What about the Workers? Works-based Sport and Recreation in England c.1918–c.1970

Abstract

Business historians have led the way in research into company paternalism and the origins and development of welfare provision. Their work has focused on large-scale enterprises and has generally located welfare (‘sports and social’) within the broader framework of company culture. Whilst much of welfare provision is related to sport and recreation, sports historians have perhaps neglected this area in recent years. This paper will begin to redress this imbalance by examining the origins and development of work-based sport and recreational provision at four major employers – Robinson & Sons (textile & packaging manufacturers, Chesterfield), Raleigh (cycle manufacturers, Nottingham), Lyons, (food processors and caterers based in West London), and the Bank of England. Among business historians the prevailing view is that such provision was a management strategy designed to encourage loyalty to the firm. It will be argued here that it was more of a ‘bottom-up’ process with workers initiating, organising and sustaining clubs and societies, albeit with a good deal of financial and logistical support from their employers.