From Hooligans to Heroes and from Ferocity to Fair Play: Some English Historical Origins of Modern World Sport.

The article examines the introduction of organized team sports as a mandatory part of the curricula of the British private schools known as endowed public schools in the latter half of the 19th century. Sports are considered as part of a larger reform of those schools, which previously had been known for both poor living conditions, harsh discipline, a culture of bullying and violence, and cases of actual rebellions against administration. The use of sports as an element of social control and social engineering to restore school discipline and create positive sentiments among students is examined. George Cotton, headmaster of Marlborough School, who took that position after a rebellion by students in 1851, is used as an example of an educator who used sports as a means of social control.