Professor Matthew Taylor

Matthew Taylor is Professor of History in the International Centre for Sports History and Culture.

A social historian with an expertise in the history of sport and recreation, his research focuses on a range of issues relating to the development of sport in Britain, Europe and the wider world and he has published widely in this area.  He is the author of Sport and the Home Front: Wartime Britain at Play, 1939-45 (Routledge, 2020), The Leaguers: The Making of Professional Football in England, 1900-1939 (Liverpool University Press, 2005) and the co-author (with Pierre Lanfranchi) of Moving With the Ball: The Migration of Professional Footballers (Berg, 2001).  His The Association Game: A History of British Football (Longman, 2008) is the first general study of the history and historiography of British football.  Football: A Short History (Shire Books, 2011) adapted and summarised this research for a general readership. His new book, World of Sport: Transnational and Connected Histories, will be published by Routledge History in December 2024. 

He has edited special issues on the history of sport for the London Journal, Journal of Global History and Labor History. He has presented numerous papers at international conferences, contributed entries to international encyclopaedias and reviewed for leading journals and book publishers. Other research interests include the history of boxing for men and women, sport, biography and autobiography and Mass Observation writing on sport and leisure. He is also planning a major social and cultural history of football in England between 1945 and 1985. 

Professor Taylor was editor-in-chief of the journal Sport in History between 2009 and 2014 and is co-editor of the Peter Lang book series Sport, History and Culture.  He is on the editorial board of the International Journal of the History of Sport and the Nordic Sport Science Forum, and on the International Board of Scholars of the International Football Institute at the University of Central Lancashire.  He has written for publications such as BBC History Magazine, Prospect Magazine and When Saturday Comes, delivered a series of public lectures and contributed to media discussions on the history of sport and sporting culture. He coordinates De Montfort University's 'Football Pioneers' column in the Leicester City FC Matchday Magazine and writes regularly for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

International Centre for Sports History and Culture 

Institute of Humanities and Political Studies

History Research Group

View a full listing of Matthew Taylor's publications and outputs.

Books

World of Sport: Transnational and Connected Histories (Routledge, forthcoming, 2025)

Sport and the Home Front: Wartime Britain at Play (Routledge, 2020)

Football: A Short History (Shire Books, 2011).

The Association Game: A History of British Football (Longman, 2008).

The Leaguers: The Making of Professional Football in England, 1900-1939 (Liverpool University Press, 2005).

Moving with the Ball: The Migration of Professional Footballers (Berg, 2001), with Pierre Lanfranchi.

 

Edited special issues

'Sport, Recreation and British Labour', Special Issue of Labor History, 55, 5, 2014, with Dave Dee.

'Sport and Global History', Special Issue of Journal of Global History, 8, 2, July 2013.

'Sport in London', Special Issue of London Journal, 34, 2, July 2009.

Articles and Book Chapters

'"The Amazons Have It": Athletic and Gender Performance at the 1934 Women's World Games', International Journal of the History of Sport, forthcoming, with Lydia Furse. 

'"Grand Little Ambassadors": Schoolboy Football in Mid-C20th England and Wales', Soccer & Society, forthcoming.

'City, Community and Sport in Birmingham during the Second World War', Midland History, 46:2, 2021, 246-60.

'Conflict and Accommodation', in Steven Riess (ed.), A Cultural History of Sport in the Modern Age (London: Bloomsbury, 2021), 127-47.

'Boxing, Race and British Identity, 1945-1962', The Historical Journal, 63:5, 2020, 1349-77, with Martin Johnes.

'Women, Sport and the People's War in Britain, 1939-45', Sport in History, 40:4, 2020, 552-75, with Rafaelle Nicholson.

'Un marche pugilistique franco-anglais. Histoire transnationale de l'organisation des spectacles de boxe 1880-1920 a Londres et a Paris', Histoire Urbaine, 57, 2020, 47-66, with Sylvain Ville.

'Sport and Civilian Morale in Second World War Britain', Journal of Contemporary History, 53, 2, 2018, 315-338.

Les joueurs de football sont-ils des esclaves? Conditions d'emploi dans le milieu du football professionnel en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles (1945-1961), Le Mouvement social, Janvier-Mars 2016, 47-68.

 'The People's Game and the People's War: Football, Class and Nation in Wartime Britain, 1939-45', Historical Social Research, 40, 4, 2015, 270-97.

'Parallel Fields: Sports History and Labour History', International Journal of the History of Sport, 32, 15, 2015, 1769-74.

'Trade Unionism in British Sport, 1920-1964', Labor History, 55, 5, 2014, 622-37.

‘The Transatlantic Migration of Sporting Labour, 1920-1939’, Labour History Review, 79, 2, 2014, 167-200.

'Mobility, Migration and History: Football and Early Transnational Networks' in R. Elliott and J. Harris (eds), Football and Migration: Perspectives, Places, Players (Routledge, 2014), with Pierre Lanfranchi.

'Sport, Transnationalism and Global History', Journal of Global History, 8, 2, July 2013, 199-208.

'The Global Ring? Boxing, Mobility and Transnational Networks in the Anglophone World, 1890-1914', Journal of Global History, 8, 2, July 2013, 231-55.

‘“It’s Nice to Belong”: Boxing, Heritage and Community in London’ in J. Hill, K. Moore and J. Wood (eds), Sport, History and Heritage: Studies in Public Representation (Boydell Press, 2012), with Neil Skinner.

'Football's Engineers? British Football Coaches, Migration and Intercultural Transfer, c.1910-c.1950s', Sport in History, 20, 1, March 2010, 138-63.

'Mass-Observation, Sport and the Second World War' in R. Snape and H. Pussard (eds), Recording Leisure Lives: Sports, Games and Pastimes in C20th Britain (LSA Publications, 2010). 

'Boxers United: Trade Unionism in British Boxing in the 1930s', Sport in History, 29, 3, September 2009, 457-78. 

'Round the London Ring: Boxing, Class and Community in Interwar London', London Journal, 34, 2, July 2009, 139-62.

'From Source to Subject: Sport, History and Autobiography', Journal of Sport History, 35, 3, Fall 2008, 469-91.

'Global Players? Football, Migration and Globalization, 1930-2000', Historical Social Research, 31, 1, 2006, 7-30.

History of sport and recreation in Britain and Europe; history of football and boxing in Britain in the twentieth century; transnational and global histories of sport; work and labour relations in the entertainment industry; sport, community identities and regulation in mid-twentieth century Britain; the migration of athletes and entertainers; sport and leisure in Second World War Britain; autobiography, biography and sports history; Mass Observation and sport; sport and the British Empire. 

British nineteenth and twentieth century social and cultural history; Historical methods and the study of history; Sport and leisure in Britain, Europe and the USA.

BA (Hons) History and Politics (Equal), First Class, University of York, 1993.
PhD in History, De Montfort University, 1997.

HIST 1003: Modern Britain since 1800

HIST3041: Culture, Society and Conflict  

HIST 5025: Football – Past and Present

Sport and the Home Front: Wartime Britain at Play, 1939-45 (Routledge, 2020), shortlisted for North American Society for Sports History (NASSH) Monograph Award, 2021 and the British Society of Sports History (BSSH) Aberdare Literary Prize for Sports History, 2021.

The Association Game: A History of British Football (Longman, 2008), shortlisted for Aberdare Literary Prize for Sports History, 2009.

Winner of Sport in History Best Article Award, 2020-21, Rafaelle Nicholson and Matthew Taylor, 'Women, Sport and the People's War, 1939-45', 40: 4, 2020, 552-575.

Winner of Journal of Sport History Best Article Award, 2008, for 'From Source to Subject: Sport, History and Autobiography', 35:3 (Fall, 2008), 469-491.

 

British Society of Sports History Executive Committee, January 2009-14

International Board of Scholars, International Football Institute, University of Central Lancashire, 2010-present

British Society of Sports History, 1997-present
Society for the Study of Labour History, 2007-present
Social History Society UK, 2006-present

Sports in World History

Sporting Lives: Autobiography, Biography and the History of Sport

Barbara Buttrick, Women's Boxing and Social Memory

Football and England: A Post-War History 

‘The Transatlantic Migration of Sporting Labour’, conference paper delivered at ‘A World of Labour: Transnational and Comparative Histories’, An International Conference for the Society for the Study of Labour History, 1-3 September 2008, University of Ulster, Coleraine.

‘Sport and Global History: The Transatlantic Migration of Sporting Labour’, conference paper delivered at the British Society of Sports History Annual Conference, September 2008, Brighton University, Eastbourne.

‘Mass-Observation, Sport and the Second World War’, conference paper delivered at the ‘Recording Leisure Lives’ conference, Leisure Studies Association, 7 April 2009, University of Bolton.

‘Football’s Engineers? The International Migration of British Soccer Coaches’, conference paper delivered at the British Society of Sports History Annual Conference, August 2009, Stirling University.

‘Sport in London’, conference paper delivered at ‘The Legacy of Mega Sporting Events’, 3-4 December 2009, De Montfort University.

‘“The World’s My Football Pitch”: Autobiographical Accounts of Touring and Working Abroad from the 1920s to the 1950s’, conference paper delivered at ‘The British Abroad’ conference, April 2010, University of Newcastle.

‘Boxing, History and Culture: New Themes and Perspectives’, One-Day Symposium, De Montfort University, 30 June 2010, organised the conference, introduced speakers and chaired sessions.

‘Reflections on Sport and the British 21 Years on’, conference paper delivered at the ‘Historians on Sport’ annual conference, De Montfort University, 30 October 2010.

‘Boxing, Class and Community in London Between the Wars’, invited public lecture delivered at the South Wales Centre for Historical and Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Wales, Newport, April 2011.

‘Footballing Lives and the Maximum Wage’, conference paper delivered at the ‘Reflections on the Abolition of the Maximum Wage’ Conference, 9 June 2011.

‘Work, Labour Relations and Trade Unionism in British Sport’, invited conference paper delivered at the ‘Workout – Sports and Labour in History’ conference, hosted by the International Research Centre on Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 25-27 August 2011.

‘Sport and Civilian Morale in the Second World War’, paper delivered at the Institute of Historical Research, Sport and Leisure History research seminar series, 3 October 2011.

‘Observing the British Sports Crowd, 1920-1950: Composition, Behaviour and Regulation’, keynote paper, presented at the ‘Recording Leisure Lives: Sports, Spectacles and Spectators in 20th Century Britain’ conference, Leisure Studies Association, 3 April 2012, University of Bolton/ Bolton Museum.

 Academic consultant for Royal Mail 'HIstory of FA Cup' stamp series, 2020.

BBC Radio Four, ‘Sport and the British’ 30-part series, first broadcast 2012, contributed 3 programme scripts.

I will be available for consultancy on the social and cultural history of sport in Britain and Europe.

Barbara Horley, 1st supervisor

Hazel Perry, 1st supervisor

Patrick Redmond, 1st supervisor

Brigid Power, 2nd supervisor

Ben Duncan-Jones, 2nd supervisor

Ethan Hosking, 2nd supervisor

‘Sport and Civilian Morale in Second World War Britain’, Scouloudi Foundation, Award in aid of research, start date April 2008, end date April 2009, £768.40.

‘Boxers and Boxing between the wars’, Department of Historical and Social Studies Research Committee, to fund research trips for research article, February-June 2008

‘Sports Invaders: The Transatlantic Migration of Sporting Labour’, Department of Historical and Social Studies Research Committee, to fund research trips for research article, July-December 2009

‘Boxing at the Poly: Amateur Boxing in C20th London’, Department of Historical and Social Studies Research Committee, to fund research trips for research article, March-April 2011

‘Sport and Civilian Morale in Second World War Britain’, School of English and History Research Committee, to fund research trip for research article, December 2011

Nordic Sport Science Forum, member of editorial board, since June 2008
Sport in History, editor, January-September 2009
Sport in History, Editor-in-Chief, September 2009-present

 

I am also a series editor (with Richard Holt of DMU) of the Peter Lang book series ‘Sport, History and Culture’, 2010-present

Journal Refereeing information:

I have acted as referee for a range of international and national academic journals, including: International Review of the Sociology of Sport, Sport in History, Women’s History Review, Sport in Society, Contemporary British History,  Soccer and Society, International Journal of the History of Sport, Social History and Cultural & Social History.

Other Reviewing Activities:

I have reviewed Book Proposals and Book Manuscripts for a number of publishers, including: Manchester University Press, Berg, Routledge, Rowman & Littlefield, Peter Lang, Pickering & Chatto,

Peer reviews of funding applications:

European Science Foundation, British Academy, Small Research Grant Scheme,  Leverhulme Trust, Emeritus Fellowships, and French National Research Agency.

Review of The Association Game in History Today, May 2008, p. 63.

Review of The Association Game on idrottsforum,org, December 2009.

Lecture entitled ‘An Amateur in a Professional Game: Harold Thompson, the Football Association and English Football’ given (with Dr Neil Carter of DMU) at the Royal Society Public Lecture Series on 9 June 2010.

Audience breakdown: 30 in total, of which approx 10 were Royal Society staff, 8 academics and 12 general public.

From feedback forms received, the following comments were made: ‘Well researched presentation’; ‘this was outstanding – more sport-related talks please’; ‘interesting widening of range of issues discussed at Royal Society’; ‘clever idea!’

Rupert Baker of the Royal Society provided the following comment on the significance/ impact of the event: ‘This was the first time the Royal Society Centre for History of Science has included a sport-themed event in its popular series of lunchtime public gatherings.  The talk was a useful opportunity to attract a new audience to the Society, and to bring the football-related side of our Thompson Papers archive to the attention of the public.  All those present agreed that it was a thought-provoking and enjoyable discussion, and senior managers at the Royal Society are now more aware of the breadth of the Society’s archival holdings, and open to the possibility of further, less ‘mainstream’, Library events in future’. 

Interviewed by Louise Duffield for an article ‘This sporting life’ on the impact of sport on people’s lives across the centuries, published in Choice magazine, August 2010.

Feedback from Denise Kennedy, August 2009, a performer who is producing a one-woman show on Bella Burge (Lloyd), a former music hall dresser and later boxing promoter.  Denise had read my article in the London Journal on interwar London boxing.

Feedback from Robert Galvin, April 2010, (non-academic) football historian, who had read my Liverpool University Press book The Leaguers (2005) and required more information about references in the book.

Inquiry from David Gaddis Smith, July 2010, an American journalist who wanted information about newspaper coverage of the 1966 World Cup final.