List of Illustrations. Series Editor's Foreword. Preface to the Second Edition. Introduction 1. From Folk Football to Civic Pride: Origins to 1879 2. The Coming of the Working Class: 1879-1886 3. 'King Football': 1886-1893 4. Schism: 1893-1895 5. The Rise and Decline of the Northern Union: 1895-1905 6. A Revolution in Rugby: 1905-1910 Conclusion: The Northern Union and Working Class Culture. Appendices. Bibliography. Index
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK Formerly at the University of Strathclyde, UK La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
"Tony Collins shows in this major work that there are reasons
behind [rugby league] developing the way that it did and that they
are reasons as honourable as those behind the rise of any other
form of working class self-expression. It should be compulsory
reading for anyone who believes that the game more than a hundred
years later is merely about competing for the same shiny suits and
corporate contracts."
Book of the Week, The Independent, 15th June 1998"This year's
literary outpourings are dominated again by the lustre of bygone
days, pre-summer and Super League. The pick is Rugby's Great Split,
by Tony Collins ... who asks why there are two forms of rugby, and
ends up with a celebration of the game's traditions and passions in
answering that rugby's schism in 1895 actually defined the class
barriers.Rugby league was shaped in the spirit of defiance and
Collins, successfully treading between social history lessons and
good storytelling, lends weight to a truth not universally
acknowledged: that little has changed in a century when the game
remains wedded to an expansionist theory that has never quite
succeeded."
Christopher Irvine, The Times, 22nd December 1998"This book is a
landmark in the history and historiography of Rugby League and of
rugby in general."
Robert Gate, League Express, 4th May 1998"... replete with hundreds
of footnotes, a comprehensive bibliography and extensive
appendices, it is primarily aimed at academic consumption. None of
that should put off the ordinary reader, however, for the book is
written in a lively narrative way which will engross and inform all
who take an interest in the whys and hows of the evolution of both
codes of rugby. The scope of this work borders on the
monumental."
Robert Gate, League Express, 4th May 1998"Rugby's Great Split will
undoubtedly supersede all other works on the origins of Rugby
League. I have little doubt that it will become THE standard work
on the early development of rugby itself."
Robert Gate, League Express, 4th May 1998"A few months ago the
librarian at Twickers phoned me to say that he had read Tony
Collins' thesis and at last he understood why Rugby League people
often took the belligerent stance they do in regard to his own
game's absurd treatment of theirs. It is hard to think of a more
eloquent recommendation for buying Rugby's Great Split."
Robert Gate, League Express, 4th May 1998"Tony Collins has now
produced what could be classed the definitive version ... he has
written a serious account of both the actual mechanics of the
[1895] split and, perhaps more importantly, the social aspects. ...
Rugby's Great Split is one of the finest books ever to be written
about Rugby and Tony Collins deserves great credit for his
work."
Sports Collector, July 1998"The author of this book has done a
great service to the field with this fine book that places the
split between Rugby-Football Union and the Northern Union (now
called "rugby league") into its historical context. General readers
might mistakenly be put off by the book's apparent topic, an
esoteric exploration of the 1890s rugby schism; however, this work
is much broader than that and would be interesting to anyone
interested in class and culture in turn-of-the-century Britain. In
the tradition of the best sport history, Tony Collins rescues the
rugby league's history from the hands of hagiographic club
secretaries and places it firmly in the mainstream of cultural and
social history. Moreover, Collins brings new light to a tale that
sport historians and rugby fans most likely believe they already
know."
Patrick F McDevitt, Rowan University, Historian, Fall 2000Rugby
World - colour review -"..an authorative look at the historical
basis on which today"s rugby survives it ia an excellent
contribution."
Independent on Sunday - "Rugby"s Great Split brilliantly records
the early years when rugby and football emerged from the public
schools and seduced the working calsses, prompting the class
tensions which led two games played exclusivelyby gentlemen to
confront professionalism. This is a fine read which intelligently
probes the connections between social calss and sport which still
holds sway today."
The Independent - "It is the most detailed and perceptive account
yet of the events around the great schism."
Financial Times - " The outstanding historical work was Tony
Collins"s Rugby"s Great Split definitive on the 1895 schism between
the two rugby codes."
The Times -"...Collins, successfully treading between social
history lessons and good storytelling, lends weight to truth not
universally acknowledged: that little has changed in a century when
the game ren=mains wedded to an expansionist theory that has never
quite succeeded."
The Final Hooter - feature that book won the Aberdare Book
Prize
Total Rugby League - "... a truly brilliant book, and a real
eye-opener. Don"t be put off by the scholarly title either.
"Rugby"s Great Split" is readily accessible, you don"t need a PhD
to read it, and it"s a real must for anyone even remotely
interested in this great game"s heritage, and wondering how we got
where we are today."
Sydney League News- " A ground-breaking work on the subject, this
fascinating volume is probably the most important rugby league book
of the year"
Sports Collector- " Rugby"s Great Split is one of the finest books
ever to be written about Rugby and Tony Collins deserves great
credit for his work"
St Helen"s Star/ Sport Journal/Yorkshire Post/Open Rugby
Bulletin of the Rugby League Collectors" Federation- " Tony Collins
adds ...a large amount of very interesting detail which is so well
presented that you can almost at times be transfered back to those
exciting days of Victorian Rugby Football"
Loosehead Magazine- interview with Tony Collins- " Quite simply, it
is the rugby league book of the year, and possibly one of the best
ever written on the code"
League Express- " This book is a landamrk in the history and
historiography of Rugby League and of rugby in general"
Albion-" This is a book that is grounded firmly in the seconday
literature and draws on a wide variety of primary sources. Collins
understands the difference between theory and empirically based
conclusions. His straightforward prose shows how the sport(s)
changed and draws important links between that and the changing
nature of Empire, trade unionism, as well as attitudes towards
local pride and masculine behaviour"
"The author of this book has done a great service to the field with
this fine book that places the split between Rugby-Football Union
and the Northern Union into its historical context."
The Historian
Praise for the previous edition:'The outstanding historical work …
definitive on the 1895 schism between the two rugby codes.'-
Financial Times'This book is a landmark in the history and
historiography of rugby league and of rugby in general.' - Rugby
League Express
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