Rugby Reloaded

Where did the term 'Derby Match' come from? How did it become so widely used? And is the St Helens versus Wigan match the 'Original' Derby? This week's 'Rugby Reloaded' delves back into history to discover why matches between local rival teams are dubbed Derbies and asks how much substance is there to the claim that Saints against Wigan is the daddy of all Derbies. It's an intriguing story that takes us back to the 1700s and all the way to present day via ploughing, go-karts and TV's Kevin Brown. Intrigued? It's more interesting than you think! For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on X via @collinstony

Our guest today in rugby league journalist and analyst Mike Meehall Wood, who launched his new Substack [https://mikemeehallwood.substack.com/p/six-tackles-and-superstructure-why] with 'Six Tackles & Superstructure: Why Rugby League needs more philosophy'. It's a fascinating look at how rugby league (with the help of others) denies its intellectual culture. In an age when soccer coaches talk about their philosophies and rugby union is awash with tactical analysis, the rugby league media are content to keep talking about physicality and putting your body on the line. But the game is a complex and subtle sport with a deep and rich culture - so why don't we talk about it more? For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week's episode looks at how soccer emerged in Scotland in the mid-1800s. By the early 1880s not only was Glasgow the world capital of football, but Scottish players playing for English clubs had revolutionised sport south of the Border. But is it the case that the Scots actually invented modern soccer? As I argue in this episode, the truth is more complicated than that - and simple explanations underplay the complexities of how sports develop and the contributions made by ordinary people. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony Links to books and websites mentioned in the show: John Hutchinson and Andy Mitchell ‘1824 The World’s Oldest Football Club’: https://www.scottishsporthistory.com/worlds-first-foot-ball-club.html Richard McBrearty ‘Glasgow Before The Explosion … football cultures in the city prior to 1873’: https://scottishfootballorigins.org/2021/08/26/glasgow-before-the-explosion-the-role-of-migration-and-immigration-in-the-development-of-football-cultures-in-the-city-prior-to-1873/ Matthew McDowell ‘A cultural history of association football in Scotland 1865-1902’: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/a-cultural-history-of-association-football-in-scotland-1865-1902-/

The new Rugby Reloaded looks at the current state of rugby league in Britain, asks 'What's going on?' and tries to provide some answers by looking at how the history of the sport can give us some insights into what the game could and should be doing. It also looks at the problems of being in the post-industrial north of England, the challenges of other sports, and the internal issues that the game has never confronted. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

This week we delve deep into the origins of the football codes across Britain, Europe and the Americas with Thomas Adam, author of the new book The Global Spread of football from the 1860s to the 1880s. His book looks at the emergence of football in England, Germany, Argentina and the United States in the 1860s and 1870s, and looks at the decisive influence of education and educators in the rise of the game. The book is code-agnostic, and so looks at ‘football’ as nineteenth century observers did: one game with many different ways to play. Along the way we also discuss the roads not taken, such as how Germany could have become a rugby nation and the US a soccer bastion. For more details about the book, go to https://anthempress.com/books/the-global-spread-of-football-from-the-1860s-to-the-1880s-hb For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Our new episode investigates the origin story of football in America, in conversation with Mike Cronin and Kevin Marston, authors of 'Inventing the Boston Game: Football, Soccer, and the Origins of a National Myth'. It's a tale of early football, elite myth-making, and the creation of a tradition that was claimed by both gridiron and soccer. As the book explains, what began as the youthful memories of a group of Boston Brahmins continues today as a culture war between the two eleven-a-side versions of football. To find out more about the book, click here: https://www.umasspress.com/9781625348432/inventing-the-boston-game/

On this week's episode I talk to David Goldblatt about his new book 'Injury Time: Football in a State of Emergency' published this month by Mudlark. It's a look at English soccer over past decade, examining its response to Brexit, Covid and climate change, and looking at the rise of the women's game and the changing role of the sport in society. In our wide-ranging discussion, we talk about how football has become the new soap opera, the impact of social media, differences between the men's and women's game, and what the future holds for the game. If you want to find out more, 'Injury Time' is available from https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/injury-time-football-in-a-state-of-emergency-david-goldblatt?variant=55169175650683

This episode talks to Dr Nick Halafihi about the life and career of his father, Nanumi (Nan) Halafihi, the first Tongan to play at Wembley and the first-ever Tongan to play professional rugby league. This is a fascinating story of how Nan travelled with his brother Sione, a world-ranked cruiserweight boxer, and family friend Sam Felatu, and made a home in the north of England. He began his career with Doncaster in 1958 and then moved to Roy Francis’s Hull, where he established himself as attacking left-centre and played in the 1960 Challenge Cup final at Wembley. This is about much more than rugby talent - it’s a tale of crossing hemispheres and cultures, of the warm welcomes he received but also of the racism he and his family faced. Most of all, it’s about someone whose career who paved the way for hundreds of other Tongan rugby players who would follow the path laid down by Nan Halafihi.

In Richard Hoggart's classic book 'The Uses of Literacy', he describes the scenes in May 1934 when Hunslet returned triumphantly with the Rugby League Challenge Cup followed by thousands of young boys. Harry Jepson (1920-2016) was one of those youths. This is an interview I did with him in 2009 about his extraordinary life in rugby league. Born in Hunslet at the start of the 1920s, Harry became a teacher while at the same time serving as secretary of Hunslet RLFC, before moving to Leeds to become a key figure at Headingley in the 1970s and 1980s. His list of achievements and honours in the game are far too extensive to list here but his Wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Jepson) does justice to his life. It's a long listen at 100 minutes but entirely worth it for anyone with an interest in rugby league or the social history of Leeds and Hunslet.

Rugby Reloaded is back for a brand new series and we kick-off with a blockbuster interview with Anthony Broxton about his new book ‘Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher’s Britain’. Anthony’s book explores the history of the sport during a pivotal decade for Britain. It was the era of Hanley and Offiah, when the pro game expanded as far as Kent, but it was also the decade of the miner’s great strike and social devastation across the sport’s heartlands. We talk about these topics and much more, and ask what can learn from the 1980s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

Duncan Stone's new book 'Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket' is both a history of cricket from the grassroots and an analysis of the roots of the sport's attitudes to race and class. Duncan uncovers the reality of cricket behind the myth, and reveals the true story of working-class cricket in the south of England. For anyone wanting to understand English cricket's current crisis 'Different Class' is essential reading. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

On 5 November I was invited to give a talk about Huddersfield and its role in rugby's split of 1895 by the Huddersfield Local History Society (https://www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk). In it, I look at the growth of rugby in the town, the rise of the rugby club, the role of its most infamous administrator Frank Marshall, and how the split played out in the town during the 1890s. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony

The new Rugby Reloaded talks to Stewart McGill and Vince Raison about their fascinating new book, 'The Roaring Red Front: The World's Top Left-Wing Football Clubs' (Pitch Publishing). They travelled around the world visiting soccer clubs which have a reputation for left-wing politics, sampling the match-day atmosphere, and exploring the histories of a diverse range of clubs, from Dulwich Hamlet to Detroit City, Boca Juniors In Argentina to St Pauli in Germany. It's a rich and passionate story that tells us a lot about the place - and the future - of football in the modern world. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at www.rugbyreloaded.com (where you can find the links for this episode) and follow me on Twitter at @collinstony