Abstract

Academic sport history has come a long way in a relatively short period of time, using a growing range of theoretical approaches, drawing on an expanding range of disciplines, tackling an increasingly wider range of subjects. This includes exploring sport as a popular cultural practice. Yet we must also recognize that public sport history has been around for much longer and has grown even more significantly in recent decades. The relationship between academic and public sport history has been relatively weak and at times problematic. The wider public, even those with an interest in sport history, has little knowledge of the work of academics. This paper argues for a much greater academic engagement with public sport history, embracing and exploring new ways of communicating the subject, in new collaborations, to new and much more diverse audiences.

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