ABSTRACT
In this chapter I give a first-hand account of the development of sports development and sports policy from an insider position of Head of Research Planning and Strategy at the Sports Council (later Sport England) from 1972 to 1989, and thereafter from an involved commentator/analyst stance at the Universities of Loughborough and Gloucestershire, and as a member of the two professional bodies, the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM – now ISPAL – the Institute of Sport, Parks and Leisure) and the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management (ISRM). I will make reference to, but not repeat, the various analyses of leisure policy development (Bergsgaard et al., 2007; Collins, 2002, 2008; Henry, 2001; Houlihan, 1991, 1997, 2002; Houlihan and White, 2002; Green and Houlihan, 2005; Coalter, 2007; Hylton and Bramham, 2008). Table 2.2 (p. 23) summarises milestone documents and events in each phase.
