ABSTRACT
The Victorians were among the most sports minded of all societies. They glorified play, and almost transformed it into work, because they sincerely believed that sports and games were necessary for the development of tough mental fiber as well as a powerful physique. They became almost obsessed with brawn because they did not think that a feeble body could possibly support a vigorous mind. They abhorred physical weakness since they thought that it could be eliminated by exercise and discipline-hence the popularity of sports and games in nineteenth-century Britain. But sports were also deliberately used by the British cultural and political elite as effective forms of social control.
