@bssh.bsky.social
British Society of Sports History promotes the study of sport history and physical education
Front cover of The Women in Whites: A History of Women's Cricket in England, by Raf Nicholson. The cover has photos of Enid Bakewell, Myrtle Maclagan, Charlotte Edwards, Rachael Heyhoe Flint and Sarah Taylor.
A major milestone yesterday: I submitted the manuscript of The Women in Whites ๐พ๐ฅณ
This book has been years in the making - I started writing it during lockdown - so it feels surreal to actually have it off my desk!
Due out in May. Publisher: Pitch Publishing.
Beyond Tonya Harding: 8 Olympic Figure-Skating Scandals Served Cold
26.01.2026 13:18 โ ๐ 4 ๐ 3 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Yui Hasegawa ๐คฃ
#WSL #MCFC
The UAE will participate in the Winter Olympics for the first time when the Games begin on February 6, 2026, in Italy. One of the two UAE athletes learned to ski at the indoor skiing facility Ski Dubai, while the other athlete has been naturalized.
www.thenationalnews.com/sport/2026/0...
Anya Shrubsole always speaks so wisely. In this case, her points about player use of social media and (near the end) about what makes a good coach are spot on.
Hopefully we do manage to keep her in the game in some form or another.
(The Anya portion of the podcast starts at 18.44)
#sportshistory "A most unsuitable game: Reflections on a community celebration of the womenโs game in Scotland", @ihr.bsky.social @bssh.bsky.social webinar, 26 Jan featuring @fionaskillen.bsky.social @juliemcneillwrites.bsky.social & Karen Fraser. Booking now open: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
13.01.2026 10:41 โ ๐ 9 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Katie Taylor on Cheyenne Hollis' The Touchback YouTube channel, talking about her research into women's American football and her forthcoming book. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqyb...
08.01.2026 10:43 โ ๐ 6 ๐ 2 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Interesting podcast with Hugh Macdonald podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
02.01.2026 20:38 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
A photo of fireworks over Edinburgh Castle. The lights coming out of the castle are rainbow coloured.
Happy New Year, especially whoever did the gay lighting at Edinburgh Hogmanay โจ๏ธ๐
01.01.2026 01:42 โ ๐ 5 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0If youโre a fellow hammer in the doldrums over West Hamโs performance against City yesterday (expected, but still absolutely shocking from us), perhaps a couple of hours listening to Martin Godleman, the voice of #WestHam will lift your spirits.
We talk books, narratives & everything in between!
My Christmas present to you all - itโs my annual Womenโs Team of the Year for @theguardian.com!
What do you reckon - did I get it right?
My book Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games is still on sale (40% off!) with the code HOLIDAY until January 4 in case you still want to buy more books #skystorians ๐๏ธ #sporthistory
www.umasspress.com/978162534595...
#OnThisDay 27 Dec 1920 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
The Dick, Kerr Ladies and St Helen's Ladies drew a crowd of 53,000 at Goodison Park.
The growing popularity of women's football spooked the FA into banning affiliated grounds from hosting women.
The ban lasted 50 years.
#OnThisDay 26 Dec 1860 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
In this leafy corner of Sheffield, the world's oldest derby first took place as @hallamfc1860.bsky.social hosted @sheffieldfc.bsky.social
Both clubs were playing 'Sheffield rules', and the visitors won 2-0.
More in my book ๐๐ผ www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/origin-...
Sorry to hear of the passing of John Robertson today...Capped 28 times, Robertson was also a double European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest. www.youtube.com/shorts/P1jsG...
25.12.2025 17:33 โ ๐ 2 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0#OnThisDay 25 Dec 1871 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Reading Football Club was founded at a public meeting.
Christmas was more of a community affair in those days, and Christmas matches were a regular fixture until 1965
The 2026 men's League of Ireland fixtures are now out ๐ฎ๐ช
Most matches are played on a Friday night, but on the West Coast, you can knock off two in two days.
Read on... #groundhopping
outsidewrite.substack.com/p/groundhopp...
Great episode from @collinstony.bsky.social putting into context arguments for Scotland having โinventedโ football
open.spotify.com/episode/4tvc...
From All Sports Books' Substack, an extensive list of the sports books coming out in 2026. It is *competitive* out there! ๐
As someone with two manuscripts on the go, it's always a relief to see no one's beaten you to it!
substack.com/home/post/p-...
I published 33 podcast episodes this year.
Last week, I posted the most popular five, but I thought I'd also share some of my personal favourite interviews from 2026
First up, @shafikmeghji.bsky.social on the British founders of football in Arg, Uru, and Chile
โถ๏ธ open.spotify.com/episode/4zzf...
Screenshot showing the special section on diversity and inclusion in international YA sports fiction on the IJYAL website: https://ijyal.ac.uk/
The special section of @ijyalnews.bsky.social on diversity and inclusion in young adult sports fiction is now live + open access (all essays free to download) at ijyal.ac.uk
Paging academic sports fans! @bssh.bsky.social @footycon.bsky.social @kaseysymons.bsky.social @garyjames.bsky.social
โฝ๐๐ฅ๐คบ
Bill Clinton sent Robin Williams to the 1994 US World Cup draw, check this out
youtu.be/IrJjr5mLNqw?...
#OnThisDay 5 Dec 1976
Just 13 months after the death of General Franco and with the Basque 'Ikurriรฑa' flag still outlawed, the captains of Real Sociedad and Athletic Club took a huge risk by carrying a homemade Ikurriรฑa onto the pitch.
From my book, The Defiant, citing @beinatguti.bsky.social
So, creators also get an annual 'Wrapped' from Spotify, too, and I just want to thank everyone for another great year.
The podcast will be back in the spring with new episodes, but there are 250+ episodes in the back catalogue to catch up on ๐๐ผ
๐๐ผ open.spotify.com/show/41nxyOU...
Upcoming over on Substack:
Today: Non-league adventures at West Didsbury & Chorlton
04/12: Hajduk Split in WWII (thanks to @dwil94.bsky.social for pic)
09/12: The best books on Italian football
11/12: The three ages of the Arsenal
Sub/follow for free ๐๐ผ substack.com/@outsidewrite
#groundhopping
Has anyone here visited Hajduk Split and has a photo I can use to accompany a blog post in the coming days, please? ๐ญ๐ท
DM for more info if you do!
#groundhopping
#OnThisDay 30 Nov 1872 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Scotland hosted England for the first official international match in Glasgow
It finished goalless, but as a proof of concept, it pushed the game stratospheric
More in this podcast open.spotify.com/episode/0TD4...
University admins pressuring faculty to use AI indiscriminately pretend to be serving students. They are just freaking desperate.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
On this day, 30 Nov 1936
The Crystal Palace exhibition centre in South London burned down
The stadium within Crystal Palace Park hosted several FA Cup finals ๐ between 1895 and 1914 and gave rise to Crystal Palace FC ๐ฆ
More in my video #CPFC #skystorians
โถ๏ธ www.instagram.com/reel/DRrkbn4...
