The Football Pools and the British Working Class: A Political, Social and Cultural History

The Football Pools and the British Working Class explores the politics and culture of the gambling on the football pools in Britain, charting their rise from the 1920s to the 1990s and their decline due to the National Lottery. It became a significant leisure opportunity for the working class, offering a way to win life-changing jackpots.

Format: Hardback
Length: 236 pages
Publication date: 22 July 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The Football Pools and the British Working Class is a groundbreaking national study that delves into the politics and culture of gambling on football pools in Britain. It charts the rise.the rise and fall of the football pools, focusing on its rapid growth from the 1920s to its prolonged decline in British culture from the 1990s, partly due to the introduction of the National Lottery. The book explores how this new form of gambling became a significant leisure opportunity for the working class, offering a sense of hope that individual skill could lead to life-changing jackpot cheques presented by sporting personalities of celebrity. Dominated by companies like Littlewoods and other large commercial enterprises, the weekly filling of coupons was considered a safe form of investment, guaranteed by the integrity of the pool companies. It was seen as a way to escape the seedy gambling operations of the time.

The Football Pools and the British Working Class examines various aspects of the football pools, from what attracted people to this form of gambling to how the industry developed and adjusted to the suspension of football fixtures in 1936 and the bad winter of 1962-3. Above all, it delves into the deep hostility surrounding the filling in of football pools, arising from the National Anti-Gambling League, religious groups, football authorities.authorities, and Members of Parliament. This book appeals to all those interested in the history of British football and 20th-century British working-class culture.

Weight: 620g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367701727