This is a comprehensive introduction for HE students to the provision, organisation, and governance of sport in the UK. Supported by case study material, it introduces the reader to key government policies, and to the ways in which public, private and voluntary sectors provide sporting opportunities. The book focuses on issues of participation, employment, media coverage and commercialisation, and critically examines them in light of the key themes of equality and diversity. Pedagogical features – learning outcomes and learning activities – help students develop an active approach to the study of sport in the UK.

This lively and deeply researched history - the first of its kind - goes beyond the great names and moments to explain how British sport has changed since 1800, and what it has meant to ordinary people. It shows how the way we play reflects not just our lives as citizens of a predominantlyurban and industrial world, but what is especially distinctive about British sport. Innovators in abandoning traditional, often brutal sports, and in establishing a code of `fair play', the British were also pioneers in popular sports and in the promotion of organized spectator events.Modern media coverage of sport, gambling, violence and attitudes towards it, nationalism, and the role of sport in sustaining male identity are also explored, and the book is rich in illuminating and entertaining anecdotes, which it combines with a serious historical understanding of a fascinatingsubject.

This is a comprehensive introduction for HE students to the provision, organisation, and governance of sport in the UK. Supported by case study material, it introduces the reader to key government policies, and to the ways in which public, private and voluntary sectors provide sporting opportunities. The book focuses on issues of participation, employment, media coverage and commercialisation, and critically examines them in light of the key themes of equality and diversity. Pedagogical features – learning outcomes and learning activities – help students develop an active approach to the study of sport in the UK.

This lively and stimulating book looks at some of the myths and realities surrounding Britain's legendary enthusiasm for sport; and aims to chronicle how sporting traditions were shaped and how they, in turn, contributed to the shaping of British social conventions and attitudes.

Arguing that racism is evident throughout British sport, this book breaks new ground in showing how the discourses of race and nation continue to pervade our sporting life.

Gender Equity in UK Sport Leadership and Governance goes beyond the headlines to provide critical and timely analyses of current strategy, policy, structure, and practice relating to gender equity in the leadership and governance of sport in the UK.

The London Olympics of 2012 acted as a focal point for an examination of UK sport policy. Individual chapters from leading specialists in their fields focus upon the central components of the UK?s ?model? of sport - for example elite, school and community sport and talent ID policies - and discuss what kind of ?legacy? 2012 is likely to leave on the sports landscape in years to come. The concept ?legacy? is a common theme running through all contributions which themselves stem from a wide variety of academic disciplines and sub-disciplines, including sport psychology, political science, sports studies, cultural studies and sociology. A wide range of topics and organisations are covered throughout the volume, including coaching, talent ID, school sports partnerships, PE and youth sport, participation in sport, the IOC and the Olympic Charter, the Olympic Movement and Islamic Culture and, finally, issues of regeneration through sports mega-events. This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Sport Policy.