Rugby Reloaded podcast archive - episodes 21-40

Click on the title to listen to the episode.

21. Once in a Lifetime: John Sutcliffe, Soccer’s Rise and Rugby’s Fall

This week's ten-minute time tunnel looks at the career of John Sutcliffe - from Bradford and England rugby, to Manchester United and England soccer, to European football management. Sutcliffe's life tells the story of football's incredible development in the space of a single lifetime. 

22. Did Sheffield Invent Soccer?

This week I'm investigating the claim that Sheffield is the true birthplace of modern soccer. Take a ten-minute tour of the early history of sport in the Steel City and discover Sheffield's intriguing football history - and how rugby played a vital role in its early years.

23. How the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final got to Wembley

It's Wembley Week for British rugby league - and to celebrate the game's annual day in the sun, this week's podcast takes ten minutes in the time tunnel to discover why and how rugby league's big day out ended up in London. 

24. Countdown to Rugby’s Great Split

On Wednesday 29 August it will be 123 years to the day since twenty-one of England's top rugby clubs met at the George Hotel to create the Northern Union. This week's ten-minute history tour takes a deep dive into the events of 1895 that led to that momentous meeting. 

25. What Happened After Vichy: French Rugby League Since World War 2

It's well known that the Vichy government in France banned rugby league in 1941. But what happened to the game after that? This week's episode looks at rugby league players in World War 2 and the faboulous rebirth and calamitous fall of the French game in the post-war years.

26. Women and football in the Nineteenth Century

Women have always played football - but the modern football codes of the 19th Century tried to keep them out. This week's bitesize time tunnel looks at how women fought to be part of football in Victorian times, both on the terraces and on the pitch. 

27. Spencer Kassimir on rugby league in North America

Ahead of the 2018 Tom Brock Lecture in Sydney, we talk to Tom Brock Scholar and sports consultant Spencer Kassimir about the history of the relationship between rugby league and girdiron football, and the prospects for the sport in North America.

28. Origins and Myths of Australian Rules Football

This week we look at the origins of Aussie Rules football and ask just how unique are the origins of the game? For most of its fans, it's an original Australian code of football, and many others believe that it is derived from the games of Aboriginal Australians. But, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the beginnings of the game are neither pure Australian nor anything like simple.

29. Glasgow. Football’s First Capital City

Look around the world and in almost every football code, the game is the sport of the city. This week's bitesize glimpse into football history looks at the orginal world capital of football: Glasgow. No other city was dominated by football like Glasgow, and it provided the template for the great footballing cities of the world.

30. The Birth of Gaelic Football

This week we're continuing our look at how the different football codes started - this week it's Gaelic football. How did the distinctive Irish game emerge? Is it really an ancient game? We'll debunk the myths and deconstruct the history... all in just ten minutes. 

31. A Short History of Black Players in Rugby League

It's Black History Month, so this week's podcast looks at the history of black players in British rugby league. Take a ten minute tour of the hidden history of a century of black achievement - and the obstacles still to be conquered - as players, captains and coaches in rugby league.

32. How Canadian Football Began

12-a-side, three downs and a Maple Leaf at its heart. This week we look at Canadian football, the unsung cousin of rugby and gridiron football. Take a ten-minute trip through Canadian history to discover how Canada came to have its own football code and how it paved the way for American football. 

33. Walter Camp and the Invention of American Football?

Did Walter Camp invent American football? Most of the history books say yes, but the reality is much more complicated. American football began as rugby but quickly started to change the rules to make a better spectacle - just like many other rugby-playing regions. Discover how and why it changed in your ten-minute intro to the orgins of the gridiron game. 

34. South African Rugby before it was an Afrikaner Game

Discover the origins of South African rugby and the hidden history of black and mixed race involvement in the game in our latest ten-minute tour of rugby history. This was a time when Afrikaners were a rare sight on the rugby field and the game was a symbol of the British Empire. 

35. Scotland and the Birth of International Rugby

The Scots have always felt they were as important as the English in the story of how rugby was born. This week's ten-minute trip back through time examines how Scotland kick-started international rugby and why their rivalry with the RFU went so deep and lasted so long. 

36. Empire of the Scrum: the History of Rugby in Japan

How did rugby come to Japan? Alone of all the Asian nations, Japan is the place where rugby is part of the national culture, despite it being a rival to (and a war-time enemy of) the English-speaking rugby-playing countries in the Pacific. Discover how rugby took the way of Bushido in our ten-minute time travel trip through 150 years of Japanese rugby. 

37. Tonga: From Tupou College to the Taumalolo Revolution

In October 2017 Jason Taumalolo started a rugby revolution when he opted to play for Tonga, the country of his parents' birth, in the Rugby League World Cup. But how did rugby start in Tonga? Why does the national rugby union side struggle, while its league side has never been more popular? 'Rugby Reloaded' takes a ten-minute tour of Tongan history for some answers.

38. The Lions' Tale: A Short History of England Rugby League International Team Names

Whatever happened to the Lions, British rugby league's national team?The answer is more complicated than you might think, showing how changing conceptions of nationality are reflected in sport, and why history is about more than the simply what happened in the past. Take a ten minute tour through 114 years of international and changing team titles with this week's 'Rugby Reloaded' podcast.

39. World War One & the Rise and Fall of Women’s Soccer

World War One gave birth to women's football football as a mass participation sport. For the first time ever, thousands of women could play the game they loved. But why did it take a war to give women the opportunity to play the game and why did it disappear so quickly? This week's ten-minute time tunnel podcast takes a deep dive to explore the link between war, football and women's struggle to play the game. 

40. The Birth of Rugby in Ireland

Rugby in Ireland can perhaps boast of having the world's oldest rugby club, and for a generation rugby had no rivals in Ireland. Yet within a decade it had been overtaken by soccer and Gaelic football. This week's podcast explores the birth of Irish rugby and its complicated history.