This classic sport history title explores rugby in late Victorian and Edwardian England and examines how class conflict tore rugby apart and led to the creation of rugby league. At its heart is an explanation of how a game for public schoolboys was transformed into a sport which became entirely identified with the working classes of northern England. This text deals with the development of amateurism and professionalism, England's north-south divide, the relationship between rugby and masculinity, and the rise of commercialized sport. It focuses on how working-class men and women became involved in rugby and the hostile reaction to them from rugby's middle-class leaders. The author describes how the war for rugby's soul led to the 1895 split and the creation of a new sport. The new Northern Union immediately allowed, "broken-time" payments to players, developed a distinct ideology of its own and gradually introduced rule changes which created the game of rugby league.

List of Illustrations. Series Editor's Foreword. Preface to the Second Edition. Introduction 1. From Folk Football to Civic Pride: Origins to 1879 2. The Coming of the Working Class: 1879-1886 3. 'King Football': 1886-1893 4. Schism: 1893-1895 5. The Rise and Decline of the Northern Union: 1895-1905 6. A Revolution in Rugby: 1905-1910 Conclusion: The Northern Union and Working Class Culture. Appendices. Bibliography. Index