Ashbrooke Whit Sports, Sunderland and its records: a case study of amateurism in late Victorian and Edwardian athletic and cycling competition

Ordinary sports clubs and their annual sports have been largely ignored by historians of sport, whose focus has been largely on more mega-events and on larger clubs, and on the twentieth century rather than earlier periods. This paper provides a rare case study of a local athletic sports meeting, in late Victorian and early Edwardian north-east England, using club records, newspaper, census and other record-linkage material, and setting it in its local and national context. By doing so it shows how it is possible to shed light on its organisation and club membership; the age, status and home locations of competitors, and the linkages with other athletic and cycling clubs in the area. More importantly it also explores the vexed question of the ways in which amateurism functioned in areas less influenced by the middle classes of the metropolis and elite clubs, which have hitherto dominated discussion.