ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reflects on the author's career as a sports historian and the use of quantification as the dominant methodology. It argues for an increased use of statistics as a means of strengthening arguments by providing a statistical basis for historical assertion. The book looks at some of the relationships between sport and economics. It examines how industrialization in the economy affected sport; how sport became an industrial sector in its own right; and how the workplace became a major provision of sports facilities to the population. The book considers that minority among sports participants: the professional. It applies theory to two aspects of the club in sports history. First, the development of the golf club, and second, the theoretical explanations of the sports club.
