The latest episode of Rugby Reloaded talks to Professor Matthew Brown about his new book Sports in South America. A History. It’s a panoramic book that for the first time in English examines the origins of modern sports in South America from the mid-1800s to the first FIFA World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

Among other things, it explains the continent had a rich history of sports before Europeans arrived there, casts a critical eye over the mythology of the 'fathers of football' who allegedly brought football to South American nations, and places women's sports back in their rightful context.

Drawing on a huge number of sources in Spanish and Portuguese, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of modern sport, and in the ways that sports have become entwined with national identity, culture and politics across South America.

Our interview focused on some of the key themes of football history that the book deals with: why ideas about 'fathers of football' are mistaken, questioning the importance of railways in soccer's development, why rugby never became a mass spectator sport, the problems faced by women athletes, and much more.