Books by Tony (De Montfort University Collins

Looking at rugby in late Victorian and Edwardian England, this title examines how class conflict tore rugby apart and led to the creation of rugby league. It focuses on how men and women became involved in rugby and the hostile reaction to them from rugby's middle-class leaders, and describes how the war for rugby's soul led to the 1895 split.

Called 'the greatest game of all' by its supporters but often overlooked by the cultural mainstream, no sport is more identified with England's northern working class than rugby league. This book traces the story of the sport from the Northern Union of the 1900s to the formation of the Super League in the 1990s.