In recent years considerable scholarly attention has
been devoted to the history of leisure and recreation in
pre- and early British industrial society. Much of this
work has focussed on the implications of economic and social
development for the extent and character of the sports people
played in their leisure hours.* The story is still far from
complete, however. The present study attempts to add another
piece to the puzzle by examing the development of sport in the
city of Glasgow during the period 1850-1914.
It would be impossible for one person to read and
evaluate in detail the source material available for the whole
spectrum of nineteenth century sport in Glasgow. Accordingly,
seven of Glasgow’s most popular sports have been selected for
study : swiirutiing, golf, athletics, cricket, rugby, football
and cycling. The study attempts to describe, assess and
account f or the trend in s porting activity in Glasgow during
the first half of the nineteenth century. It then examines
the emergence of the more modern patterns of s port which began
in the second half of the nineteenth century. As well as
describing the extent of modern sporting developments, its
main concern is with asking tne question what were the most
important forces which influenced such patterns. In
particular, which social grouDs were involved in organised
sporting activites, why they were involved, what form did
their involvement take and what were the effects of their
involvement on the development of sport in general?