Rugby Reloaded

Feb 28 2025 197 ep. 18 mins 199

Rugby Reloaded Podcast artwork

The social history podcast which explores the history of rugby league, rugby union, and the other football codes around the world.

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197. Harry Jepson: A Life in League

Feb 28 2025 98 mins

In Richard Hoggart's classic book 'The Uses of Literacy', he describes the scenes in May 1934 when Hunslet returned triumphantly with the Rugby League Challenge Cup followed by thousands of young boys. Harry Jepson (1920-2016) was one of those youths. This is an interview I did with him in 2009 about his extraordinary life in rugby league. Born in Hunslet at the start of the 1920s

196. France's Expulsion from the 5 Nations.mp3

Sep 11 2023 10 mins

The Rugby Union World Cup has kicked off in France this week, so this episode of 'Rugby Reloaded' goes back in time to look at when France was expelled from the international game in 1931. Not only was France kicked out of the Five Nations but its clubs were banned from playing British teams. We look at how and why this happened, and explore how deep-rooted British suspicions of t

195. Rugby League in Thatcher's Britain with Anthony Broxton

Aug 29 2023 50 mins

Rugby Reloaded is back for a brand new series and we kick-off with a blockbuster interview with Anthony Broxton about his new book ‘Hope and Glory: Rugby League in Thatcher’s Britain’. Anthony’s book explores the history of the sport during a pivotal decade for Britain. It was the era of Hanley and Offiah, when the pro game expanded as far as Kent, but it was also the deca

194. Football in South America with Matthew Brown

Feb 06 2023 29 mins

The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' talks to Professor Matthew Brown about his new book 'Sports in South America. A History'. It's a panoramic view of the birth of modern sport on the continent from the mid-1800s to the first FIFA world cup in 1930. The book covers the full range of sports but our interview focuses on some of the key themes of football history: why ideas about 'fathers o

193. Cricket & Class with Duncan Stone

Dec 19 2022 36 mins

Duncan Stone's new book 'Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket' is both a history of cricket from the grassroots and an analysis of the roots of the sport's attitudes to race and class. Duncan uncovers the reality of cricket behind the myth, and reveals the true story of working-class cricket in the south of England. For anyone wanting to understand English cricket's

192. Geoff Armstrong on the history of St George Dragons

Nov 28 2022 44 mins

This week's episode talks to Geoff Armstrong about his latest book, the second volume of 'Spirit of the Red V', his in-depth history of St George Dragons. St George are one of the most significant clubs in the history of Australian rugby league. Famous for its unparalleled run of 11 straight premierships in the the 1950s and 1960s, the club's fortunes have risen and fallen as muc

191. Huddersfield: A Town, A Club, and Rugby's Great Split

Nov 14 2022 37 mins

On 5 November I was invited to give a talk about Huddersfield and its role in rugby's split of 1895 by the Huddersfield Local History Society (https://www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk). In it, I look at the growth of rugby in the town, the rise of the rugby club, the role of its most infamous administrator Frank Marshall, and how the split played out in the town during the 1890s.

190. Roy Francis, George Bennett, Race and Rugby League

Oct 24 2022 35 mins

On Friday, the 21 October 2022, I gave a talk at the Museum of Wigan Life titled 'Roy Francis, George Bennett, race and rugby league' as one of the museum's Black History Month events. The talk looks at the lives of the two players, examines the impact of the 1919 racist riots on their lives and the sport, and for the first time reveals how George Bennett was excluded from the 1936

189. The 'Roaring Red Front' of football clubs

Sep 12 2022 39 mins

The new Rugby Reloaded talks to Stewart McGill and Vince Raison about their fascinating new book, 'The Roaring Red Front: The World's Top Left-Wing Football Clubs' (Pitch Publishing). They travelled around the world visiting soccer clubs which have a reputation for left-wing politics, sampling the match-day atmosphere, and exploring the histories of a diverse range of clubs, from

188. Why is the rugby ball oval?

Jun 13 2022 8 mins

Rugby History 101: the shape of the ball. The latest 'Rugby Reloaded' investigates why the rugby ball is oval - and, as usual, the answer is not as obvious as you might think. It's a long story where technology, traditions and tournaments converged in an evolutionary process to create the oval world. For more on the history of rugby and the other football codes, take a look at