Playing Pasts
@playingpasts.bsky.social
PlayingPasts, the original online magazine for Sport/Leisure History. Created in 2016 the site features & welcomes contributions on any aspect of Sport/Leisure History from researchers at all levels
Plenty posts today for the anniversary of the founding of the Football Association in 1863. I'm tickled by the illustrations people use, featuring whiskered old men in a pub. In fact, of 15 attendees the oldest was 32, 11 were under 25 and four were still at school. It was a young man's game then!
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social Part two of The ‘Wonderful Man Fish in his Monster Plate-Glass Aquarium’ - The Imitators by @natationist.bsky.social 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/gen... #Swimming #SportHistory @bssh.bsky.social @icshc.bsky.social #Coaching #WomenInSport
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social today The ‘Wonderful Man Fish in his Monster Plate-Glass Aquarium’: Part One. The Beckwiths and Thomas Attwood by @natationist.bsky.social Read here 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/gen... #SportHistory #Swimming @bssh.bsky.social @icshc.bsky.social
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social The ‘Colditz Olympics’ - The Great Escape! by Bill Williams .... on August 31st 1941 at 11 am, an ‘opening ceremony’ of sorts took place in the main courtyard..... Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/foo... #Colditz @bssh.bsky.social
WW1 Museum Kansas City - Tues 9 June - 4pm-8.15pm UK - Free Online Talks - Maud Smith, Maud Reader + Dagenham Invincibles of WW1 💚⚽️ @footballandwar.bsky.social @justaballgame.bsky.social @bssh.bsky.social @playingpasts.bsky.social @nocontextfooty.bsky.social www.theworldwar.org/symposia
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social today ‘The Prince and the Pumas’: How a Russian aristocrat helped establish rugby in Argentina. Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/tea...
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social Too Hot to Handle: The Bruising West Indies Tour of 1976 by @williamsbill106.bsky.social 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/tea... #Cricket #WestIndies #England #SummerOf1976
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social Part 2 of Bill Thomas: The Professional Sports Coach as Servant in Twentieth Century Britain by @natationist.bsky.social Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/arc... #Athletics #Training #Coaching @bssh.bsky.social
Stunning 5 STAR Review for 'The Invincibles' at Headgate Theatre, Colchester 🎭💚⚽️ @footballandwar.bsky.social @venyhamin.bsky.social @davidkilpatrick.bsky.social @playingpasts.bsky.social @tomjgarry.bsky.social "The Invincibles" Colchester Gazette share.google/aRKkAo16BU3e...
The Invincibles at Colchester Headgate theatre left me with 'goosebumps'
This is unmistakably a feminist piece, but it never feels forced; instead, its message is woven through character, conflict, and lived experience.
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New on @playingpasts.bsky.social Bill Thomas: The Professional Sports Coach as Servant in Twentieth Century Britain, Part One by Dave Day @natationist.bsky.social 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/arc... #Athletics #Training #Coaching @bssh.bsky.social
Total War and Women Footballers - The Dagenham Invincibles of World War One | The Western Front Association ⚽️💚 Looking forward to this @footballandwar.bsky.social @westernfrontww1.bsky.social @playingpasts.bsky.social share.google/IQDAoVT7Ut5y...
Total War and Women Footballers - The Dagenham Invincibles of World War One | The Western Front Association
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New on @playingpasts.bsky.social today The Sucker Punch: The Tragic Story of two Welsh Boxers who perished on the Titanic 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/box...
Amazing to meet Valerie + tell her that her Gran is the Greatest Woman Footballer of All Time IMHO 💜 @playingpasts.bsky.social @footballandwar.bsky.social @sportingheritage.bsky.social @garyjames.bsky.social @tomjgarry.bsky.social www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/foo...
Latest on @playingpasts.bsky.social Alice Kell: The Greatest Woman Footballer of all-time by @dagenhaminvince.bsky.social 👉https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/alice-kellthe-greatest-woman-footballer-of-all-time/ @bssh.bsky.social #WomenInSport #WomenInFootball #Football
Latest on @playingpasts.bsky.social Pulling in the right direction: Could Tug of War be heading back to the Olympics? 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/tea...
Gold Plaques for Lily Parr + Lizzy Ashcroft @bssh.bsky.social @playingpasts.bsky.social @whuhistorian.bsky.social
New today on @playingpasts.bsky.social The Media Superstars of WW1 Sterling Ladies FC - The Dagenham Invincibles Link 👍 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/foo... by @dagenhaminvince.bsky.social #WomensFootball @tfhbs.bsky.social @footballandwar.bsky.social @nfmofficial.bsky.social #Football
As the Ashes are lost - new on @playingpasts.bsky.social Bill William's latest article Grace and Favour: How W.G. took a chance on a young Gilbert Jessop Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/tea... #Ashes #Cricket
Grace and Favour: How W.G. took a chance on a young Gilbert Jessop | Playing Pasts
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New on @playingpasts.bsky.social ‘Normalcy in a Time of Upheaval’- Football During World War II by Bill Williams Link 👉https://www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/football/normalcy-in-a-time-of-upheaval-football-during-world-war-two/ #Football #WWII @footballandwar.bsky.social @tfhbs.bsky.social
New today on @playingpasts.bsky.social Cardiff 1905: Did Wales Become the First Rugby World Champions In the Land of their Fathers? by Bill Williams 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk?p=15958&prev... #RugbyUnion #Wales @welshrugbyunion.bsky.social #AutumnInternationals
International Football History Conference 2026 - CALL FOR PAPERS! Further information at the below link and via @garyjames.bsky.social - gjfootballarchive.com/2025/10/02/i... #sportshistory
International Football History Conference 2026
The call for papers/presentations has been released for the 2026 International Football History Conference (#Footycon26). If you are interested in attending or presenting the details are here: Inte…
gjfootballarchive.com
New today on @playingpasts.bsky.social Sydney Barnes and The Curious Incident of the Crowd at the Ashes Test by Bill Williams Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/tea... #Cricket #SportHistory @bssh.bsky.social
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social today 'Gassed': An iconic (football) image of the Great War? Part 2 by Iain Aams Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/foo... The article explores the contentious meanings of the #football match in Sargent's 'Gassed'. #Football @footballandwar.bsky.social
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social today 'Gassed': An iconic (football) image of the Great War? Part 1 by Iain Aams Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/foo... The article explores the contentious meanings of the #football match in Sargent's 'Gassed'. #Football @footballandwar.bsky.social
New on @playingpasts.bsky.social today John 'Jack' Henry Tyers The Amateur Champion of the World By Mark Evans of the #Hockey Museum Link 👉 www.playingpasts.co.uk/articles/tea... #Swimming #SportsHistory @bssh.bsky.social
The British Society of Sports History are pleased to announce a book launch at the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) in London on the 29th of September 2025 to kick off the 2025/26 Sports and Leisure History Seminar Series.
'Games, Greek and Pluck: Classicism, Masculinity, Elite Education and British Sport, 1850–1914' by Andy Carter OUT NOW! Peter Lang Sport, History and Culture series edited by Richard Holt, Matt Taylor and Fiona Skillen - www.peterlang.com/document/146... #sportshistory
New today on @playingpasts.bsky.social 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 by Bill Williams #Cricket #Hockey #WWII @bssh.bsky.social @icshc.bsky.social Link 👉 bit.ly/4ncrwZ5
