Soccer's Missing Men Schoolteachers and the Spread of Association Football [Paperback]

Now unknown or forgotten, influential schoolmasters took the game of association football to many parts of England. They had several roles: they brought the game to individual schools, they established regional and national leagues and associations, and they founded professional football clubs. They also exported the game around the world, working as moral missionaries, passionate players and energetic entrepreneurs. The role of teachers in association football is a much neglected aspect of English cultural history. It is a story that deserves to be told because it allows a fundamental reappraisal of the status and position of these teachers in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century society.

This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal Soccer and Society.

1. Preface  Mike Huggins  2. Foreword: Recovering Soccer's Missing Men: Re-examining Soccer's Moral Messages and Educational Alms  Gerry P.T. Finn  3. Prologue: Elementary Schoolmasters - Reappearance  4. Early Inspiration: Athleticism and Colleges  5. Early Action: Founding and Furthering Clubs  6. Pioneers and their Influence: Playing the Game  7. An Exceptional Pioneer: Be Strong for Christ  8. Pioneering Further Afield: Beyond England  9. Keeping Control: Refereeing the Game  10. Keeping the Ball Rolling: Administering the Game  11. Epilogue: Elementary Schoolmasters - Disappearance

I think what was most revelatory about it was the knocking on the head of the old chestnut that athleticism (and indeed the amateur ethic) were simply upper class phenomena. And it was also just a marvellous piece of historical archeology - the unearthing of institutions and people either forgotten, or appearing as names in unimaginative official histories bulSA