ABSTRACT
1. The analysis in the last chapter focused almost entirely on events and did not penetrate the deeper levels of the social process by which the peculiar dual organization of Rugby was established. Above all, it failed to explain why, in a period of generally mounting tension over professionalism in British sport, only Rugby split. A comparison of professionalization in Rugby, cricket and soccer will provide an answer to this question and help to lay bare the deeper levels of this overall process. We shall pay special attention in this connection to changing class relations and the way in which they generated tensions in sport. Before we embark on this analysis, however, it is necessary to say how our approach to amateurism and professionalism differs from that currently dominant in the sociology of sport.
