Factory teams, the sporting press and the first governing bodies

Overview

Factory teams and the professional clubs that grew from them, professionalism, the sporting press, national governing bodies, the Football Association and Rugby Football Union, and the athletics and lawn tennis bodies of the 1880s.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What were factory teams?

   Model answer

   Factory teams were sports clubs formed by workers or employers at a workplace. Many became professional clubs.

2. 2

   Name two professional football clubs that began as factory teams.

   Model answer

   Arsenal began as a team of workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. West Ham United grew out of the Thames Ironworks team.

3. 3

   Why did employers support factory teams?

   Model answer

   Factory teams built loyalty and team spirit among workers. Employers also hoped sport would keep workers fit and sober.

4. 4

   How did factory teams contribute to professionalism?

   Model answer

   Working-class players could not afford to lose wages to play. Payment became the way to keep the best players.

5. 5

   How did the growth of the sporting press help sport develop?

   Model answer

   Newspapers spread results, fixtures and reports to a wide audience. Coverage created national interest in teams and players.

6. 6

   Name an early sporting newspaper.

   Model answer

   The Sporting Life, first published in 1859, was an early sporting newspaper. Bell's Life in London also reported sport.

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