‘Ordinary working men . . . transformed into giants on the rugby field’: ‘Collective’ and ‘Individual’ Memory in Oral Histories of Rugby League

In recounting his earliest memories of rugby league during an interview in 2008, Harry Jepson’s narrative paints an evocative picture of the way in which the sport forged a close relationship with industrial life throughout his boyhood years in the Hunslet area of Leeds during the 1920s. The interview was recorded as part of the University of Huddersfield’s ‘Up and Under’ Oral History Project through which a further 105 personal testimonies were gathered from former players, fans, administrators, officials and journalists in both the amateur and professional branches of the sport across West Yorkshire.