The role of English public schools and classicism in the development of modern sports

Hans Bolling
PhD in History, Independent scholar

In Henrik Sandblad’s book, Olympia och Valhalla. Idéhistoriska aspekter av den moderna idrottsrörelsens framväxt [Sport and Ideas. Aspects of the rise of the modern sport movement] from 1985, about the rise of modern sport in Sweden, he draws attention to two trends in the history of ideas of vital importance for its emergence: Neoclassicism and ‘Gotianism’ (a specifically Scandinavian phenomenon characterized by a great interest in and admiration for the ancient Nordic past), and we can read:

The passionate interest in antiquity that was closely related to the rise of the modern sports movement also left traces among the lower social classes, in that, even prior to the general acceptance of Coubertin´s idea, names from ancient Greece were often adopted within sport… In this way the modern world of sport has preserved certain reminiscences of Neoclassicism, which played such a prominent role in the West during the period which gave birth to the international sports movement.

I thought about Sandblad’s book when I received Andy Carter’s Games, Greek and Pluck: Classicism, Masculinity, Elite Education and British Sport 1850–1914, as he is interested in the connections between the men that controlled and shaped much of British sport and how their outlooks, attitudes and decisions were shaped by their shared educational background and immersion in classical culture. The first thing I had to do, however, was to consult an English/Swedish dictionary. I only had a vague idea of the Victorian concept of pluck. I found that it could, in an informal setting, mean mod, kurage, styrka. So, it has something to do with bravery, courage and strength, desirable traits for men to possess throughout history.

We are told how the culture of the public schools became one in which classics ruled inside the classroom and athleticism ruled outside, and how this development had a profound impact on what came to be known as modern sport.

With the attention given to education and students in Games, Greek and Pluck, Henrik Sandblad’s book is not the only classic Swedish study that Andy Carter’s book is reminiscent of; with its focus on male elite education it also much in common with Christina Florin’s and Ulla Johansson’s “Där de härliga lagrarna gro…”: Kultur, klass och kön i det svenska läroverket 1850–1914 [Where the glorious laurels grow… Culture, class and gender at Swedish secondary grammar school 1850–1914] from 1993. However, according to Florin and Johansson the Swedish secondary grammar schools were, in a European context, surprisingly modern, which cannot be said about the British public schools. The Swedish educational system was also less exclusive and broke earlier than England, Germany and France with the ancient traditions, but despite this they were clearly influenced by Classicism.

In view of the above, it may seem that Carter’s book is yet another contribution to a well-researched area of investigation. And in one regard it is; however, his approach to take on sport and elite education, Classicism and masculinity as variables that influence each other provides a fresh and interesting perspective on the subjects. We are told how the culture of the public schools became one in which classics ruled inside the classroom and athleticism ruled outside, and how this development had a profound impact on what came to be known as modern sport. By the mid-nineteenth century pupils of the public schools carried their fondness of organised games outside the schools, first to the universities and then to the rest of the world. This led to the creation of administrative bodies to create unified rules and playing conditions. Thus, modern sport was born which changed the sporting landscape all over the world. The incentive to continue to play high-level sport at Oxford or Cambridge is said to have played an important part in encouraging sporting pupils to work hard enough with the classics for at least to pass their entrance examinations for university.

Games, Greek and Pluck consists of an introduction, six empirical chapters, or rather five and one that is more of an excursus, and a conclusion. The book is based on primary sources such as school and college magazines, memoirs, local and national newspapers and periodicals. In the first chapter, ‘Classics in the Public School: Exclusivity, Excellence and Indifference’, Carter examines why classics were considered important, their social impact on the status of the pupils, the divisions between those who took to the subject and those who did not, and the reasons why classics so long remained entrenched as a core differentiator between public and other schools. Classical education went from being an enabler of social mobility to acting as a tool of social exclusion, which meant that the rise of public school athleticism took place in a socially exclusive environment, which inhabitants tended to look at outsiders in a negative light.

In chapter two, “Manliness, Masculinity and Morality: Ancient Graeco-Roman Influence on Education’, the author looks at classicism and athleticism in nineteenth-century public schools, the interaction between the two. Carter shows us the extent to which classical culture and references informed the way in which Victorian public schoolboys thought about sport and masculinity. We are also shown, which is quite interesting, that nominally Christian elements of public school culture, particularly muscular Christianity and ideals of manliness, were largely driven by ancient Greek and Roman ideas of virtue and masculinity rather than by Judeo-Christian culture.

The third chapter, ‘‘At Home at Oxbridge’: British and Irish Literature on Ancient Sport’, tells us how British scholars choose to avoid the moral differences between ancient Greek athletes and Victorian gentleman amateurs in order to create similarities between them. Athletic nudity was acceptable because it was made clear that no ladies were ever present around naked men, but pederasty and homosexuality were largely ignored, and nothing much was said about different attitudes to losing, cheating and the role of the individual. The Greeks did not play team games, while the school masters who promoted sport preferred rowing over all other team sports because it did not create star players in the way that cricket and football did, and thus did not promote selfish play. At the same time Victorian ideals of fair play, sportsmanship, modesty and the graceful acceptance of defeat were projected back onto historic figures.

In chapter four, ‘Warre, Welldon, Etonian Classicism and Victorian Sport’, we are introduced to two of the more influential school masters of the era, Edmond Warre, headmaster of Eton, and James Welldon, headmaster of Harrow.

The notion was that the gentleman had the moral fortitude to be able to cope with the responsibility of winning a valuable prize, whilst the working man was too easily susceptible to corruption and should be kept away from such temptations for his own moral health.

Chapter five ‘Henley, Class and Classics’ is about how, as the participation in adult sport widened across all social classes, the governing bodies had to decide how to treat the newcomers. On the one hand more and keener athletes ensured high-quality competitions that attracted spectators; on the other hand, it carried with it commercialisation, gambling and partisan support, the unwanted traits of professional sports, which according to the “accepted history” of ancient Greece had ruined their sport. How to act to ensure that fair play and sportsmanship remained paramount? The notion was that the gentleman had the moral fortitude to be able to cope with the responsibility of winning a valuable prize, whilst the working man was too easily susceptible to corruption and should be kept away from such temptations for his own moral health. The solution was the creation of the amateur, an ideal based on social status rather than monetary reward, an ideal that in some ways was to plague national and international sport until the last part of the twentieth century, even if its most absurd consequences, such as the introduction of the mechanics’ clause to athletics and rowing, had a shorter lifespan.

The final chapter, ‘The Hellenisation of the Modern Olympics’ is in my opinion, as mentioned above, not strictly on topic. I guess is that it was included to make the book a bit more international. Even if it is interesting it does not add anything to the storey about British sport, masculinity and education that Carter tells so well in the rest of the book. But, as he points out, it is indisputable that Pierre de Coubertin had little or no interest in amateurism. In his Olympic Memoirs he wrote:

I can admit it; the question never really bothered me… However, for want of a better solution I agreed that one had to accept certain rules, set up certain more or less fictitious barriers, and I did everything I could to help. The English, particularly, felt very strong about the whole matter. It was a sign and a presage of strength for the IOC when they turned to it asking for help.

Together with the discussions around rowing it gives us an insight into how some English, more specific Southerners if we are to believe Erik Nielsen in Sport and the British World, 1900–1930, sport leaders used the amateur concept to prevent skilled athletes from less affluent backgrounds from entering competitions with the Oxbridge elite. This attitude was important in making England, at best, a bit part player when it came to create international sports federation. To quote from the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet when the creation of the International Amateur Athletic Federation was discussed:

As far as England is concerned, the wisest thing the leadership of this country’s sports movement could do is to realize that England has lost its leading position in the field of sports, which could justify an oppositional standpoint, when other sports nations stand united.

And as is well known it was the French and not the English who were the leaders when it came to the creation of international sport federations.

Ultimately, Games, Greek and Pluck: Classicism, Masculinity, Elite Education and British Sport 1850–1914 is an excellent book. Even if I had a pretty good idea about much of what Andy Carter writes about, his insistence to reject a “siloed” approach and explore the entwinement of athleticism, education and classicism made me a wiser man. Cassandra told the Trojans: beware of Greeks bearing gifts. After reading Games, Greek and Pluck I am more inclined to beware of British scholars of the ancient Greek world, scholars who used the Classics to make sure that sport became and remained a class-based socially exclusive activity.

Copyright © Hans Bolling 2025