ABSTRACT
The intense need for success that was imposed on the handling code in the North was at the root of clandestine professionalism. Shamateurism appears to be further evidence that the northern emphasis on success cut across class boundaries, since it was working-class players who were seeking rewards for their talents, but it was the club officials who made the offers. In order to place as good a product as possible on the field, many club officials were willing to compensate their players as they would pay their employees for their efforts on the shop floor. Both players and officials were willing to circumvent RFU regulations related to professionalism. The English international J. E. Raphael was not surprised that northern players were willing to take under-the-table payments and Union official G. F. Berney asserted that northerners were of the type who valued everything in terms of money.37 The clubs came to resemble the work experience, not only structurally but also in the relationship between officials and working-class players, to whom payment was made for physically demanding effort. This kind of relationship did not exist between southern club officials and players since they were of the same class. Rewards such as legs of mutton, medical services, unusually high travel expenses, the promise of work, testimonials, privately sponsored training facilities or even cups and badges were sought and offered in the North, but had no purpose in the middle-class clubs of the metropolis.
