and in 1870 ran a 9.75 100 yards in Melbourne cricket ground (in 1874 it was stated that only he and Seward had definitely run under 10 secs). In 1871 he broke Nuttall’s record with a 1 min 54.75 secs half mile at Lyttleton, New Zealand, though on a straight road.

1869. James Smith walked 50 miles in 9 mins 47 sees at Trenton, NJ. In 1874-75 he toured with Barnum’s Circus billed as the greatest walker on earth, with a standing offer that he could beat anyone at walking for a $10,000 bet, before resuming his track career in 1878-79 with wins against O’Leary, etc. (information: P. Lovesey).

1869. William Richards beaten by Deerfoot over 5 miles in Cleveland. Though born in Glamorgan he had been a pedestrian in England for over ten years and held the mile record jointly with Lang. Prior to sailing for America in 1868 he kept the Black Noree Inn at Miles Platting.

1870. Daillebout or Dibeaux (alias Red Head), an Iroquois Indian from the Montreal area, competed successfully in England over middle distances against Golder, Mills, Lang, etc. (information: P.Lovesey).

1876. Weston visited England for the first time and walked 109 miles 832 yards in a 24-hour match against Perkins (ibid).

1876. The Irish American O’Leary covered 502 miles in 6 days at Toxteth Park,

Liverpool, the first of several appearances in England (ibid).

1877. George Hazael beat the Italian Achille Bargozzi, a native of Forli and self-styled champion runner of France and Italy, who claimed to have run 50 miles in 61 hours. ‘The International Running Match’ over 30 miles for £50 was held at Lillie Bridge with Bargozzi retiring within 50 yards of his 15^th mile, 5 laps behind Hazael who completed 20 miles - in the then record 1 hour, 57 mins, 27 secs - before being declared the winner. During the race spectators encouraged the visitor with shouts of ‘Go it, Icescream!’ It was actually Hazael who at Islington’s Agricultural Hall in 1879, first broke 61 hours for 50 miles. He afterwards ran in America where in Madison Square Garden in 1882 he also became the first to complete 600 miles in 6 days. In 1885 he installed a running track behind his hotel in Brooklyn.

1878. ‘Madame’ Ada Anderson arrived from London in America where until retiring in 1880 her performances as a walker sparked a craze for female pedestrianism across the USA (P. Lovesey: Nineteenth. Century Women Walkers pp. 16-22; D.Shaulis: Pedestriennes, Newsworthy but Controversial Women in Sporting Entertainment 1998).

by David Terry

Scipio Augustus Mussabini (1867-1927), was a man of many parts, an athlete, coach, referee, columnist, author and publisher. He was born 11 March 1867 at 6 Collyer Buildings, Blackheath Hill, Lewisham, Kent, the fourth of six children of Neocles Gaspard Mussabini (1827-1915), who was, a member of the Diplomatic Service, war correspondent, journalist and author, and his wife Aline (fl c1840-1911) nèe Faráat of Grenoble, southern France.

Mussabini’s family background makes interesing reading. His maternal ancestors make interesting reading. His great grandfather was a Syrian merchant from Damascus named Nicholas (c1760-1828). Nicholas began trading with Trieste and for commercial reasons Italianised his name to Mussabini and converted from Syrian Orthodox Christianity to Roman Catholicism. He moved to Smyrna in Turkey in the late 18th century and married a local Christian lady. One son Antonio, had an education in Rome and became the Archbishop of Smyrna and died in 1885. Another son, Joseph, Mussabini’s grandfather, married a lady belonging to a noble family of Genoa, and in 1833, set up a mercantile export-import company in London for trade with the Levant. In 1836 he moved his family from Smyrna to London to became a member of Lloyds in 1840 and, seven years later, took British naturalisation. In 1843 he became the official interpreter to Queen Victoria translating the languages of Persian, Arabic and Turkish. Mussabiniis father, Joseph, had two sons; Pierre the elder was part owner of a steamship company in Liverpool (1850s-1890s) and Neocles Gaspard, was the father of Mussabini. The latter was educated at University College, London, the Sorbonne in Paris and Edinburgh University. In 1851 he settled in London and began to write on political issues for the press. He launched a newspaper, defending oppressed Christians in the Middle East, which ruined him financially. He reported for various newspapers on the Turkish, Prussian, and Franco-Austrian wars between 1859 and 1878. He became naturalised 17 April 1857 and married, probably in France, sometime around 1860.

Mussabini’s mother, Aline, appears to have come from a family that was trading in cattle in the Grenoble area. She and her husband lived in rented accommodation and moved every few years, often living under the alias of Saville, first in the London suburbs of Kent and then north Middlesex. It appears that, at some point

before 1911, she moved back to France and it is noteworthy that three of her children moved to southern France, one of them being an alleged illegitimate son

Mussabini married Emma Nichols (1866-1961) of Hove, a farmerís daughter, in 1885 when he was 18 and had seven children between 1886 and 1905, three sons and four daughters. Two of his sons, John Arnold and Arthur Scipio, attended Dulwich College while Nicholas George attended Brixton Grammar School. All three followed in their fatherís footsteps into journalism. Aline, the eldest daughter and Monica both married, while Gladys V. Arnold remained single and Despina died young.

His birth name was Scipio Arnaud Godolphin. The names in themselves hold interest, Scipio Godolphin perhaps evoking an ancient Syrian-Roman General and Arnaud being a typical southern French name. Such a name did not blend into an English nationalistic background so Godolphin was dropped and "SAM", his initials, appear as a nickname. In 1912 Mussabini used the alias "Arnaud Saville", showing the problems he was experiencing with his foreign name in London. The surname Saville was also used by his father and his brother Paul in the early 1890s, while the name Arnold, given to two of his children, may have been for protective reasons as the general population of London was biased against foreign sounding names.

His school years were spent in France, probably in Grenoble, whence he returned in the early 1880s. By 1883 he was interested in professional running, particularly the London League runners. His obituaries referred to his prowess as a sprinter, footballer and cricketer in his younger days and this implies he attended an English private school for a short time. If he did compete on the professional circuit himself it was under an alias and probably contemporary with his friend the professional sprinter Charles Ranson, who was outstanding in the years 1885-1890. It was on the training and attributes of these professional runners that Mussabini based his training ideas, but developed them with scientific reasoning. He built up a reputation as a trainer during the 1890s. He was probably writing columns on athletics and billiards for the Sporting Life, Referee and the Westminster Gazette on a freelance basis during this period.

Mussabini’s first contact with the Polytechnic Cycling Club was in the early 1890s when he was training Polytechnicís Bert Harris at the Herne Hill track and assisted

him in winning the first professional 1m national championships in 1894. Professionalism encouraged several manufacturers to get involved in paced records. In 1894 Dunlop had manufactured pacing cycles to seat four, five, six or eight men and promoted world record attempts for commercial reasons. Mussabini

was appointed as trainer to the Dunlop pacing team which was based at the Herne Hill track and from 1896 also at he new fast cement track at Crystal Palace, Kent. From Easter until August bank holiday, races were held and records set, until electric battery driven bikes took over from 1898 and petrol driven motorbikes

became the mode in the early years of the 20th century to pace the cyclists Such pacing raised the speed of the cyclists by four or five miles per hour, but was extremely dangerous for the cyclist who had to keep as close as possible to the pacer’s bike to gain the full advantage of reduced wind resistance.

Billiards had long been a pastime for sportsmen of the middle class and it was probably in his sporting involvement that Mussabini became proficient at the game. The winter was a slack time for reporting on athletics and cycling and Mussabini had readily proved his worth as a reporter. By 1897 he was a recognised critic of billiards and, together with William. H. Robbins, wrote a billiards book entitled, "Billiard Player". A year or two later, Mussabini suggested to Sydenham Dixon, the son of the noted writer, Henry Hall Dixon, that he might launch a billiard journal, and thus the monthly "World of Billiardsí"was started in 1900 with Mussabini as assistant editor. Soon Mussabini was ghosting articles with copious drawings for professional players. His drawings of many table-shots set a new standard in explaining the techniques of ball-play. In 1904 Mussabini wrote a two-volume work for J.P. Mannock, a leading player, Billiards Expounded to all Degrees of Amateur Players. An editorial colleague of Mussabini said in 1927 of this book: it "is as useful today as when it was first published. I paid more than its published price secondhand". In 1910 Mussabini became the proprietor and editor of the journal, as a weekly and renamed it the New World of Billiards. Within a couple of years it became a financial failure and he was forced to remove his two youngest sons from Dulwich College.

After the turn of the century professional athletes and cycling were much depleted in London but Mussabini used to travel to Edinburgh each year, until 1926, to watch the professional New Year’s Day Powderhall Sprint. He turned his efforts to training amateur athletes. In 1909, a photograph shows him as trainer to Reggie Walker of South Africa, the 1908 Olympic 100m champion. Mussabini preferred to call himself a "coach", following the public schools and American colleges’ terminology, and thus became the first coach in British athletics. He was coaching running and cycling at Herne Hill track on a fee paying basis and in 1913 was employed by the Polytechnic Harriers on two evenings a week as their senior coach. About this time he took up residence in a large house at 84 Burbage Road, overlooking the Herne Hill track and, needless to say, had installed a full sized billiard table! He lived there until his death.

His first book on athletics, The Complete Trainer, came out in 1913. Mussabini describes advanced methods of training and technique from the sprints to the marathon. He shows his admiration for certain professional runners, but was critical of the methods of starters and timekeepers.

He appears to have had a lean time financially during the Great War and it was about this time he achieved recognition as a top class fee-earning billiards referee; in 1919 he refereed top billiards matches, being a noted figure at Thurston Billiard

Hall, Leicester Square and Burroughs and Watts, in Soho Square. He associated with Melbourne Innman and Joe Davis and he became a regular contributor to the "Billiards Player"magazine. Mussabini’s ability as a player himself was good, but he did not compare with the professionals of his day.

His interest in the science of athletic training was probably stimulated by the publication of a book by FA Schmidt and Eustace H Miles in 1901 entitled The Training of the Body, which attempted to analyse movement in activities such as running, walking, jumping, throwing, bowling, climbing, swimming, rowing and cycling. Mussabini was much impressed by the theories and work of professors J. Bell Pettigrew on animal movement, Edward Muybridge on human movement and the French researcher, Marey, on moving photography of the human body, all these researchers being contemporary to each other in the 1880s.

Mussabini started applying new technology to his training methods, which can be clearly seen in his book The Complete Trainer, which came out in 1913. Mussabini describes advanced methods of training and technique from the sprints to the marathon. He shows interest in the detail of running movement, of stride length and arm swing and the various phases of the sprint race. He shows his admiration for certain professional runners, and admires the relaxation of the top runners. He is critical of starting methods, particularly the crouch start when anticipation of the gun was practiced.

When in 1920 a viably priced tripod cine-camera became available, he obtained three of these which he used simultaneously to study his athletes in action. Soon he became well known for his cinematographic lectures. Mussabini used to coach about 50 Polytechnic athletes at each session and had outstanding success at four Olympic games: in 1912 with Applegarth in the 200m and 4x100m relay with club-mate D’Arcy; Edward 100m and 200m, Hill 800m and 1500m in 1920; Abrahams 100m and 4x100m relay in 1924 and the same for London in 1928; a total of five gold, two silver and four bronze medals. Mussabini attended four Olympic Games from 1908 to 1924 and was a member of the British Olympic Commission in 1923 on preparation of sportsmen for the 1924 Games.

In the early days of women’s athletics he coached Vera Palmer-Searle who achieved world records at 250m, 300m and 440 yards in 1923 and 1924. In 1920 and 1924, he took the Polytechnic athletes, who had qualified for the Olympic Games to Brighton for a week’s pre-Olympic tune-up. He acted as a father to the team, gently guiding them back to the hotel after they had crept away to meet local girls.

Mussabini was a man dedicated to his work. He would stand at an old-fashioned desk during the 1910s and 1920s for most of the day, writing his copy and drawing

billiard-play diagrams. He was attentive to his evening sports coaching, always willing to listen to his charges. He was stubborn when he knew he was "in the right"and would "not stand humbug" from anyone, as stated by a billiard colleague. He was a workaholic, neglecting his family life, but was kind and

sympathetic to his charges and colleagues, but modest to the point of secrecy about his personal achievements.

His final five years were encumbered by severe diabetes and, after a spell in hospital and a five-month convalescence in Nice where he stayed with his two of his widowed sisters, he decided to return home for his 60th birthday. On his journey home he took ill and died in his sleep, at Estapes station, near Calais, on the 25th March 1927. He was buried in Hampstead cemetery, in the family grave, on the 31st of March.

In the film Chariots of Fire, which was released in 1981, Sam was portrayed as Harold Abrahams’ coach at the 1924 Olympic Games. On the 4th December 1998, the National Coaches Foundation honoured Mussabini by striking the "Mussabini Medal" awarded to British coaches who have coached outstanding internationals. The first award was given posthumously to Ron Pickering.

Bibliography and Sources

Kelley, Kevin, Interview notes from Gladys Mussabini, youngest daughter of Sam Mussabini, August 1982

Mannock, John Patrick and Mussabini, Scipio Augustus, Billiards Expounded to Degrees of Amateur Players 2 vols. Grant Richards, London 1904

Moon, Greg, "Old Sam and the Poly" in Albert Hill, A Proper Perspective, Greg Moon, Cheltenham 1992.

Mussabini, Necleos Gaspard, "An Account of N.G. Mussabini’s family and his own career" (typescript) before 1915

Mussabini, Scipio Africanus, The Complete Athletic Trainer, Methuen & Co Ltd., London 1913

Mussabini, Scipio Africanus, Track and Field Athletics, W Foulsham, Ltd. London, 1924

Robbins. W.H. and Mussabini S, A Billiard Player in the Making, 1897

The Billiard Player, April and May issues 1927