ABSTRACT
Historians will note that for Britain the sixties were years of considerable change for sport, not only in terms of organization and structure but in terms of philosophy.1 Whilst it is true that no philosophical change takes place overnight, it is equally true that the mid-sixties saw a new school of thought triumph and the old school of thought begin a steady decline. The British approach to sport had, for over a century, inspired the world to take up sports the British invented and develop these to such a stage so as to allow many countries to compete on even terms, and subsequently in many sports to be supreme. This is how it should be; the pupil taking over from the master and achieving greater things; there should be pride in this process not agony. That the British were no longer the best in every sport they originated was not the disaster some would have us believe; it is an indication that sport is now a world-wide phenomenon, an international force, a force that can, and often does bring people together in friendly rivalry irrespective of colour, ideology or religion. The international perspectives will be discussed later in the context of the seventies and the eighties (See Chapter 13). By the mid-sixties sport in Britain was entering a new era as for the first time the Government became heavily involved directly in supporting sport both at international and local levels.
