Social History of Sheffield Boxing, Volume I

Matthew Bell has served as editor of the Sheffield United FC magazine Flashing Blade since 1989 and has written a weekly column in the Green ‘Un and Sheffield Star newspapers since 1993. Along with Dr Gary Armstrong, he co-authored Fit and Proper? Conflicts and Conscience in an English Football Club (2010), the definitive account of the recent history of Sheffield United FC, and Steel and Grace: Sheffield’s Olympic Track and Field Medallists (2014). With Sheffield historian Chris Hobbs, he is also the co-author of Shocking Sheffield: Forgotten Tales of Murder, Mishap and Gruesome Misdemeanour, Volumes 1 and 2 (2012), and Long Shadows Over Sheffield (2014).Gary Armstrong is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at City University of London, UK. Amongst several projects on sport, criminology, and surveillance, he is the author of Football Hooligans: Knowing the Score; Blade Runners: Lives in Football; and Sheffield United FC: The Biography. In the Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology series, he co-authored Mixed Occupancy Housing in London: A Living Tapestry? with James Rosbrook Thompson.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Rings of Stee.- Chapter 2: A Champion In Town.- Chapter 3: The Attraction Of ‘Fisti-Cuffs'.- Chapter 4: The Gloves Are On.- Chapter 5: Sheffield’s First Contender.- Chapter 6: Prejudice, War And Poverty.- Chapter 7: Hitting Hard.- Chapter 8: Make Do And Mend.- Chapter 9: Punch-Drunk Humanity.

“The authors Bell and Armstrong … use a wide range of sources of information to track the development of boxing in the city. It is the depth of research that makes this book so compelling and informative, using historical written evidence from newspapers, Government publications, a number of important images and even notes from court proceedings. … This book is a must for those interested in the history of sport, the sociology of sport and even the business of sport.” (Nick Wilde, Urbanities-Journal of Urban Ethnography, Vol. 11 (1), May, 2021)