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Clare Balding presents a 30-part series charting how sport has shaped the British and how Britain has shaped sport... more
FAQs about Sport and the British:How many episodes does Sport and the British have?The podcast currently has 30 episodes available.
February 24, 2012Ireland, North of the BorderWhile sport is endlessly talked of as a force for unity, in today's edition of Sport and the British, Clare Balding's in Belfast on the Falls Road, where it's clear that here sport was just another arena to reinforce divisions that rent the community in two.In Northern Ireland the sporting choices for people were, for so long, based on their religious and political backgrounds. In soccer there was one team for the Catholics, Belfast Celtic, Linfield for the Protestants. Clare hears about the violent clashes that always ensued when these two teams met, finally leading to the disbandment of Celtic. Boxer, Barry Mcguigan talks about how he tried to be identified with neither side and we hear about the only sporting hero that did manage to straddle the divide, uniting both sides, George BestProducer: Lucy Lunt....more13minPlay
February 23, 2012Ireland, Politics on the PitchClare Balding visits Croke Park in Dublin, to discover the story behind the formation of the Gaelic Athletic Association and it's founder Michael Cusack. All this week in Sport and the British Clare has been exploring how sport defined and gave an independence to the nations of the British Isles, nowhere is this more evident and vocal than in Ireland. The GAA defined what it was to be Irish - meaning how far removed that is from being English and hurling and Irish football were a way of exemplifying that. Clare talks to Dr Paul Rouse of University College Dublin and Professor Michael Cronin of Boston College Ireland about the history and future of the GAA.The reader is Jonathan ForbesProducer: Lucy Lunt....more14minPlay
February 22, 2012Welsh Rugby and Its National HeroesClare Balding's at Cardiff Arms Park for this edition of the series that explores how sport made Britain and Britain made sport. Here she looks at the vital role rugby has played in shaping Welsh identity; the stadium was built to be an emblem of national pride, a fortress for Welsh sport in its capital city.She talks to the legendary Welsh captain and scrum half, Gareth Edwards about Wales' glory days of the sixties and seventies and the impact the introduction of professionalism had on the national side. She also talks to Professor Tony Collins from The International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort UniversityThe reader is Alun Raglan.Producer : Lucy Lunt....more14minPlay
February 21, 2012Anyone But EnglandClare Balding continues her investigation into how sport shaped Britain and Britain shaped sport. Today we join her at Hampden Park in Glasgow as she explores the part football has played in shaping Scotland's national identity and its changing relationship with England. Clare talks to Hugh McIlvaney about why supporting, 'anyone but England' is still part of the Scottish mindset.This series has been made in partnership with the The International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort UniversityThe readers are James Lailey and Jonathan Forbes.The programme is produced in Birmingham by Sara Conkey....more14minPlay
February 20, 2012Cricket and the English HeroClare Balding continues her investigation into how sport shaped Britain and Britain shaped sport.In this weeks programmes she looks at how sport unites us all when we get behind out national teams and no more so, than when the character of that team can be personified by one person. If there's one sport that embodies Englishness, it's cricket and in this programme she looks at how and why W.G.Grace, in the nineteenth century and Jack Hobbs, in the twentieth, became the epitome of a national sporting hero. Clare visits Lords Cricket ground and the Oval to discover more.She also talks to Professor Richard Holt from The International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, Simon Rae, a biographer of W.G.Grace and broadcaster David Rayvern Allen. The readers are:Jo Munro and Brian Bowles.The programme is produced in Birmingham by Garth Brameld....more14minPlay
February 17, 2012A Bit of a FlutterClare Balding looks at the role gambling has played in our relationship with sport as she continues her exploration into how Britain made sport and sport made Britain.Betting has played a crucial role in the way games developed, it gave incentive to competition which in turn necessitated clear rules. Establishing who's won and who's lost is crucial but who managed to have a flutter and where was a matter riven with class distinctions as Clare discovers.Reader, Sean BakerProducer: Sara Conkey....more14minPlay
February 16, 2012Women Between the WarsClare Balding discovers how working women finally got their sporting chance, through the leisure activities offered by many major employers, at the turn of the twentieth century.The number of female workers in factories, large retailers and service industries was growing hugely and the employers decided to provide them with sports facilities and equipment. Clare visits Bournville, home of Cadbury's, who, like the Lyons company, famous for their tea shops, or Boots in Nottingham, gave access to all their employees to tennis courts, hockey fields, football pitches, lacrosse fields and athletics equipment. She talks to Fiona Skillen from the University of Central Lancashire about the women's football teams of that period, like the Dick Kerr Ladies, that had the power to attract crowds of over twenty thousand spectators but were later banned by the Football Association.Readers, Jane Lawrence and Sean BakerProducer: Lucy Lunt....more14minPlay
February 15, 2012Fighting BackClare Balding looks at the relationship between boxing and Britain's ethnic minorities.Through the centuries, immigrants have had to literally fight for recognition in Britain and that means with their fists.As Clare continues to explore how sport made Britain and Britain made sport, she visits the Lynn Boxing Club in South London.Founded in 1892, it's the oldest continuing amateur boxing club in the country. It was around the time that bare knuckle boxing was starting to decline and amateur boxing, with gloves, took over. As Professor Tony Collins from the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University explains, the history of Boxing is intertwined with the history of black immigrants and the struggle of Jewish sportsmen to find acceptance. Readers, Brian Bowles and Stuart McLoughlinProducer: Garth Brameld. Producer Lucy Lunt,Sara Conkey,Garth Brameld....more14minPlay
February 14, 2012Tennis and Golf in SuburbiaClare Balding continues to explore the history of sport in Britain and in today's programme visits one of the oldest tennis clubs in the country in Leamington Spa. In Victorian Britain, lawn tennis took off thanks to the growing numbers of a whole new strata of society - the middle class. Living in suburbia with clean air, space and leisure time, tennis and golf became increasingly popular pastimes. There were 250 clubs in the Lawn Tennis Association by 1900 rising to 3000 by the 1930's and 5000 by the 50's. The middle class had grasped hold of a sport that seemed perfectly designed for polite society. It didn't involve getting dirty or even particularly sweaty and the same could be said for golf. Clare also visits Kenilworth Golf Club where Professor Richard Holt of the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University explains that these clubs were as much about social division as they were about inclusion.Readers, Nyasha Hatendi and Sean BakerProducer: Sara Conkey....more14minPlay
February 13, 2012Rugby's Great SplitAs Clare Balding continues to explore the unique relationship Britain has had with sport, in today's programme she tells a tale of lies, witch hunts, bigotry and the north/south divide.This isn't the story of a battle-torn country, but of a civil-war within a sport with rugby becoming a symbol of class division and splitting in two. From the home of The Wigan Wanderers, Professor Tony Collins of The International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University explains the birth of Ruby League.It happened in the late 19th century, a clash between those who could afford to be gentlemen amateurs and those who couldn't. This story goes to the heart of how important class was and is in Britain, it illustrates that sport is just as capable of dividing people as uniting them.It also shows that sport isn't just a leisure activity - it's about who you play with and how you play.Readers, Brian Bowles, Stuart McLoughlin and Sean BakerProducer : Sara Conkey....more14minPlay
FAQs about Sport and the British:How many episodes does Sport and the British have?The podcast currently has 30 episodes available.