Sport in London

1. About this guide

This guide outlines some of the key sources at The London Archives for researching sport in London, including local leisure facilities, major sports grounds and sports in schools and workplaces. The guide is not exhaustive but should give a flavour of the type of records that we hold.

2. Local sports facilities

We hold the records of a number of local authorities including the City of London Corporation in COL, Metropolitan Board of Works in MBW, London County Council in LCC and Greater London Council in GLC. These authorities provided a range of formal and informal facilities for sports and recreation. Most parks included facilities for football, cricket and tennis, with some locations specialising in specific sports – such as the use of Hackney Marshes for football. After the Second World War, the LCC and GLC hosted and promoted annual championships in athletics, sports and games.

To learn more, please start with the main minutes of these bodies that can be browsed on the open shelves in our public rooms. More detailed discussions can be found in the following committee minutes and presented papers:

• For the City of London Corporation, see the Coal, Corn and Finance Committee in COL/CC/CCF, Epping Forest and Open Spaces Committee in COL/CC/EFC and Committee of Managers of West Ham Park in COL/CC/WHP
• For the Metropolitan Board of Works see the Parks, Commons and Open Spaces Committee in MBW/0977-1035
• For the London County Council see the Parks and Open Spaces Committee in LCC/MIN/08700-09053
• For Greater London Council see the Parks and Smallholdings Committee in GLC/DG/MIN/137 and GLC/DG/PRE/137, Arts and Recreation Committee in GLC/DG/MIN/005 and GLC/DG/PRE/005, Open Spaces and Recreation Committee minutes in GLC/DG/MIN/136 and GLC/DG/PRE/136, and Arts and Recreation Committee in GLC/DG/MIN/006 and GLC/DG/PRE/006

Further material can be found by browsing our catalogue by keyword(s) such as the name of the park.

3. Sports grounds

Building Act case files for many sports grounds can be found in the records of the Metropolitan Board of Works in MBW, London County Council in LCC and Greater London Council in GLC. These files are planning applications that were submitted to the local authority and often contain detailed plans. The collection includes plans by football ground architect Archibald Leitch for the Arsenal Stadium, Craven Cottage, The Den and Stamford Bridge. To find relevant plans, please search our catalogue for the name of the property followed by the words 'building act'. You could also try just searching for the sport followed by ‘building act’.

Following the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975, the GLC issued safety certificates for sports grounds with accommodation for spectators. Discussions can be found in the minutes and presented papers of the Public Services and Safety Committee in GLC/DG/MIN/183 and GLC/DG/PRE/183 and the Public Services and Fire Brigade Committee in GLC/DG/MIN/175 and GLC/DG/PRE/175.

We also hold the records relating to the following major venues:

• Crystal Palace Park in CPT - this was the venue of the FA Cup between 1895 and 1914
• Wembley Stadium PLC in LMA/4225
• Earls Court and Olympia in LMA/4684
• National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace in LCC and GLC

4. Staff sports clubs

Many workplaces had social clubs including their own sports grounds for their employees. You can find these scattered across many collections. Here are some examples:

• Guildhall Sports and Social Club in CLA/074/02
• London County Council Sports Club in ACC/2598
• Borough Market Charity Sports Club in ACC/2058/07
• Royal Dental Hospital Athletic Club in H42/RD/A/10-3

5. School sports

The history of physical education in local authority schools can be traced using the records of the School Board for London in SBL, London County Council in LCC and Inner London Education Authority in ILEA. The main minutes of these bodies including the LCC Education Committee can be browsed in our public rooms.

Sport is also covered in the records of individual schools such as City of London Freemen's School in CLA/055, John Roan School in LMA/4442 and the Royal Caledonian School in LMA/4710.

6. Associations

The records of some individual sports organisations and social clubs with strong sporting ties are also held at The London Archives. Browse the following catalogues for further information:

• Cowley Recreational Institution in LMA/4275
• Crown and Manor Club, Hoxton in LMA/4716
• Mayfield Athletic Club, Edmonton in ACC/1384
• London Federation of Boys’ Clubs in LMA/4283
• London Schools Football Association in LMA/4045
• Maccabi Union Great Britain in LMA/4286
• Middlesex Football Association - This collection is uncatalogued. Please contact the team for further information

Information on other individual sporting organisations can be found in the Greater London Council's grant files in GLC/RA/GR/03.

7. Photographs and films

Many photographs, posters and prints relating to sporting activities and venues can be found on the London Picture Archive.

An amateur film called ‘London’s Green Heritage’, which covers sport in London’s parks in 1947 is available to view on catalogue at GLC/RA/E2/13/005.